I love Ometepe but only you can decide if it is a must see for you. I don't know how busy Ometepe gets the week before Easter. I have heard it is not only beaches that attract lots of people that week but any body of water. You can get around by public bus. Granted, there are not that many buses depending on where you are going (and hardly any on Sundays) but a combination of buses and taxis should work well. You can also ask your hotel about transportation. I would pick a place on Playa Santo Domingo (if being on the beach is important) or in Balgue. Or Merida but that is more isolated. What does your family like? A homestay could be a great experience, especially during Semana Santa. There are the two volcanoes of course. If they are too tough to climb you can also hike at the base of Maderas. There is the San Ramon waterfall, Ojo de Agua natural spring pool, Charco Verde nature reserve and Chico Largo Adventure ziplining, kayaking, horseback riding... If you like rural communities, lake beaches and amazing volcano views you will love Ometepe.

Hello mrmoto,

-Do you know if the roads in Nicoya (Tamarindo and RNVS Ostional) are OK for a standard car (coming ffrom Liberia-RinconDeLaVieja) ?

-Coming from Nicaragua (Ometepe exactly), the day 1 of january (monday) there will be buses and transport Ometepe-Rivas to Liberia (holiday maybe..) ? the borders will be running as usual ?

Thanks in advanced. Iskander

In general it looks good, but you're too rushed. What you can do instead of going to San Juan del Sur is visit the Las Penitas beach resort, which is only 1/2 hour by bus from Leon. You can take a surf lesson there too, and actually the beach at Las Penitas is much better than the beach in the town at SJDS.

The town of SJDS has a lousy beach, and is overflowing with gringos. To find a good beach, you need to take bus or taxi 15 minutes north or south of the town.

You need to pick up at least one day anyway, because

Day 5: Travel to Ometepe - relax
Day 6: Hike Maderas
Day 7: Travel to Granada explore town and Isletas tour

is too fast. If you want to relax on Ometepe, you'll need 3 nights instead of two. With the tranport time needed to get around the island, 2 nights on Ometepe isn't enough.

If and when the OP comes back to this thread, and looks like eventually he will, perhaps 'Seeing is Believing' will be more convincing. Scroll back a couple of days to see graphic reports of the 14-month old that took a bullet to the head!

#8 - thanks so very much for sharing this first-hand account. "Yet the reality has been worse that anything I expected." I shouldn't, yet can't tear myself away from the daily events. The link above keeps my news feed full. Posts from former students, friends, Expats all but surreal!

A longtime Ometepe resident posted yesterday: Day 67, 238 killed, 100s injured, countless detained or 'desaparecido.' They've rented their home indefinitely to a family wanting out of Managua, and preparing to leave. Ferry service to the island has been limited; getting from the port/Rivas area to Peñas Blancas border crossing still possible but questionable - from exactly the 'getting around' issues described by #8.

Quite a few photos were posted of the abandoned streets of Moyogalpa, everything shuttered, named businesses closed for good. While Ometepe has been spared most of what's happening in other parts of the country, I thought it interesting one of the main safety concerns now is coming from home invasions at the hands of island "drug thugs" - who no longer have tourists to rob to support their habits.

Yes I know, that shocks me too even with scattered reports of tourists getting rolled on Ometepe.

I took a shuttle from Leon to Rivas (the little town where the ferry to Ometepe is) for $20 through Bigfoot Hostel. I stayed at the hostel, but I believe you can still take the shuttle even if you're staying elsewhere. You can also take a shuttle from Rivas to Leon, if that's your route. Check out their website for the schedule of stops: http://www.bigfoothostelleon.com/shuttle

Personally my two favorite countries in Central America last year were Honduras and El Salvador. Juayua was personally for me my favorite place in central america. I also very much enjoyed the Lago de Yojoa region.

I would never say a bad word about Guatemala, been there 3 times now, gets a kiss on the cheek from me. Nicaragua is of course amazing as well. Cuisine is relatively similar in terms of traditional foods. The best culinary scene in CA is probably Antigua in Guatemala and Granada because of the influx of visitors. Flores in Guate also had a surprising great selection of food.

Hiking beautiful viewpoints. Atitlan in Guate, Cerro Verde in El Salvador, Santa Barbara in Honduras, Omtepe in Nicaragua. I did not do much hiking in Belize so can't compare. Lovely reefs, snorkeling and diving though. I'm no expert on beaches sorry. But I would say if you want a mix of beautiful beaches and some mountains vistas it's Nicaragua for sure in terms of proximity. Really though can't go wrong in this region. Hope you enjoy your trip

If you can still change the order I would go to Ometepe, Granada, San Ramon. We get around by bus, minibus and the odd taxi. Getting to Ometepe is easy. Bus to Rivas, taxi to San Jorge, ferry/boat to Ometepe (if you do have a car ask your hotel to make a reservation for the ferry). On Ometepe there are buses but not that many depending on where you are going and hardly any on Sundays. But you can rent a scooter or take taxis.

Of course you could rent a car to go to San Ramon. To me it depends a bit on where you are staying and what you will be doing there (will the car just be sitting there when you get there?). To get to Matagalpa by bus it is probably easiest to go to Managua. Take a minibus from Granada to the UCA bus station in Managua and then a taxi to Mercado Mayoreo and a bus to Matagalpa. Depending on where you are staying in San Ramon you can take a bus or you will have to ask the place you are staying at about transportation.

San Ramon to Ometepe is a long trip (Matagalpa, Managua, taxi to mercado Roberto Huembes, bus to Rivas, taxi to San Jorge, ferry/boat to Ometepe) which is why I would change the order of your itinerary. If you can't maybe renting a car would be the best option.

Am thinking of bussing from San Carlos to Managua, then up to Leon for a couple days and then a bus Managua to San Jose and poss stop Granada and San Juan del Sur. But is this too much for 1 week?

Yes, too much for a week. Starting from San Carlos and finishing in Costa Rica, technically you could do it in a week, but it would mean 3 days of the week would be entirely consumed by bus travel. You really don't have the time to get all the way up to Leon. You could do Solentine islands, plus Granada and SJDS.

Or I guess you could enter Nicaragua at Penas Blancas, and do Ometepe plus Granada and SJDS. Either way you'll need most of a day to get back to San Jose starting from SJDS or from Ometepe. Don't do it on Saturday. The immigration line at Penas Blancas gets crazy on Saturday.