Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala

MGA>Masaya/Granada
Yes you can get to Masaya from MGA airport at night, just hire a taxi. Make sure your lodging in Masaya or Granada know your arriving late and give them the time. Even better have them send a driver to meet you.

Greytown/Bluefields Boats
It is no problem going from San Carlos/Rio San Juan to Greytown and onward to Bluefields. Boats are running.
Be sure to explore the Biospheres at El Castillo area. You can also take a bus from Managua to Rama, then take boats...

Nicaragua Beaches

I would not even bother going to San Juan Del sur, and focus on the Corn Islands and Las Penitas. SJDS is a tourist/backpacker ghetto that makes Vieng Vang Laos look good. (SE Asia). If you do go, be aware of the Bed Bug Issues in the hostels and low end lodging. You also can't swim off the town beach, and you need to commute to the nice beaches.

You can shuttle from Leon to Antigua...a very long ride, but possible to save time and hassle.

Honduras/Bay Islands/Utila

Its a great place to go scuba diving, though Utila is not really known for its beaches, it is known for having the second longest reef in the world, and being a great and inexpensive option for getting your PADI Open Water Diving Certification, $300 includes dorm lodging on Utila. Plan 5-6 days for this jaunt.

Getting there is not fast nor on the way to anything or anywhere, so you need to get a bus or shuttle to San Pedro Sula, then a bus to La Cieba, and then the ferry to Utila (morning and late afternoon). You also can fly from SPS to Utila, or Roatan, which has a nicer beach in West Bay, though its more touristy, I prefer to West End..and Halfmoon Bay.

Honduras/El Salvador

You also can take a boat from Potosi Nicaragua, to La Union El Salvador, which then puts you just south of the surf beaches in and around Playa El Tunco. From there you can shuttle to Guatemala City/Antigua, bypassing Honduras all together, and the major cities. (Best avoided).

Guatemala/Tikal

I would nip Tikal in the bud and go there via overnight bus from GC or Antigua, or fly from GC to Flores, and then shuttle or local van to El Ramente and Flores. Depending on time, you may want to consider breaking up the return trip to GC/Antigua via Lanquin/Copan a few nights. Or Vice versa from Antigua/GC to Flores.

Lake Atitlan is a pretty special place and relaxing too, you get around via boats to the various indigenous lakeside villages. Plan at least 4 nights around the lake.

Nature/Wildlife/Beaches

If you are not into culture, and seeking beaches and nature/wildlife and Bio Diversity, you really should head to Costa Rica, as it has the best beaches on both coast, in CA, it also has a plethora of National Parks and excellent eco systems and a wide variety of Bio Diversity and unique landscapes, rainforest, jungle, rivers, lakes, volcanoes, mangroves, waterfalls, marine refuges, pine forest, dry forest, cloud forest, canals galore. The beach and surf/party scene is also a mecca for fun and the younger crowd.

Overview
Nicaragua, El Salvador and for Guatemala, is not known for its beaches in comparison, other than its surf. But Guatemala is the cultural gem of the region, and is well worth 3 weeks of exploring, it also has a lot of great hiking/volcanoes to access, even as overnights...love Guatamala....

Just saying....

Thanks for the quick reply!
Yeah we thought about Costa Rica, but it sounded more touristy and is way more expensive... but I think Nicaragua/Guatemala has some nice places too.

Potosi to La Union looks like a nice way. Thanks

We might skip San Juan del sur. Not into partying that much ;)
and spend a bit more time elswhere.
How much time would you recommend around El Castillo?
Are there boats going every day now from Greytown to Bluefields?

Are your flights booked?

Your trip in Nicaragua is at least 3 weeks long and a bit fast. This does not include the time going past El Castillo to Blue Fields. Probably add a week for that including getting back to Managua which leaves 1 week, not much time getting to Guatemala City.

Do you guys dive? If not dump Honduras.
Do you guys surf?
Can you afford to fly from Managua to Guatemala City???????

Just a rough outline for time in Nic.

