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Ah, the Caribbean. It's a stretch of sea filled with lush islands (think the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Caymans) and water so blue it seems like it was Photoshopped. And the drinks here are so refreshing you might never, ever leave. You'll also find world-class scuba diving, snorkeling, wind-surfing, hiking and, if you're exhausted after doing any (or all) of that, then there's napping on the beach, too. Adding yet another activity to the list of things to do in this tropical paradise seems almost superfluous, but we went ahead and did it anyway—deep-sea fishing.
There are plenty of fish in these waters, making it one of the most ideal places in the world to try your hand (and your line) at catching one. Though there's a wide variety of big game under the sea, there are a few fish you should know about before you charter a boat . Here they are—from smallest to largest.
Mahi Mahi
Also known as the "dolphin fish" for reasons that are very unclear, Mahi Mahi is one of the most common catches you'll encounter while you're in the Caribbean on your locum tenens assignment. While this fish might be bright white when it's served on a plate, it's actually bright green or yellow out on the high seas.
Yellowfin tuna
Yellowfin tuna, often served rare on the inside and gently seared on the outside, is nothing like the canned kind you'll find on supermarket shelves back on land. This fish, sometimes weighing in at more than 400 pounds, can dive deeper than 300 feet and puts up a fair fight.
Blue marlin
A catch that would make Ernest Hemingway proud, a marlin is the fish you often see adorning the walls of many a seafood restaurant. Part of the fun of catching a marlin is how much effort it takes—growing up to 14 feet in length, these are fish you'll have to wrangle for four to six hours total. There's a reason an entire book was written about one (i.e., The Old Man and the Sea).
Whether you can bring home your catch or not depends on the island you're fishing off, but we know one thing's for sure, you'll be proud either way.