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Greetings fellow travelers! I appreciate all feedback :)

The boy and I will be in Nicaragua for 18 days and have a few goals. Stay at a lovely beach with cheap options where he can surf, I can study a little spanish and we can both take some yoga classes (and perhaps some cooking classes). We are big foodies. He still needs to work and need internet access from his laptop. I have read mixed reviews about San Juan del Sur, but he seems to be set on the place.

During the latter the end of our trip we would like to do some heavy duty hiking/trekking. Perhaps even hire a guide for a 1-3 day excursion.

We are not attached to any particular place or idea but hoping we can find some yummy tropical paradise. Is this possible. Please help!

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1

have you looked a guide book, moon guides seem to be highly recommended as your question is very vague to answer.

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2

Have you checked out http://www.quetzaltrekkers.com/nichome.html in Leon for the hiking yet? Ometepe sounds like it has a couple big hikes.

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3

The beaches north and south of SAN JUAN DEL SUR are nice.
My faves are La Flor, Majagual, Yanqui, Maderas and Gigante!
You could probably come to arrangement with one of the restaurants in SJDS LIKE El Colibri to do cookery classes.
Plenty of 'cheap' hostels in SJDS!
Surfing is one of its main draws, so no problems there.

Tropical paradises exist in Bacardi ads only, Nicaragua is a country with many beautiful things to see & experience but is firmly located on planet earth!!

There are lots of different options for 'treking/hiking' what areas were you thinking of?
My favourite is the 'Rio San Juan' tour ending up in the beautiful Indio Maíz National Reserve.
It's usually between 3 and 5 days.
You can only get into the reserve now with officially licensed and permit holding guides.
Not 'cheap' but a great trip.
More details HERE

You can do a trek to the cloud forest atop Mombacho Volcano which is a day trip from Granada.
Treking at SELVA NEGRA and MIRALOR RESERVE are both good.

Footprint & Moon are good guide books!

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4

you can do yoga classes in granada

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5

This place has yoga in San Juan del Sur: http://www.nicayoga.com/

I haven't been, but when I investigated doing the drop-in classes they seemed like really friendly and helpful expat yogis. With so many foreigners in SJDS I imagine there are other places that offer yoga classes.

There is a lot of SJDS hating on this forum. Perhaps I just have different tastes that those people would call bad, or because I'm young-ish (not yet 30), or because I live in Managua and almost never see another foreigner, at least not one who doesn't live here, and despite the fact that I first went there 10 years ago when there wasn't a cali white boy surfer in sight, I kinda like the gringo party seen and fun vacation atmosphere. Though that hardly defines or consumes the place... that's like 2 blocks of town. And when people say that, DON'T think Cancun. Think beach town with a nice variety of budget hostals and B&Bs, a few yummy expaty restaurants, a couple surf shops, and a somewhat gringo-ized market. But then again, I live here so when I go there I am looking for a vacation scene, not the same "real Nicaragua" that I live in every day. However, the real Nica is in SJDS also, if you find people who aren't tourists or expats. The people from San Juan aren't complaining either, as business is booming (despite questions we may have about the sustainability and long term economic impact of so many expat owned businesses). I haven't seen anywhere in Costa Rica that was better, or made SJDS look bad, especially if you take into consideration the beautiful beaches north and south of town. Anyway, just take into consideration who is talking and what they are looking for in a beach town when reading reviews.

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6

You have to be kidding..... what about rivers to cross? Take the damn bus.

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