Ten Things I Liked About the Casa Vieja Experience

Photo by GoPro, thanks to one of two mates on the boat.

Hanna and I aren’t affiliated with Casa Vieja Lodge except insofar as we’ve now twice chosen to spend our time and money there, so I hope you will take our thoughts on the experience there as an objective recommendation. We’ve been to fishing lodges around the world – some, like Anglers Inn, continually manage to exceed our lofty expectations, while others make us wish we’d stayed home. One thing that Billy Chapman has always stressed to me is that even in the most fertile and idyllic locations you can’t control the fishing or the weather, so you need to make sure that you hit home runs on the variables that you can control. The Casa Vieja team must have read from the same textbook – yes, our fishing and weather have been exceptional both times, but so has every other aspect of the trip. Here are ten ways that CVL knocks it out of the park:

Daily Report: In the bar area (and on the internet) the lodge posts the daily numbers of fish caught by each boat. Straight totals would tell part of the story, but not all of it, so they list the number of fish raised, the fish that bit, and the fish that were landed (as well as tackle choices – fly and/or conventional). Four fish landed on four bites tells a very different story than four fish landed on 25 bites. The numbers aren’t guarantees that they’ll continue, but they give anglers an idea of what to expect, and for the obsessives like me it helps you analyze seasonal trends and get pumped for the upcoming trip.

Drink of the Day: When you get off the van from the marina after your day of fishing, you are greeted by a hostess offering up the tropical drink of the day. It could be a Cuba Libre, an alcoholic watermelon concoction, or something made with the exceptional local rum, but it’s always delicious and refreshing.

Van Life: Unless you upgrade to a helicopter ride, you are driven to and from the airport in ultra-comfortable Mercedes Sprinter vans with a stocked cooler, perfect for taking a nap if you’re not intrigued by the scenery. Those same vans whisk you down the road to and from the marina each day.

Look Good, Smell Good, Feel Good: I’m an Ivory Soap and Head & Shoulders guy, but my better half assures me that the toiletries in the room at Casa Vieja are spa quality. That makes her happy and it’ll make your fishing partner want to come, whether it’s your wife, your girlfriend or a friend who likes to manscape.

Steel Trap Memories: Since this is a place you’ll want to come back to again and again, I was impressed by their memories based on last year’s visit. Hanna doesn’t eat many carbs, so on shrimp and pasta night they offered her (unsolicited) those same shrimp with extra vegetables instead of the pasta. Everyone wants to feel like a “regular” and no one wants to feel like a pest. This was the best of both worlds.

Kick Plastic: Discarded water bottles are a huge burden on the sea life that Casa Vieja depends on, and they walk the walk on conservation. They’ve replaced single-use bottles with filtered water, both on land and on the boat. You get a logoed Yeti tumbler as part of your package and you can easily fill it up within just a few feet of wherever you’re standing or sitting.

Reading is Fundamental: For a word nerd like me, my thirst for information is unquenchable. I want to know everything about my quarry, or at least feel like I do. Accordingly, I have a list of fishing magazines that I subscribe to, and websites I visit regularly, but few of them focus primarily on the offshore game. That’s why I love the fact that Casa Vieja stocks the room with publications like Marlin Magazine, Salt Water Sportsman and others from The Billfish Foundation. Whether I’m reading them on the throne or at the pool, it completely immerses me in the environment.

Dinner Guests: On our final night at the lodge, Owner/Captain David Salazar and our mate Johnny Ramirez joined us at the dinner table. While they were friendly and talkative on the water, it was nice to spend time with them when we weren’t focused exclusively on the next bite. Everyone at the lodge makes you feel welcomed and goes out of their way to provide friendly service.

Protect the Fish: The lodge knows where their bread is buttered, so they do everything possible to protect the billfish. That means circle hooks on the end of the line. It also means they don’t take the fish out of the water – instead, they have a GoPro on a pole that allows them to get professional-quality pictures that are then provided to guests.

Travel Light: While the Robbins family is notorious for overpacking, you really could go to Casa Vieja with the clothes on your back and a small carry-on backpack. Bring a bathing suit, a pair or two of shorts, some shirts, hats and sunglasses and you’re covered. There’s never a dress code and they do laundry every day. For a tackle junkie like me it’s a little bit unnerving to go with nothing of my own in tow, but they have the best of the best in offshore gear, so there’s really nothing I could add to the spread.

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