1 WEEK
* Masaya
* Granada
* Isla Ometepe

5-7 DAYS
* San Carlos -> El Castillo

5-7 DAYS
* Corn Islands

5-7 DAYS
* Leon
* Las Penitas

Thank you, we thought it might be a bit much. But it looks like we have to skip a few things anyway as there is no boat running between Granada-Ometepe-San Carlos at the moment due to the low water levels if this information is still right? It's on the Ometepe ferry HP. Or are there any locals taking backpacker across on smaller boats?

We are happy to fly between Nicaragua and Guatemala if time gets short. Or even back from Corn Islands.

You can fly to San Carlos from Ometepe and Managua, probably the same flight. Last I saw the ferry is not running.
You can bus from Managua to San Carlos, the road is new, about 5-6hrs.

Don't take the open water from Bluefields to the Corns. Long boat trip and crazy, IMO.
Fly RT from Managua, even the water taxi from Big Corn to Little Corn is a bit hairy from other posters on here.
Oh yeah, SJDS is a real pit of a town, IMO.

I'd fly from Managua to GC.

If you want to see Antigua and Lake Atitlan as well as Tikal you'll want about 3 weeks. There is an over night bus from Guatemala City and 2 flights in the morning and 2 in the evening. Might break up the trip in Copan or Rio Dulce.

Nicaragua.- You'll want 5-7 days if you do the corns, fly to Big then water taxi to Little, stay a few nights then reverse.

Or

2 Nights - Masaya
1 N - Granada
3-4 N - Ometepe
2-3 N - Leon
2-3 N - Las Peñitas or Jiquilillo - http://rancho-esperanza.com/

Guatemala

2 Nights - Antigua
5-7 N - Lake Atitlan
2 N - Antigua
3-4 N Copan or Rio Dulce - http://www.hotelitoperdido.com/main.php?page=activities& http://fincatatin.com/Code/HTML/English/en_welcome.html

2-3 N - Tikal

3 nights open, maybe fly one way to Tikal and then bus the other way, break it up.

CR is no more touristy than any of the places you will be going on this trip, in fact, some are more touristy, like Granada, Antigua and Tikal...

Wow, you've got a lot of comments. I won't repeat topics that have been covered well.

After Nicaragua we want to travel to Honduras. Is there a border crossing that is particular scenic?
Any places we shouldn't miss in Honduras or El Salvador?

You have basically 3 different border crossings to choose from leaving Nicaragua. And before you choose a border crossing you need to choose whether you want to transit toward Guatemala by the El Salvador route, or go overland through Honduras and possibly hit the Bay Islands in Honduras before crossing to the Caribbean coast of Guatemala.

The lowland Guasale border crossing is the best one if you're coming from the Nicaragua beaches and want the fastest route to El Salvador. You'd use that if you don't want to pay for a really expensive boat service across the Gulf of Fonseca to El Salvador.

The El Espino border is best if you want to visit the Somoto canyon, with the great trekking and swimming in the river there. Using that border, starting from Somoto you're 4 chicken buses away from the El Salvador border, or also 4 chicken buses away from Tegucigalpa (Tegus) if you're going the long way across Honduras. So the El Espino border does not offer the easiest transit options.

The Los Manos crossing is also within a couple hours of Somoto or Esteli, Nicaragua, in the mountains. If you have good timing, you can go from this border all the way to Tegus on one transit van, or 2 at most. So this is the fastest way to get to Tegus. It's very scenic, but so is the El Espino route.

If you go by bus through Honduras, the places you should aim to spend nights would be Comayagua, a colonial town a few hours north of Tegus, and also the mountain town of Gracias. The 2nd is located in a particularly beautiful mountain area. But from Gracias, I'm sure you'd need to hire a private guide to explore there, because there's not much of a tourist industry. You can head for the coast via San Pedro Sula, or you can also head for Copan Ruinas, which is one of the best Mayan archaeology sites, and enter Guatemala that way. But via Copan is not going to take you to the Bay Islands.