Stay away from the "Raphael Fleet". They sent us out on a crappy 28footer that had seen better days....those better days were somewhere in the early 80's :depressed:. The boat looked like it could break apart and sink at any given moment...infact all but maybe one of Raphael's boats looked dangerous. The boat we got barely made 22 knots at best and blew nice thick clouds of black smoke after about 30 minutes or running hard. The entire fleet passed us up to the fishing grounds and our captian put the rigs out in the middle of nowhere. We didnt see another boat all day unless it was running out or running back in. Lost a 200lb Blue when the piece of junk reel started center loading the spool and locked up after a 40 minute fight. All the gear on our boat looked like it had been dragged down a gravel road for a few hundred miles...beat up, frayed line, major crappola. I didnt do a whole lot of complaining because I didnt pay for the boat and I didnt want to bum out the guy that did pay for it. Be careful of paying for your live bait. Our crew tried to get us to pay for it twice...they were obviously in cahoots with the bait guys on the water...we never even used the baitfish nor where they thrown overboard at the end of the trip. Get down to the marina a day early and check out the charter offices and get a good look at their equipment first. We booked blind from the resort....BAD IDEA. I listened to several conversations on the plane on the way back. There were lots of guys on other charters that caught several fish on their trips...and they were very happy and jazzed about it. I got the feeling they'd been there before and had it figured out..as far as hiring a boat and crew. Good luck and when you are out there keep your eyes open. You'll see lots of cool stuff like huge
black rays jumping out of the water and bill fish jumping, dolphins and flying fish everywhere. Take a good sunblock and a wide brim hat....when my trip was over with I soon discovered I could heat a small house with my face. Man was I sunburned