Tag Archives: COVID

01.05.22 We missed you… WE ARE BACK!

To say that we have missed you is an understatement. We miss you, we miss your stories about our trips, we miss the trips, we miss Australia, we miss New Zealand and we miss everything that makes us all feel normal. I know for a fact that you all feel the same way.

Bottom line, we got our ass kicked by the results of a changing economy, government rules regarding travel and endless rounds of COVID. Our entire trajectory changed after March 2020.

Our soul was gutted, our drive emptied and with our heads hanging low we found inspiration in our family members, our friends and our fans of Fish Village. We weren\’t sure how to proceed, however many of you felt that we weren\’t done with our journey. I have had countless conversations with people telling us how we inspire them to get out, fish, meet new people. The kayak fishing community has come to appreciate what we are trying to build and this is the reason we can\’t just say sorry… we are done.

We thank you for the love, support and understanding about how COVID has impacted us. We know that YOU have been impacted, that you have felt the pain too. We feel for each and every one of you for the pain and suffering you have all endured… it seems that no one has been spared except for Jeff Bezos, he seems to be doing alright.

So, what does 2022 look like. For starters… I hope 2022 is infinitely better than the last two years for everyone. With that being said… we have a say in some of this and we are saying… FUCK IT. Let\’s grow our trip trip offering where we can. Let\’s reach for the stars and continue to push the limits of kayak fishing adventures ONE freaking trip at a time.


San Clemente Island Kayak Mothership Trips

  • Stepping up to seven (7) trips this season
  • Five (5) x 2.5 days trips
    • 1 x Central Coast Kayak Fishing
    • 2 x Fresh n Salty
    • 2 x Pure Watersports
  • Two (2) x 3.5 days trips
    • 2 x Friends of Fish Village
  • 2.5 day – $955 w/ $300 deposit
  • 3.5 day – $1,390 w/ $400 deposit
  • Credit and debit cards will be accepted with no additional fees.
  • If deposit is not received within seven (7) days, we will cancel your booking

2022 Booking Process Changes

The biggest change in 2022 is…

If you went on our trip in 2021, you will have first right of refusal AFTER we place people that pushed their reservation from 2021 to 2022 due to trip changes last year. We have a small number of folks that meet this criteria. We will reach out to them first and then reach out to every single person that booked with us last year.

As a result of having some people spillover from last year, we could end up overbooked. If this scenario occurs, we will remove the last booked person(s) from the 2021 roster. We don\’t anticipate much contention here.

With the exception of Central Coast Kayak Fishing (CCKF) and Fresh & Salty trips, if the weather is not permitting of kayak fishing operations at the islands, we will convert to tuna trips. Refunds will not be offered unless the Islander cannot run the boat at all.

CCKF and FNS community trips will be managed by their community leaders with payments handled by Fish Village.

So what does this mean to you? Well if you booked and were on the final roster last year, there is an incredibly high probability that you will end up on another trip. We will contact you within the next ten (10) days.

If you did not book with us last year or cancelled, you will have a chance to book after our customers have responded.

We are moving towards this approach to reward the patronage and loyalty of our customers. We had too many problems with people telling us that they didn\’t receive our email, thus we feel this is no longer the right approach. This won\’t be our approach for every trip we create and sell, but it feels right for our San Clemente Island kayak mothership trips.

This is the first communication of many regarding our SCI kayak mothership trips. Please be patient as we reach out to everyone and start the booking process.

We thank you for your support and look forward to an incredible SCI season in June and early July.

11.02.20 GBI New Zealand 2021 season dates (On Hold)

We were so freaking excited about these trips when we launched them back in March. Unfortunately our new trip campaign coincided with the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak across the globe. This caused us to cancel our Dec 2020 trips with hopes of sparking up new dates in the spring of 2021.

COVID continues to damper our mood because we cannot land on a date that seems to be a lock for this trip. Instead we are monitoring the New Zealand travel website and the U.S. travel website like a hawk. When we see that you can safely travel without quarantine, we will open up the schedule again.

We want to send you on this trip… but we will NOT do so until it can be done safely.

To learn more about this trip, head over to our trip page. To learn more about Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, head over to our location page.

09.24.20 Are we giving up on international trips?

The short answer is an enthusiastic HELL NO.

We along with the rest of the travel community recognize that the impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic are here to stay for quite some time… some are arguing it could bleed into 2022. Regardless of how long this lasts, we believe that the average person that likes to travel will still be cautious about jumping on a plane and heading to another country.

One of the many downsides to COVID is that we cannot predict when this will be over, thus we have to prepare ourselves for slow international travel interest and cautious travelers.

Thank goodness we live in America… the land of the free and giant fish! Though we will be slowing down our international trip development program for a couple of years, we will NOT be slowing down our domestic trip development program. In fact… we are speeding up.

Stay tuned for more US based fishing adventures.

08.05.20 Getting real about the impacts of COVID

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I write this with respect to everyone out there dealing with the impacts of COVID. As many of you already know, 2020 has been a rough year so far and we don\’t anticipate that it will get much better for quite some time.

What does that mean to Fish Village?

We have dealt with huge financial losses, major opportunities lost, disappointed customers, over 50+ refunds and nearly 100 trip cancellations. None of this compares to our friends and families that are struggling to put food on the table. Knowing people are suffering makes it hard to focus on our business.

Is Fish Village throwing in the towel? NO FREAKING WAY!

Our business is adapting to the changes and preparing for what could be a record breaking 2021 season. COVID has created opportunities to strengthen our internal processes, our technology and our internal team bonds. Though we may have had tremendous losses, we did not lose everything during the COVID pandemic, instead we took the opportunity to get better.

Fish Village will be back with the same great locations as before PLUS new domestic locations that are a road trip or short plane ride away.

Thank you for your support over the years and especially during this pandemic.

05.07.20 COVID SCI trip update

We have a lot of people asking about the San Clemente Island 2.5 day kayak mothership trips in June/July. As you would expect, people are asking a lot of questions about our most popular kayak mothership trip. Here is what we know as of now:

The Islander is asking us to plan on these trips proceeding as planned. Why… so that we don\’t miss out on the opportunity to go if the San Diego government authorizes the San Diego sportfishing fleet to run their trips. So that is what we are going to do. We are going to proceed as if we know for a fact that we are going on this trip.

What does this mean? Pay your bills, finalize your travel plans and gear up!

If for any reason these trips are NOT a go, we will refund your money or apply a credit to 2021 if desired. If you have any questions, please email trips@fishvillage.com.

04.10.20 Fishing w/ Friends is on hold until further notice

Unfortunately the Fishing w/ Friends kayak fishing tournament is on hold until further notice. This is the last thing that Pure Watersports wants to do, however they have strict guidelines to follow in order to operate during a pandemic. We completely understand considering the challenges we are facing today.

Whenever they get the green light to operate the Fishing w/ Friends monthly tournament series we will be sure to let everyone know.

We will host a couple of meetups in Dana Point to keep the kayak fishing spirit alive during trying times. Stay tuned for more information about our summer meet-ups.

Stay healthy everyone!

04.03.20 Our initial response to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is something that has affected us all, and while it is certain we have some difficult days ahead of us we would like to reaffirm our commitment to you, our loyal and trusted customer. There are current travel restrictions throughout the world in response to this public health emergency we are currently facing, however, there are no current impacts to the Fish Village trips schedule for the summer of 2020. We are continuously monitoring the situation and will immediately communicate any emergent issue that could affect the status of any out trip.

To keep up with the latest news, head over to our COVID news page for more information.