A few questions about Nica

I was keeping my eyes on tickets to CA for after I get done teaching this semester, and I bought a ticket the other day to Nica for the middle of June on kind of a whim. I have a few questions that I hope people could help answer:

1) What kind of weather can I expect for the middle of June. I'll probably be in the touristy spots: Grenada, Ometepe, Leon, maybe the beach in San Juan, or venture North to the Mountians.

2) As a solo traveler, will it be difficult to hook up with day trips to the volcanos and other spots? I've gotten that sense from the boards here and I was a bit suprised to read that. I was in Guat last year and it would have been easy if I was solo. I heard Nica isn't as touristy, but I'm suprised to hear that I may have trouble even in a place like Grenada.

3) What's the best way to get to Leon from Grenada? Do I have to go back up to Managua, or can I catch a ride straight from Grenada?

Anything else I should consider or need to know. Thanks in advance.

Weather will be HUMID!!! June and July are the most humid months, not as much wind. I don't know about the rest as I don't travel solo and I rent a car. Go, you'll have a great time.

Its always hotter than hell in Nicaragua, as its mostly arid lowlands...

But, read the FAQ Nicaragua post, around #40-48....

Get the MOON Guidebook for Nica

Have fun

Ometepe always has a nice strong breeze...

If it were me, I would spend very little time in the places you mention due to the heat and humidity as mentioned above. If you keep heading north from Leon to Matagalpa, it gets much cooler. A bit north from there is Selva Negra, a coffee plantation with a small hotel and a neat little restaurant on the edge of a small lake. Cool temps, beautiful flora, wildlife and great hiking trails. Granted you won't want to stay very long as there isnt a lot to do other than hike, but its a nice respite from the heat of the lowlands.
We went directly from Granada to Leon, but I'll be darned if I can remember how we did it. Sorry, Its been a couple of years. And by the way, I liked Leon better than Granada. Pleasant old colonial city.
Curtis

"Granada" in June is actually quite temperate. The rains are of short duration and daily. I think it is the best time to visit Nicaragua. The foliage is much more lush and there is no dust in the air. From Granada, there are many reliable drivers who will take you to Masaya market and volcano, Mombacho, the pueblos blancos, the laguna de apoyo. From Granada to Leon, you can bus and transfer in Managua. It's really no problem at all. Have a review of Nicaragua on www.vianica.com All the info you want and more is there. For accommodation in Granada, friends have recommended Casa Silas B & B They keep track of the weather on their Facebook page too http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=2&aid=31015&id=19773708313 Buen Viaje. It's a wonderful country to visit. For the life of me, I can't understand why the other countries of CA get more traffic. On the other hand, not being overrun by tourists is one of the reasons I prefer it and others wouldn't.

I agree June is a good month to visit - the dry season is over so it is not so hot and dusty.

From any of the places you mention, day trips should not be a problem, they usually have a minimum number, but other singles, couples etc are signing up too.

From Granada (not 'Grenada'), I hightly recommend the Laguna de Apoyo either as a day trip or an over night stay at the Craters Edge (www.craters-edge.com). There is also a night tour to Volcan Masaya that includes sunset and bat caves that is very good. The tour goes from Granada, Masaya or the Laguna de Apoyo.

In Granada I like the Hostal Dorado (quieter, better accomodation for the same $), I find the Bearded Monkey & the Oasis noisy & over-rated (just my opinion : ), but a lot of people do like to hang out at them, so if you are looking to meet other back-packers they might be right for you

In San Juan del Sur, I recommend the Xamily hospedaje and the Coquito bar/restaurant (great open mic night on Thursdays). But again if you are looking to hook up with other backpackers, Casa Oro might be better.

Have a great time - Nica raugua is a wonderful country - but take care in Managua, it can be a dangerous city.

PS - if you take a micro bus to Managua from Granada, you can get another to Leon from the same terminal (UCA). Or so I am told - you may want to ask around once here to make sure.

For activities in/around Granada, if you want to hook up with a group and guide, I recommend Tierra Tours. They run trips to Mombacho for hiking and canopy zip line, Masaya for the night tour, they even do tours to the Pueblos Blancos and I think the isletas. However the hitch is that as a solo traveler, you need to be a bit flexible with your scheduling of trips since they need a minimum number of people to go out.

Tierra Tours also has a base in Leon but I've not used that office.

Easy enough to also arrange stuff through your hotel much of the time, they can often arrange drivers for you and it is fairly cheap to hire a taxi for the day. They can also arrange guides for volcano hikes (Ometepe) at your hotel.

