Torneo ORSAN Cabo San Lucas: Fishing for a Cause in Baja California Sur

Since 2014, the Torneo de Pesca ORSAN has brought anglers together in Cabo San Lucas for dorado, wahoo, major cash prizes and something even bigger: an opportunity to use sportfishing to give back to the community.

Cabo San Lucas is known around the world for big-game fishing and legendary tournaments. But while many competitions are defined by trophies, jackpots and the fish brought to the scale, Torneo ORSAN has built its identity around another objective: creating an accessible fishing tournament that also benefits the community surrounding the fishery.

Cabo Sportfishing Magazine spoke with tournament organizer Carlos Manrique to learn more about the history of ORSAN, its growth, its charitable mission and where the tournament is headed next.

The story reveals an event that has grown considerably since its first edition—and one that demonstrates how sportfishing can generate an impact far beyond the marina.

Torneo ORSAN at a Glance

Location: Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico
First tournament: 2014
2026 edition: 13th edition
Primary species: Dorado
Additional jackpot species: Wahoo
Guaranteed prize purse: $1,200,000 MXN
2025 participation: 187 fishing teams
Focus: Sportfishing, family participation and community support

The tournament was created to offer an offshore fishing competition in Cabo San Lucas that could be accessible to everyone from novice anglers to experienced tournament fishermen, while maintaining an attractive prize purse.

How Torneo ORSAN Began in Cabo San Lucas

The first Torneo ORSAN was held in 2014.

According to Manrique, the idea was to give something back to the fishing sector by creating an offshore sportfishing competition that could attract hundreds of anglers without limiting participation to highly experienced tournament teams.

From the beginning, affordability and accessibility were important parts of the concept.

Instead of creating an event exclusively for professional teams with large tournament budgets, ORSAN wanted local, national and international fishermen to have an opportunity to participate and compete for significant prizes.

That philosophy has helped the tournament grow.

The organizers report increases in both participation and prize money over the years, with the event attracting a larger community of anglers from Cabo San Lucas, other parts of Mexico and abroad.

A Cabo Fishing Tournament With a Cause

What makes Torneo ORSAN particularly interesting isn’t only what happens on the water.

It’s what happens afterward.

The tournament describes itself as “un torneo con causa” — a tournament with a cause.

Funds associated with angler registration contribute to Fundación ORSAN, where resources can then be transformed into assistance for vulnerable members of the community in Los Cabos and Baja California Sur.

According to the organizers, organizations that have benefited or participated in these efforts include Club Rotario, DIF Los Cabos and DIF Estatal de Baja California Sur.

One example Manrique remembers with particular pride involves the donation of wheelchairs through Club Rotario, which were provided to families with limited resources in Cabo San Lucas.

It’s a simple concept with an important consequence:

The impact of an angler’s tournament entry can extend beyond fishing.

Participants have the opportunity to compete, enjoy Cabo and potentially win significant prize money while also contributing to an organization working within the surrounding community.

More Than Five Decades of ORSAN History

The organization behind the tournament has a much longer history than the fishing event itself.

According to information provided to Cabo Sportfishing Magazine, ORSAN’s history dates to 1968, when the company opened “Súper Servicio San Nicolás” in Nuevo León.

During the following decades, the organization expanded its operations and developed additional companies and services within Mexico’s energy sector.

A major step in its social mission came in 2009 with the creation of Fundación ORSAN.

By 2018, when ORSAN celebrated its 50th anniversary, the company reported having more than 150 stations in operation.

The fishing tournament in Cabo San Lucas brings that broader philosophy of community involvement into one of Baja California Sur’s most important industries: sportfishing.

Dorado Takes Center Stage

For anglers, of course, there is still one question that matters when the boats leave the marina:

Who’s going to catch the winning fish?

At Torneo ORSAN, the primary target is one of Baja California Sur’s most recognizable gamefish:

Dorado.

Fast, powerful and famous for spectacular colors and acrobatic fights, dorado is the tournament’s featured species.

In recent years, wahoo has also been incorporated as a jackpot species, giving competitors another opportunity on the water.

That combination makes sense for a Cabo tournament built around accessibility. An experienced tournament team can compete seriously, but a first-time participant still has the possibility of finding the fish that changes the entire weekend.

$1.2 Million Pesos in Guaranteed Prize Money

The competition also carries serious money.

Based on information provided by the organizers, the tournament’s $1,200,000 MXN guaranteed prize purse is divided among the top three places:

1st Place — $700,000 MXN

2nd Place — $300,000 MXN

3rd Place — $200,000 MXN

Additional wahoo jackpots add another competitive element to the event.

