Matagalpa (and ?Somosoto Canyon) vs Isla Ometepe for 4 days

I will have 3.5-4 days of a 16 day trip that remain open.

I love nature, wildlife (will be going to Juan Venado separately), and moderate difficulty hikes.
This will be my first trip to Nicaragua (and most likely only one in the near future).

Matagalpa and the surrounding areas look very beautiful but Isla Ometepe seems to be a must.

Please vote (and help me decide)

...and thanks to those who have helped me in prior posts

It also depends where else you are going (before and after) but for me,I wouldn't miss Ometepe.

Climbing the volcanoes there is a couple of nice hikes....

Ometepe would get my vote.

Matagalpa and the area is very nice but Ometepe is outstanding.
By the way, guess you mean Somoto Canyon, that's closer to Esteli, just FYI.
4 days is good for Ometepe.

Ok I get the Idiot award for the misspelling of Somoto....Sorry! (And I cant seem to edit it hahah)
(thanks Hermosa Joe, I figured I could maybe spend a day and half getting to Esteli to check out the canyon)

I will be going to Leon, Little Corn, and Aposentillo.

Thanks for the votes guys.

Esteli is a very cool little town and the hiking around Miraflor is excellent, just more headaches for you........

omatepy my vote if nothing for more than the view approaching from across the lake in the ferry. I thought 3 nights was suffice.

This was your original itinerary:
Day:
1. Arrive MGA and fly to Big Corn-->Little Corn
2. Little Corn
3. Little Corn
4. Little Corn-->Big Corn->MGA (early flight)->Leon (hopefully by 1-2pm)//Explore Leon
5. Leon--Telica @night
6. Leon-->Jiquilillo a at night
7. Jiquilillo
8. Jiquilillo
9. Jiquilillo to (learn to) Surf Camp then back home 8 days later.

You were thinking of skipping Jiquilillo (as you already have a lot of beach time) and going to Ometepe instead but you were hoping to have 1-2 extra days. If you don't have those extra days it will be hard to fit Ometepe in. And you also have only two full days in Leon in which you now also want to go to Juan Venado in Las Penitas (a 30-45 minute bus ride from Leon).

For nature and wildlife I would choose Ometepe but I don't know if you have the time. The volcanoes on Ometepe are great but not moderate. Both are hard climbs.

Esteli is easier from Leon and near Esteli there is El Tisey, Miraflor and the Somoto Canyon. All can be great but all take time to get to. As for wildlife... in that area it is mostly birds.

Thanks for the new posts.

HermosaJoe--I have read on many sites that the hiking around Miraflor ranged from excellent to "being on farm"
(i've certainly never been but was curious with the farm description)

New itinerary is:
Day
1. Arrive MGA late at night
2. Early flight to Little corn
3. Little Corn
4. Little Corn
5. LCI to BCI to MGA to Ometepe (IO) via plane
6. IO
7 IO
8 IO
9 IO to Leon
10. Leon
11 Leon to Aposentillo (surf camp) [side trip to Juan Venado I think]
8 days later go home

(I could go to Leon one day earlier and decrease stay at IO to 2.5 days or stop by Granada on the way to Leon for one night)

Thx for input Sonia, somehow I was able to procure more days for vacation!

Miraflor is an agricultural cooperative with valleys, canyons, pockets of forest and at the highest point cloud forest. You can do a homestay there or stay at a finca. We did the latter and didn't have a great experience. I wish we had chosen the homestay. There is a lot of farming going on and the walks we did were not that great. But it rained a lot when we were there and we never managed to get a guide (the finca kept promising but it never happened). For the best hiking (and most chances of seeing wildlife) you need to find a guide who will take you up to the cloud forest.

El Tisey (near Esteli) has some nice hiking and we saw lots of birds including the national bird, the beautiful guardabarranco.

3 days Ometepe is great but it leaves you only 1 full day in Leon... Granada is nice but if you choose to spend less time on Ometepe I would add that time to Leon.

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