Traveling solo is no different than in other central american countries, take usual precautions. Yes, from granada to anywhere north you have to go through Managua. You take the microbus that leaves a block from the parque central in granada (it says Granada-UCA, as it goes to the small bus station across the street from la UCA, the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua) and once there you walk 20 feet to the similar looking microbus that says "Leon-UCA" which will take you to the terminal de buses in Leon, a short cab ride from the center.

There was a recent conversation on here comparing Crater's Edge to Monkey Hut at Laguna de Apoyo, you may want to look for it as you may prefer one over the other. there are a couple other places at laguna de apoyo also. There have also been a few threads comparing Leon and Granada. Going north is a great idea, especially if you like quiet and cool.

Ditto the recommendation of Moon and vianica.com. I live in nicaragua nad use vianica all the time. The page also has an event calendar, though mostly managua with a bit of granada.

have fun!

I just got back from a 2 week solo trip to Nica. I was able to do a few tours through Tierra Tours in Granada. Like someone else mentioned, you have to be flexible as they require a minimum of two people for most of their tours. I did their evening tour of Masaya volcano, the kayak tour of las Isletas (I don't recommend using Tierra Tours for the kayaking), and the day time tour of Masaya and Masaya market. I also did the canopy tour through MomboTours, which was really great. Of course, most of these things you can do on your own or with other travelers that you meet if you don't want to be part of a tour. I wasn't staying at one of the busy hostels, but was still able to meet other travelers.

If you don't want to take the bus from Granada to Leon, Tierra Tours does offer a shuttle. I think they require 3 people to be signed up, so probably need to be flexible with that too.

Have a great trip!

Great Info here folks, thanks-

I will add this to the FAQ-

all excellent recommendations/comments.

I found Nicaragua harder to travel in than some of the other CA countries because a lack of tourist infrastructure and also general lack of numbers of people. I went to Tierra tour for about a week looking to hook up with others on specific tours and had to wait a lot. (this was October).
You might find it useful to hook up with others on an overall tour, i'm not sure - see
http://www.explore-central-america.com/travellers_wanted.html

Thanks to everyone for all the informative posts. A bit confused about the differing opinions on the weather.

I have a follow up question about Leon: Will it be as lively in the middle of June if the Universities are done for the semester? My Spanish isn't the greatest, but I was looking forward to the City being filled with University students. Any advice if I should head up there for the begining of the trip or the end? Unless I head up to the mountians, I'll probably be around Granada and Ometepe for the rest of the trip.

Hopefully everything works out as far as joining up with some groups for the daytrips. Any advice on tour operators? I see Tierra Tours name mentioned a lot on the boards, but someone said that they weren't that great for the kayaking trip.

Thanks again for all the great ideas!

Leon is full of students no matter which time of year you go.
If you take public transport chances are you will meet people on the bus/boat who are heading where you are and want to do the same tours. Tierre is great. When in Granada ask for David. He helped us organize our boat tour of the isletas than the next day offered to drive us to San Jorge. It was amazing. He took some 'off the beaten path' roads and taught us a lot about the country side and the people.
How much time do you have?
I had 2 months and did Ometepe twice, Granada, Apoyo twice, Masya, SJDS (blah), Playa Madera, Rio San Juan (awesome) San Juan Del Norte (hottest place I found in Nica) Bluefields twice but only as a stopover, Big and Little Corn (Little Corn is better) El Rama, Estili, Miraflor (interesting), Somoto and the Canyon of the same name (coldest place I found and the Canyon is a MUST).
I recommend to everyone not to spend your last night in Managua. I had one night there when I was seeing my friend off at the airport and that was enough for me. Because Managua is so close to many great places there is really no need to spend much time there. I generally love big crowded sensory overload type cities but Managua is not one of them.
I flew in and went to Granada (30 mins) If you arrange airport pickup make sure your driver is aware that it is included in the price and don't give him/her any money unless as a tip.
My flight Managua at 1am and I didn't leave Apoyo until 10pm. It's about 45mins and if you stay at Craters Ann will call her guy to drive you. I paid $17 but it may have gone up. It was the perfect way to end my time in Nica.
I'm also going to rave about vianica.com It was an amazing tool for planning my trip.
Have fun

FYI, Nicaragua and much of latin america operates on a different academic calendar, so students will definitely be around in June in Leon. Vacation is Nov-Jan. I made lots of great friendships with students when I was in Leon in college.