But Manrique says one of the characteristics separating ORSAN from other tournaments is the combination of its guaranteed purse with relatively accessible participation and a family-oriented atmosphere.

From First-Time Anglers to International Teams

ORSAN isn’t designed exclusively for veteran tournament fishermen.

Children, teenagers and adults participate, according to the organizers, with experience levels ranging from first-time competitors to seasoned anglers.

And the fleet isn’t exclusively Mexican.

The tournament reports having welcomed participants from Mexico, the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia.

That international participation matters for Cabo San Lucas.

Fishing was one of the activities that helped establish Los Cabos as a tourism destination, and sportfishing continues to bring visitors into the region’s marinas, hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses.

For ORSAN, attracting more international teams represents another opportunity to showcase Cabo’s fishing culture to anglers who may have never competed here before.

187 Teams: A Major Milestone in 2025

One number demonstrates just how much the tournament has grown:

187 teams.

Manrique identified the 2025 tournament, when participation reached 187 fishing teams, as one of the most memorable moments in ORSAN’s history.

Another was 2020.

Despite the restrictions and uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament still recorded what organizers considered strong participation.

For the team behind ORSAN, both years demonstrated something important: anglers continued to believe in the event.

Responsible Fishing and the Future of Cabo

Running a fishing tournament in Baja California Sur also comes with responsibility.

The fishery is the resource upon which the entire experience depends.

ORSAN’s organizers emphasize sustainable and responsible fishing, including respecting marine species and minimum qualifying weights.

According to Manrique, previous editions have promoted releasing undersized fish and protecting females. Some editions have also incorporated catch-and-release categories involving billfish and dorado.

That conservation mindset is important not only environmentally but economically.

Healthy fisheries support charter boats, captains, crews, marinas, hotels, restaurants, tackle businesses and the many other people whose livelihoods are connected directly or indirectly to visiting anglers.

Protecting Baja California Sur’s marine resources therefore means protecting part of the future of sportfishing tourism itself.

Why Fishing Tournaments Matter to Cabo San Lucas

Cabo’s fishing tournaments generate something much larger than a leaderboard.

Visiting teams require boats, accommodations, transportation, food, equipment and services. They bring families and friends. They explore the destination before and after tournament days.

The result is economic activity extending throughout the community.

ORSAN’s organizers see tournaments such as theirs as an opportunity to demonstrate that Los Cabos has the infrastructure and fishing culture necessary to welcome large numbers of visiting anglers from around the world.

That relationship between sportfishing and the local economy is particularly important in Cabo San Lucas, where fishing has been part of the destination’s identity for generations.

The People Behind Torneo ORSAN

Events of this size don’t happen because of one person.

Approximately 30 people participate in organizing Torneo ORSAN, according to Manrique.

When asked about the greatest challenge of maintaining the tournament over so many years, his answer centered on people: maintaining the confidence of the anglers and building a strong team capable of supporting the event year after year.

Sponsors are another important part of that equation.

Beyond financial or logistical contributions, tournament organizers view sponsors as partners that bring visibility and credibility to the event while gaining access to a highly targeted audience of anglers and people interested in the sportfishing industry.

What’s Next for Torneo ORSAN?

The organizers aren’t looking to stand still.

One objective is straightforward: continue increasing the number of participating teams year after year.

There’s another goal that could make future editions even more interesting.

ORSAN would like to develop a stronger women’s category, giving female anglers an additional competitive platform while continuing to compete alongside the rest of the tournament field.

It’s another step toward the broader vision behind ORSAN: making tournament fishing accessible to a wider community.

An Invitation to Fish Cabo

For someone who has never entered a fishing tournament in Cabo San Lucas, the idea can be intimidating.

ORSAN wants to change that perception.

You don’t have to arrive as a professional tournament fisherman. You don’t need decades of experience or a wall covered in tournament trophies.

You need the desire to fish.

Because once the boats leave Cabo San Lucas and spread across the Pacific, everyone is looking for the same thing:

that one fish.

The dorado that appears behind the lure.

The bite you’ve been waiting for.

The fish that could put your team on the leaderboard.

And when the fleet returns to Cabo, the experience becomes more than competition. It becomes a gathering of anglers, families, organizers, sponsors and members of the community brought together by sportfishing.

That’s ultimately what ORSAN wants visiting fishermen to experience: an international fishing event centered around an activity that played an important role in the development of Los Cabos as a tourism destination.