Best & Worst of San Juan del Sur

From Leon (awesome place btw) you can daytrip the beach in under an hour.

You could then head down and see Ometepe (it has a beach of sorts...), SJdeSur and then to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. You'll see a few more places that way. In my mind a beach is a beach is a beach...so seeing a few at least adds a tiny bit of variety!

You can do the Corn Islands for $180ish return from Managua. Unless you have 3-4 days to kill on buses and boats, flying is the way to go. But with 12 days...you could spend 3 in Leon, 1 in Granada, 1 in Masaya, 4 on Ometepe (all minimums, except Granada which is boring, imho)....heading all the way to Managaua to get to the corn islands for a couple of days seems like a luxury! Daytrip the beach from Leon. It's a nice beach, nearly empty on weekdays, nice bodysurfing waves and easy to get to.

You may want to consider a non beach locale for the Spanish Immersion, for the mere fact, its hotter than hell in Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and all of CA, on the beaches and lowlands.

The Orosi Valley school in CR is in the mountains, its a lovely middle class area in the foothills of farms and pastures, very pleasant during the day, always breezy, nice cool evenings, and just locals, so it makes you have to use the spanish :)

its not as bad as every says here. actually its not bad at all. ive been there twice (2007 + 2008). Well it may be the most touristy place in nicaragua, but whats touristy for nica measures? The city is definitly not dirty, at least not more dirty than other nica citys.. and not hotter than other nica citys.. getting to playa maderas is easy and there is three nice beaches. In the city u get quit expensive (again for nica measures) but allright restaurants and u meet lots of travels which is good for partying. I agree it may not be the most "nica experience" but its good if ure after a few days surfing / chilling on beaches, having partys in the night. And what pollution are you talking about? When ive been there u could go for a swim at the main beach easily. There me be some litter here and there, but again not much (if at all) more than in other nica citys. Just consider that other beaches than playa maderas and the 2 other may be or can be a litte unsafe (what i heard of).

Edited by: kyleshot

Edited by: docbrown

The worst: Let's not forget Eric Volz. That horrible situation changes everything about my original thoughs of SJDS. When we lived on Ometepe Island, we would 'vacation' in SJDS.
Most of our time was spent on Baja Majagual...a beautiful secluded beach. We tried to stay out of SJDS. One time, we stayed in a hotel in SJDS, someone tried to break into our room in the middle of the night. When we told the hotel managers the next day, they just laughed and said we must be mistaken.

SJDS is not as bad as everybody says. Yes alot of gringos but still a decent beach town. And if you try a bit you can get off the beaten path to experience the local culture. However, if you want to study Spanish, learn more about Nica culture and immerse yourself in the day to day life of a Latin American town, try Esteli. My wife and I did three weeks with a homestay through Escuela Horizonte (www.ibw.com.ni/u/horizont) Every aspect of the school, homestay and town was an amazing experience. We plan to return in the future for more Spanish classes. I guess you have to ask yourself what type of trip you want. Beach time while learning Spanish, big city life while learning Spanish (Leon/Granada) or small town farming community while learning Spanish (Esteli). Wherever you choose will be a great experience. Nicaragua is an amazing place to travel. Have a great time.

I'm not a fan of SJDS, too many gringos and bad water on the beach. Magajual was my favorite until the tore it down for condos. There's just not alot there for you.

I am a BIG Corn Island fan, both large and small. It's worth the trip.

I really like Bocas del Toro. Neat little town, touristy but still has a certain charm. If I had to choose between SJDS and Bocas, I'd defineatly do Bocas.

Oh, NO! Dolly when did they tear down Baja Magajual? What a shame. It was the perfect beach and little resort. Now, I guess we'll have to find another vacation spot. :-(

They closed it about 3 years ago. Very sad!!!

Oh my! I haven't been back to visit for about 2 years. We lived on Ometepe, so most of our time visiting is spent there. How sad.

Majagual is the beach to the right where u have to "climb" over a few rocks when u are at maderas facing the ocean?

Did that resort have a sort of green roof? I can only remember that thatched-roof hut and the packpackers-place where u could sleep in sort of "dog houses"..

Whats that other beach called there, where they're building a sort of huge resort right back off the beach?