Hi everyone, 2 couples in late 40's are travelling to Nicaragua next Feb. for 10days. We are going to explore the place we want to move too in the next 4 years or so. We are looking to get a broad understanding of the location and want to ensure that includes Big Corn Island. We are using our Winter vacay time for the next 3 years to explore Nicaragua, Panama and Ecuador, starting with Nicaragua. It looks like flying in Managua is the least expensive flight and then we would branch out from there. We definitely want to be close to the water and we will be starting a business once set up there. We are just at the exploring and research point so far. Any suggestions of places to check out or a recommended path that would give us this overview will be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.
I would consider renting a car to explore the Pacific coast with limited time. You would need to fly to Corn Islands from Managua, for both little and big. 2 days Ometepe.
The MOON Guidebook covers the countries history, culture and recent popularity well.
Keep in mind its very Hot on the SW area, Pacific beaches and lowlands, and I mean hot.
The places you would want to go to look at for retirement are Granada, the San Juan del Sur area, Ometepe, Tola area, Matagalpa ( if you want to be in the mountains), Leon and the Corn Islands. This is my list of the places that will have other gringos there. The number of gringos will not be the same but there will be some. Granada and San Juan del Sur have the most. Of the islands, Little Corn has the most but is much harder to get to on a regular basis. Big Corns is starting to grow. Personally, I would choose Granada over Leon. Leon can get really hot. Granada can too but it is set up for tourism which brings with it a lot of things that gringos want. San Juan del Sur itself isn't all that great and neither is the quality of the water for swimming. There are a lot of smaller beaches just minutes away though and several retirement selections. Tola is up and coming. I chose the islands as I am a Caribbean girl. I like me sea water clear, calm and warm.. You can get anywhere in a taxi for pretty cheap. More chances of the cops and crazies stopping you in a rental. I always rented a car but stopped a couple of years ago and went with the taxis. That's my 2 cents.
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