Trip report

Hello!
I just came back from my 3 week trip to Nicaragua and here is my report and my recommendations...
We started with 3 days at Playa Maderas, north of San Juan del Sur.
So many comments about SJDS here-YES it is a gringo spot with lots of tourists, but the northern beaches are quite nice and there are some good restaurants right at the beach (Taco Locos).
Just a 10 minutes walk further on at Matilda Place and Majagual a perfect beach for a nice swim and definitely not crowded.
For the next 5 days we went to Ometepe, one of our highlights.We stayed at Moyogalpa first, a good base for Conception (I "just" climbed up to the 1000m treeline, which was hard enough for me).From Moyogalpa it is easy to rent a bicycle and go to Charco Verde lagoon, which is nice for a halfday trip.
In our hostal at Hospedaje Soma (very good, lovely cabins, rooms and dorms and a beautyful garden)we build a group with other backpackers and took a taxi to San Ramon waterfall, a nice hike and a refreshing swim there.
Next we went to Playa Santo Domingo at the islands isthmus for daytrip to Ojo de Agua (nice mineral water pools-but go early in the morning, after lunch it is very crowded).
In the evening we took the night ferry from Altagracia to San Carlos, which was not too bad, even we had a rough sea. We went on to Boca de Sabalos for another 4 days at Rio San Juan River.
Hotel Sabalos is a perfect spot right at, no on the water, we did a night caiman tour and did some kayaking on Rio Sabalos. Boca de Sabalos is a very authentic place, a real alternative to touristic El Castillo, which can be done on a day trip from Boca de Sabalos.
From there we went all the way to the north to Matagalpa, with the boat to San Carlos and busses to Managua and Matagalpa.
In Matagalpa we did some hiking at the nature reserve of Cerro Apante .From Cotran Sur in Matagalpa we got a minibus to Apante and walked to the mirador through nice dry forest ful of birds and butterflies.
We did another walk to the Cascada Blanca, a beautiful waterfall with a cave behind and a good swim under the waterfall. We also did the coffee farm of Selva Negra, also nice for a day to walk through tropical forest and have a real good coffee at the lakeside restaurant.
The next days we stayed at really hot Leon and the beach Las Penitas. We loved Leon, some people told us not to go to Leon Granada is much nicer....IT IS NOT- Leon is so authentic, not too many tourists and it was nice to explore all the churches (don´t miss the rooftop tour at the main cathedral), markets and good restaurants.
Compare to Granada there is a local life here, not everything is prepared for tourists...
Las Penitas has a nice beach, but high waves, also good restaurants with incredible fresh fish, I recommend Barca de Oro.
Our last two night we spent at Laguna de Apoyo with wonderful, clean water, we stayed at San Simian Lodge, the perfect spot for exploring the laguna itself, Masaya and Granada.
Granada has the nicest cafes in Nica with beautiful patios, but it seems that nothing anymore is in local hands-
but it is still a relaxing town.
In Masaya we went to the hammock factory , to the local market(new market), which is chaotic but nicer then the
"clean"tourist market(Old market).If you like shopping and you still have some place in your bagpack this is the right
place.
Ups, a long report - finally I can say Nicaragua is a perfect place for nature lovers with very different parts from volcanos, forests , beaches...
We are two women in the mid of 40 and we always felt very safe in Nica.
My friend is a muslim woman, always wearing a scarp-maybe some of you remember my posts-
we always felt welcomed and had never problems with discimination, perfect vacation in a lovely country.
Sorry, my english is not the best, I hope I could give some advices...
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Very nice report , thank you. Good you enjoyed Leon, great place.

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Nice report. I felt the same way about Granada vs Leon. Masaya was a bit of a letdown for me as well. I didn't find either market all that interesting. I didn't get to Laguna de Apoyo proper, just saw it from the Mirador, which was just "eh." I wish I'd just taken the day to go down to the lake.

Matagalpa is great, maybe my favorite city of those I visited in Nicaragua. I didn't have time for Selva Negra, I chose to do two hikes up into the mountains and villages above town, with very thorough text directions I bought from Cafe Girasol. I also did the Mirador hike in Apante.

I wish I'd gotten to Boca de Sabalos, but I had to spend the morning of my free day in San Carlos finding another hotel, and the one for my first night was a bit rough for my tastes, even for $3.

Thanks for the report.

It sounds like you had a nice trip. Thanks for the informative report!

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Great report, and you were not rushed either, that is a nice trip on all levels. Thanks for sharing, Nicaragua is great.

Did you go to El Castillo? You are comparing it to Sabello but it doesn't sound like you actually went there. Hard to compare unless you go. Thanks for the report.

Hello Dollyd!
Yes,I went to El Castillo, but just for a few hours during the day.
I liked El Castillo, we strolled along the nice village, the fort and had a lunch at Vanessa.
Sorry, but my favorite is Sabalos and Sabalos Hotel, because it was so nice to sit on the wooden terrace directly above the water...
Doesn´t mean that El Castillo is not nice, but most of San Juan River tourist go directly to Castillo,missing Sabalos special atmosphere.

I stayed at Sabello Lodge too. Nice spot, especially in the early morning.

I stayed at Sabalos Hotel, right at the river Sabalos junction- the one with the large balcony over the river.
Sabalos Lodge is a different one, I just passed it, it´s a few hundred metres further on, but it also looked nice from the water.