Itinerary Help - Nicaragua 10 Days in March (including 2 travel days)

#16 Chriscan is a full of BS- Dont take the advice.

hahahaha
say what you mean Tim don't beat around the bush!

ouch

San Juan Del Sur is fine but it is a small community and too many expats for my taste. It's a quaint town and a nice spot to spend a night and see a sunset and enjoy a diner but, one day is enough. Granada is a great base to see several communities nearby. Buses are about .50 to the Pueblos Blancos of Diria, Diriomo, San Juan De Oriente and Catarina. Another .50 will get you to Masaya to take in the markets. You might want a cab ride to get up to Volcano Masaya though. I'd spent two days on Ometepe considering how much of your time will be travel. In Granada, Casa Silas B & B, and Hotel Terresol, both southwest of the central parque are comparable accommodation options. See vianica.com for reviews.

I'm not sure how you are planning to get from place to place, but if you are going to take the buses you should go to less places. The time you waste traveling between places will take up most of your vacation. We did a 10 day trip that you can find on here. We visited the Corn Islands, Granda, and Ometepe. I would contact nicaraguan adventures. They can give you a custom tour that really isn't much more than if you did it on your own. You can tell them what places you want to stay at and they will incorporate that in, but it makes traveling between places a lot easier.

Thanks Brothbart. I've since paired down our itinerary: we're spending 3 nights in Granada, 3 nights @ Ometepe, and 2 nights in Leon. We figured this would give us plenty of time in each location, and wouldnt be as much running around.

Planning day trips to Mombacho and Masaya while we're in Granada - still trying to figure that out. Ometepe,we're going to play by ear, but I'm interested in hiking the volcanos, Oja de Agua, and the Ramon Falls. In Leon, we're still debating between Cerro or a beach day, since we'll only have one a half days there and leave from Leon to the airport to end the trip.

Any suggestions for Granada day trips and must-see sights and also Cerro vs. beach day while we're in Leon? I've heard las Penitas is nice (thenicaraguablog.com and many others!).

Thanks!

Here is what we did with Nicaraguan adventures http://www.nica-adventures.com/

Wednesday, January 28 –
Our driver and tour guide (Enrique or Henri) picked us up at 9:00 am to take us on our day long tour. Our first stop was the Masaya Volcano, where they have a nice museum. After visiting the museum we walked up to the cross and around the volcano. We saw some great hawks and you could see a lot of the country side from up here. Enrique was telling us about the night tour they do where you can sometimes see lots of animals that aren’t around during the day and visit to the cave.

After hiking around the Volcano we visited the Markets where I picked up some hammocks ($20 each) and some fruit. We then went to Catarina, a town that over looks Laguna de Apoyo where we were supposed to hike to the previous day. After lunch we hired a local kid to take us down to the lake. It isn’t a bad walk down, but it is a little tough coming up. It was hot (middle of the day) and we ran out of water. So if you plan on doing this hike. Tip 1 start from the bottom. Tip 2 do it early in the day. Tip 3 bring plenty of water. It was a nice hike though. Saw some birds and monkeys. The water felt really good after the hike down. It took us about 1hr and 10 minutes down and 1hr and 20 minutes up. We paid the kid $15 for the trek. I think they normally get around $9.

After the hike we were pooped so we decided to go back to the hotel. That is the great thing about hiring your own guide. You can do what you want.

Thursday, January 29 – Our driver again picked us up at 9:00. We headed to the Mombacho Volcano. After waiting for the truck to drive us up to the entrance we headed off. On the way up we stopped off at a coffee farm. Where we had a taste of the coffee and purchased some a bag for $5. It is a nice ride up to the entrance; we saw some birds and monkey. I would suggest bring a light coat though because it can be windy and rainy and it a few degrees cooler.

There is also a nice museum here at the entrance to the Volcano. You have the choice to a easy 1 hour hike or hire a guide for a 4.5 hour hike. We decided to just do the hour hike. We were lucky in that we had great views. At times it can be very cloudy and you may not see anything, but we were lucky we could see the Las Isletas, the city Granada, Masaya Volcano, and Laguna de Apoyo. However, we were not lucky enough to see any frogs or the orange salamander though. We had to wait about 45 minutes for the truck to take us back down to the parking lot.

We then headed to Granada to have lunch. I can’t remember what the exact name was, but it was a Spanish restaurant with Mediterranean in it. The food was really good and they had great Sangria.

After lunch we headed for Las Iletas to go on our boat tour or the islands. This was great relaxing way to spend the afternoon. The tour was a bout 1.5 hours. We saw some the very impressive houses, Monkey Island, an island with these great birds with yellow tails. After the river tour we went back to our hotel and bid our tour guide Enrique farewell. He was a great guide. We couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

15 - I like the cowpoke town.. Have a drink at the Scorpio or the Campo. Things happen. I found the cockfights to be really fun there. I can see how it isn't for everyone though so I respectfully disagree with your opinion.

I was there the week before the last election. That was a funny trip. I got a ride from some Sandinistas who I was playing pool with in the back of a truck full of their red and black flags, people giving me the number 2 sign.

After that, in San Juan del Sur, I ended up in the back of another truck that decided to join the victory parade heading back to town from surfing. I didn't even know the guys I was surfing with were Sandinistas but we drove around for hours with people out in the streets cheering.

It was one of the coolest weeks of travel I remember.