Mexican Fishing License for San Diego Fishing Trips (2026)

What you need, trip by trip

This is how San Diego landings sort their trips, based on the policies H&M Landing, Point Loma Sportfishing, Fisherman's Landing, Oceanside Sea Center and Brothers Sport Fishing publish.

What the permit costs in 2026

Mexico sets the fee in article 199-B of its Federal Law of Fees and updates the amounts every year. The 2026 figures below were published in the Diario Oficial on December 28, 2025. Dollar amounts use the rate in the Diario Oficial on September 18, 2026, of 17.1872 pesos to the dollar, so they will drift.

The landing price is a different number

For a trip shorter than three days, the law charges the daily fee times the number of days. What you pay at the counter is set by the landing, not the law. H&M Landing lists a one-day permit at $20 to $30 and an FMM at approximately $50. Malihini, which fishes out of H&M, lists the day permit at roughly $12 to $15 and the FMM at $30. Treat any price on a landing's page as that landing's current charge, not the government fee.

One more trap if you buy online: the Baja California state permit portal's front page still shows 2024 prices, although its purchase form charges the 2026 amount.

Who needs a permit: plan on everyone aboard

Mexico's fisheries law makes the permit individual and non-transferable. Under article 67 of the General Law of Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, the person who fishes needs one, and so do those who provide fishing services to others. The sportfishing standard, NOM-017-PESC-1994, draws the line at the boat: fishing from shore requires no permit, and fishing from a vessel does.

The Baja California state government reads it more broadly. Its permit FAQ says everyone aboard must carry a valid individual permit — "tanto los pescadores deportivos, el capitán y el marinero," the anglers, the captain and the deckhand alike. San Diego landings follow the broad reading. Fisherman's Landing tells passengers a permit is necessary "for everyone on the boat regardless if they are a child, not fishing or a Mexican citizen." Brothers Sport Fishing requires a Mexican license on all trips entering Mexican waters, "for all ages," and Vagabond buys a permit for each passenger for each day of fishing.

We found no age exemption in the federal law or the sportfishing standard. Budget a permit for every person on the boat, kids and non-anglers included. Then print it and carry it: the Baja California FAQ says to print the permit and bring it on the trip along with an official ID.

Passports and the FMM: the 12-mile line

Whether you need a passport depends on how close the boat gets to Mexican land. H&M Landing requires a passport and an FMM, Mexico's visitor permit, on trips within 12 miles of the Mexican coast or its islands, and names the examples: Full Day Coronado Islands, Baja long-range trips and winter coastal rockcod. For its offshore summer trips, it says, "a passport is not required." Point Loma Sportfishing applies the same 12-mile rule, and Oceanside Sea Center says passports are not required on its offshore trips into Mexican waters because those trips stay outside the 12-mile requirement.

Only a passport book or passport card counts. H&M Landing says Real IDs, birth certificates and driver's licenses are not accepted, and Point Loma Sportfishing calls a passport or passport card "the only documents accepted" for Coronado Islands and coastal trips. The FMM itself is issued against a passport: H&M notes it requires a valid international or U.S. passport book, or a U.S. passport card.

Three cautions. A trip that could go either way gets the stricter rule: Point Loma Sportfishing's full-day trips fish offshore or at the Coronado Islands depending on conditions, and require a passport or passport card for all passengers. Fisherman's Landing's FAQ puts the line at 10 miles rather than 12. And several long-range boats require a passport on every trip, whatever the route. Vagabond says that without your physical passport at the dock "you will not be permitted to board," and Royal Polaris explains why: "We do not clear customs on these trips. However, you will be officially visiting a foreign country."

Coronado Islands trips can add one more item. Brothers Sport Fishing lists Mexican biosphere bracelets alongside passports and FMMs for the islands, and H&M Landing prices the bracelet at $10 to $15. Leave time at the landing, too: Fisherman's Landing asks passengers on its 3/4-day Coronado trips to check in half an hour early for visa processing.

Is it included in your ticket?

It depends on the boat, and sometimes on the trip. H&M Landing says it plainly: "Some trips include the Mexican Sportfishing License and Mexican Visa in the price of the ticket; some do not."

• Included: Fisherman's Landing's 3/4-day Coronado Islands trips list the Mexican fishing license, the Mexican travel visa and bait in the ticket price. Constitution's two- and three-day trips that need no passport include Mexican permits, and Vagabond adds the permit to the balance on your receipt.
• Extra: Point Loma Sportfishing's booking terms exclude U.S. and Mexican fishing licenses and FMMs "unless otherwise stated," and Shogun says permit costs are not included in the trip fare.
• Private boats: Brothers Sport Fishing buys its group's permits and FMMs itself through a single online application, AWOL Sport Fishing buys them and includes them in the trip price, and San Diego Charters asks guests to submit their passport information to its office three days before departure.

You may still need a California license

A Mexican permit covers Mexican waters, and a California license covers California's. A boat that may fish both needs both. Shogun puts it in two sentences: "Yes, a valid California fishing license is required. For trips that fish in Mexican waters, a Mexican fishing permit is also required."

If you are 16 or older and the trip might fish U.S. waters, bring your California license. Our license guide covers the options, including the one-day license many landings sell at the counter.

Mexico's limits, and California's on the way home

In Mexican waters, NOM-017-PESC-1994 sets the sportfishing limits:

• 10 fish per angler per day, with no more than 5 of any one species.
• One billfish, shark or giant sea bass per angler per day, which counts as 5 fish toward the 10.
• Two dorado, roosterfish, tarpon or gulf grouper per angler per day, each counting as 5.
• On trips longer than three days, no more than three days' limits in possession.
• No crustaceans or mollusks except squid, so no lobster on a sportfishing permit.
• No filleted fish may be landed. Filleting aboard is allowed only for food eaten during the trip, and never for billfish.

California's rules still follow the fish

California's rules apply when you get back. Fish and Game Code section 2353 allows fish taken outside the state to be brought in only if, among other conditions, they were legally taken and California does not prohibit possessing them. Some California limits follow the fish wherever it was caught. The state's bluefin tuna limit of two "applies to all bluefin tuna possessed, regardless of where taken," and gulf and broomtail grouper "may not be taken or possessed" in California, even though Mexico allows two gulf grouper a day.

California's boat-limit rule also stops at the border: it "does not apply to fishing trips originating in California where fish are taken in other jurisdictions." On a charter the crew keeps the counts, but the fish are on your permit and your license. Our bag and size limits guide covers the California side species by species.

Where to buy it

The simplest route is the landing. H&M Landing says all required permits are available through the landing for trips on its fleet, Oceanside Sea Center sells both California and Mexican licenses at the dock, and Shogun sends passengers to buy the permit at Fisherman's Landing before departure. On a private charter, the operator often handles it; Brothers Sport Fishing notes that the permit purchase is a single online application made by the vessel's operator.

To buy it yourself, the Baja California state government sells sportfishing permits online at sportfishing.bajacalifornia.gob.mx, and Mexico's federal fisheries agency, CONAPESCA, links to its own permit portal from its gob.mx pages. Buy it for the right number of days, print it, and carry it with your ID.

Mexican-water trips at a last-minute price

Paperwork is what keeps people off last-minute Coronado Islands seats. An open spot can come up the day before, and a trip within 12 miles of Mexico needs a passport book or card in hand and time for FMM processing at check-in. Keep your passport current and in your fishing bag, and a discounted Mexican-water seat becomes one you can actually take. Mixed Bag Sportsman lists open spots as captains submit them, every deal is reviewed before it goes live, and you book directly with the boat.