To fish on Lake Arenal and in the area's rivers you need the INCOPESCA licence (₡6,215 a year from shore), you may only use a rod or hand line, and you can never fish inside Arenal Volcano National Park.
We found only one free-access spot where an official source says fishing is allowed. The rest are paid or still unconfirmed. The rules come first, with their sources, followed by the spots.
Spots with a published location, per the source cited on each card
Before you fish: the rules
You need INCOPESCA's sport-fishing licence. It is sold online at incopesca.go.cr or at its offices, with an ID card or passport. Published prices including VAT: from a boat US$16.95 (8 days), US$28.25 (1 month) or US$56.50 (1 year); from shore or kayak, ₡6,215 (1 year). These are the prices in force since 2018, which INCOPESCA kept for 2025; we found no fee agreement for 2026. On a tour, every person fishing needs a licence: ask whether the price includes it.
From shore, buy the shore licence even though the law is unclear. The Fishing Law only explicitly requires a licence from people fishing from a boat or underwater, and fishing for your own food with a rod or line needs no authorisation. But INCOPESCA says everyone who fishes must carry a licence, and it sells one for shore fishing. For foreigners it contradicts itself: the price table says "national or resident" while the online form offers it to any country. The regulation allows sport fishing from age 16, and Costa Ricans over 65 do not pay for the licence.
Hook only: rod and reel or hand line. In rivers, lakes and reservoirs it is forbidden to fish with nets (trasmallo, atarraya, chinchorro), explosives, poison, lime or speargun. Fines range from 5 to 60 base salaries depending on the method and the law applied, and using explosives or toxic substances carries 2 to 10 years in prison. The inland fishing regulation allows sport fishing from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed seasons: none published for Lake Arenal or the San Carlos River. As of 25 October 2026, INCOPESCA's closed-season page lists only marine ones. The only documented local closed season is Caño Negro's: under the refuge's management plan, fishing there is allowed only from August to March. That plan expired in 2020 and we could not find the closed-season decree it cites, so confirm the dates with the refuge before you go.
Fishing is not allowed in national parks. The Fishing Law bans it in national parks, natural monuments and biological reserves, with fines of 20 to 60 base salaries. The 2025 management plan of Arenal Volcano National Park bans it in all its zones, including the lakeshore in the Península sector.
Lake Arenal has been a protected area since July 2026, but fishing is allowed. Law 10963 permits subsistence, tourist and sport fishing there, governed by the Fishing Law. Activities on the lake will have to follow a public-use regulation that does not exist yet (the deadline falls in early 2027), and ICE's operating and safety zones are excluded from public use. The rules may change when the regulation comes out.
To reach the water across private land you need the owner's permission. The Water Law says so, and the Fishing Law requires respecting other people's rights. Use known public accesses or operators' sites.
What you catch is for you, not for sale. Sport-fishing catches may only be used for your own consumption or taxidermy, and subsistence catches cannot be sold. There is no general catch-and-release rule in freshwater, although the law asks for it to be encouraged; the 2025 Festival del Guapote in El Castillo was a catch-and-release tournament.
What you can catch. On Lake Arenal, mainly guapote or "rainbow bass", machaca and bobo; the 2025 El Castillo tournament allowed guapote pinto, azulón, jaguar and machaca. At Caño Negro, tarpon, snook and gar, the refuge's "living fossil" fish. Tilapia and the suckermouth catfish (pez diablo) are introduced species. We found no health advisories on eating fish from the lake, Caño Negro or the San Carlos River.
Tronadora and Viejo Arenal · 75.2 km · 1 h 39 min from the central park
The Tilarán municipality says fishing is allowed at La Península and that one of its entrances is free. It is at the western end of the lake, 75 km from La Fortuna.
Species
Lake Arenal in general: guapote, machaca and bobo. The municipality does not say which species are found at this spot.
Price
One entrance is free; the other charges a small fee the municipality does not publish.
Getting there
A few kilometres from central Tronadora (Tilarán municipality). We do not know which of the two entrances is the free one; the map marks the La Península neighbourhood as a reference.
Spot rules
The general rules on this page, starting with the INCOPESCA licence.
Caño Negro · 90.6 km · 1 h 38 min from the central park
The northern zone's best-known wetland for tarpon, snook and gar. You pay the refuge entry fee and need a licence; under its management plan, fishing is allowed only from August to March.
Species
Snook, tarpon and gar (SINAC); guapote lagunero and guapote pinto (management plan).
Price
Entry (SINAC, VAT included): national adult ₡904; foreigner US$5.65. The fishing licence price does not appear in any official source we could open.
Getting there
Through the village of Caño Negro, where the refuge office is. SINAC publishes hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Boats and guides are hired separately in the village.
Spot rules
Rod or line only, with a licence, from August to March under the 2012-2020 management plan (closed April to July). Nets, harpoons, spearguns and chemicals are banned. Some lagoons become fully protected in June-July and February-March.
There are caimans in the wetland (ICT).
The refuge patrols against net fishing: in 2021 it caught two people using a gill net.
What we don't know yet: Current closed-season dates (the management plan expired in 2020) · Who issues the licence, what it costs and whether the INCOPESCA licence is also required
It hosted the fishing tournament of the Festival del Guapote in May 2025, but we could not find who manages it or whether anyone can fish there. Of the spots we checked, it is the closest point on the lake to La Fortuna.
Species
Guapote pinto, azulón, jaguar and machaca (2025 tournament).
What we don't know yet: Who manages it and whether any visitor may fish there · Exact location · Whether there will be a Festival del Guapote in 2026
Nuevo Arenal · 45.6 km · 58 min from the central park
OpenStreetMap shows a park and a boat ramp on the shore. The municipality mentions sport fishing in the district, but no source says the park is public or that fishing is allowed from there.
What we don't know yet: Whether the park is municipal and free to enter · Whether fishing is allowed from the shore or the ramp
Some fishing operators leave from the dam, but Law 10963 excludes ICE's operating and safety zones from public use, and those zones have not been defined yet.
Respect ICE's signs and security staff.
What we don't know yet: Where ICE's restricted zones are
A natural lagoon north of Lake Arenal, a sacred site for the Maleku people. The Caño Negro management plan mentions guapote in Cote, but we found no public access or permission to fish.
It is a sacred Maleku site: visit with respect.
What we don't know yet: Who owns the shore and whether there is public access · Whether fishing is allowed
