Best & Worst of San Juan del Sur

Last time I was in Tamarindo they had signs up saying don't swim in the water.
I think it was something like 600 times over the international clean water levels.
So SJDS is definitely not my fave beach anywhere but still nowhere near as bad as Tamagringo.

Good: - Plenty of restaurants, bars, hotels. Pelican Eyes if you have the money to stay there!
Good surfing
Good sport fishing, beaches nearby are lovely.

Bad: - Too many gringos- though some may think that's good- and tourists, not particularly nice beach for swimming, a lot of bars/restaurants are expensive by local standards. Nightlife is generally, get drunk listening to Bob Marley with a lot of 'dudes', nothing unique or 'cool' about the place!

Tamarindo is perfectly safe to swim at, thats was during rainy season, and at least CR checks levels of bacteria, does Nicaragua?

And, SJDS is a shithole IMHO, and you cant swim off the main beach as well, due to pollution!

SJDS is a dirty, hot, not very tropical in feel, too many gringos, overpriced, and dull as a town can be place.

I would go to Leon, Granada, or anywhere in Costa Rica, long before SJDS.

I love Nicaragua, but SJDS is a waste if your time. (Even if you surf)

I echo the various negative posts....

Too many gringos to learn Spanish, even the sodding market comedor menues are in english (there are normally no menues, even in Spanish!). If you want to learn effectively and cheaper, go to Xela, Guatemala. SO much more to do, but no beach (you can only look at the one in SJdeS anyway!)

Along these lines...we're planning a 12 day trip in May in which we'd hope to hit Leon, Grenada (day trip to Masaya), Ometempe & then spend a chill few days at a beach at the end of our trip after volcano hiking. I was thinking SJDS becuase it seems relatively easy to get to (would greatly prefer Corn Islands, but the cost of getting there may make that unrealistic). Are there any other beaches you'd recommend for our itinerary? It seems like a lot for 12 days so I may need to cut something out? Pefer not to cut out the beach. We are nature lovers and NOT bar hoppers--early to bed, early to rise. Would love a swimmable beach, but it sounds like those are few & far between on the pacific. Could you recommend somewhere else for us if SJDS is that bad? Thank you!

Playa Jiquilillo... it is swimmable, and there is also a huge estuary just north of it. Seems like, despite consistent recommendtions, nobody ever goes there... which is probably a good thing for people like me who don't necessarily like annoying drug-craving drunk gringos...as they won't find their "scene" at Jiquilillo.

I like Jiquilillo!

Try a flight to the Corn Islands for beach time. The school at Laguna de Apoyo sounds really neat, plus there are some in the Granada area worth checking out.

BEST: the restaurant scene (not a huge variety, but a small selection of some of the best in the country), the beaches just out of town that are a little tricky to get to (bike, bus + 2km walk, $5 shuttle or taxi) but totally swimmable, clean and picturesque, and La Flor nature reserve and thousands of turtles nesting (again, not too far out of town)

WORST: all of the gringos who moved to costa rica, then decided that there were too many gringos there, so moved to nicaragua and are now bitching about how there are too many gringos there, too (and all of this without any sense of irony whatsoever).

If you don't care about surfing, I'd put in a vote for Leon, too - it's much prettier, much more nicaraguan, has a good selection of spanish schools and there are lots of things to do on weekends - volcano climbs, the juan venado nature reserve, arguably the best art gallery in central america and Las Peñitas - a good beach an hour out of town.

I like Jiquilillo, too, but (as far as I know) there are no spanish schools there and really, it's a village - I think I would go insane if I spent longer than a week there...

I'm the initial poster. We'll spend 3-4 weeks studying in Guatemala and then want to continue on to a beach location (8 weeks grand total). We're considering SJdS, Tamarindo, and Bocas del Toro. Tamarindo's 3 schools are nearly twice as expensive as SJdS but it's prettier. Bocas del Toro is in between price wise but it's a long trek (or pricey flight) from Guatemala. Thoughts?