Sea Fishing Tackle

Question:
My partner and I will be traveling to Mexico (one week in Puerto Vallarta, one week in Acapulco) leaving March 9. We would like to spend a day deep sea fishing. We are both novices but think it might be a fun day. Does anyone have recommendations? Is Acapulco better than PV? What sea fishing tackle should we use? Any advice or information would be appreciated.

Answer:
I've fished both places several times. Neither is as good as Cabo San Lucas, but both have plenty of sailfish much of the year, though maybe not so many in March. For Vallarta, you'll run the risk of getting screwed if you do a "deal" on the beach or from the hotel activities desk. Instead, go to the new Marina Vallarta a couple miles north of town and talk to the guys there. You'll find many folks touting trips but it's best to try to catch someone stepping off a boat who just finished for the day and see how they did. We've used the "Mr. Marlin" convenience store and fishing tackle shop (located near the fake lighthouse that's now an aquarium) and done well, they have a couple of fine boats themselves and could charter out on about 50 others (the same 50 most of the other guys are offering). Banderas Bay is very large, I think it's about a 19 mile run just to get outside to the better blue water so a fast boat is a good idea here. For Acapulco, we just went to the cheaper boats near the zocalo (town square) and got a really big slow boat for around $200 and caught several sailfish close to the harbor. Boats are cheaper here and the fishing was closer to shore. There are a couple of nicer new marinas with better (more expensive) boats but we didn't try them.