Best & Worst of San Juan del Sur

What are best and/or worst things about San Juan del Sur and its surroundings? My wife and I are considering studying Spanish there this summer and don't care about surfing.

Last time I was in Tamarindo they had signs up saying don't swim in the water.
I think it was something like 600 times over the international clean water levels.
So SJDS is definitely not my fave beach anywhere but still nowhere near as bad as Tamagringo.

Good: - Plenty of restaurants, bars, hotels. Pelican Eyes if you have the money to stay there!
Good surfing
Good sport fishing, beaches nearby are lovely.

Bad: - Too many gringos- though some may think that's good- and tourists, not particularly nice beach for swimming, a lot of bars/restaurants are expensive by local standards. Nightlife is generally, get drunk listening to Bob Marley with a lot of 'dudes', nothing unique or 'cool' about the place!

Tamarindo is perfectly safe to swim at, thats was during rainy season, and at least CR checks levels of bacteria, does Nicaragua?

And, SJDS is a shithole IMHO, and you cant swim off the main beach as well, due to pollution!

SJDS is a dirty, hot, not very tropical in feel, too many gringos, overpriced, and dull as a town can be place.

I would go to Leon, Granada, or anywhere in Costa Rica, long before SJDS.

I love Nicaragua, but SJDS is a waste if your time. (Even if you surf)

I echo the various negative posts....

Too many gringos to learn Spanish, even the sodding market comedor menues are in english (there are normally no menues, even in Spanish!). If you want to learn effectively and cheaper, go to Xela, Guatemala. SO much more to do, but no beach (you can only look at the one in SJdeS anyway!)

Along these lines...we're planning a 12 day trip in May in which we'd hope to hit Leon, Grenada (day trip to Masaya), Ometempe & then spend a chill few days at a beach at the end of our trip after volcano hiking. I was thinking SJDS becuase it seems relatively easy to get to (would greatly prefer Corn Islands, but the cost of getting there may make that unrealistic). Are there any other beaches you'd recommend for our itinerary? It seems like a lot for 12 days so I may need to cut something out? Pefer not to cut out the beach. We are nature lovers and NOT bar hoppers--early to bed, early to rise. Would love a swimmable beach, but it sounds like those are few & far between on the pacific. Could you recommend somewhere else for us if SJDS is that bad? Thank you!

Playa Jiquilillo... it is swimmable, and there is also a huge estuary just north of it. Seems like, despite consistent recommendtions, nobody ever goes there... which is probably a good thing for people like me who don't necessarily like annoying drug-craving drunk gringos...as they won't find their "scene" at Jiquilillo.

I like Jiquilillo!

Try a flight to the Corn Islands for beach time. The school at Laguna de Apoyo sounds really neat, plus there are some in the Granada area worth checking out.

BEST: the restaurant scene (not a huge variety, but a small selection of some of the best in the country), the beaches just out of town that are a little tricky to get to (bike, bus + 2km walk, $5 shuttle or taxi) but totally swimmable, clean and picturesque, and La Flor nature reserve and thousands of turtles nesting (again, not too far out of town)

WORST: all of the gringos who moved to costa rica, then decided that there were too many gringos there, so moved to nicaragua and are now bitching about how there are too many gringos there, too (and all of this without any sense of irony whatsoever).

If you don't care about surfing, I'd put in a vote for Leon, too - it's much prettier, much more nicaraguan, has a good selection of spanish schools and there are lots of things to do on weekends - volcano climbs, the juan venado nature reserve, arguably the best art gallery in central america and Las Peñitas - a good beach an hour out of town.

I like Jiquilillo, too, but (as far as I know) there are no spanish schools there and really, it's a village - I think I would go insane if I spent longer than a week there...

I'm the initial poster. We'll spend 3-4 weeks studying in Guatemala and then want to continue on to a beach location (8 weeks grand total). We're considering SJdS, Tamarindo, and Bocas del Toro. Tamarindo's 3 schools are nearly twice as expensive as SJdS but it's prettier. Bocas del Toro is in between price wise but it's a long trek (or pricey flight) from Guatemala. Thoughts?

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?

Majagual was right on the beach. To get there you took a beach taxi in SJDS or a truck taxi. The buildings were set back from the beach...a thatched rancho restaurant. In front of the restaurant was a painted blue speckled dorm. Then you walked down a path to the right of the dorm to another dorm with a small campground space in front of it. There were also a couple of private cabins to rent there.

SJDS was a huge regret for my friend and I. We spent the time to get there hoping to chill out on the beach, knowing that it would be fairly touristy judging by how many surfer types were on that bus. It was so much worse than we could have imagined. It was a Monday night and you would have thought it was Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. People cursing and puking below our window all night (in English of course). Granada would be a much better place to spend an extended time to study.

Puking in English. Gross.