You can rent mopeds on Ometepe if you want to. I've been to the island 4-5 times over the past 10 years, and I've noticed that the public transport has been getting a bit better. There are now more buses running than there used to be a decade ago. But if you want to go to San Ramon or some other place on the far south of the island, public transport is still really limited. And to move from the east side of the island to the Moyagalpa ferry terminal, you have to change buses in Altagracia, takes you a bit out of the way.

Really if you have 5 people, you should hire taxi to go places, since you'll have enough people to fill the vehicle, and it will be much faster than using buses.

Where south on the Pacific are you heading?
Ometepe has everything on your list and it's close. It's a great nature place, get some mopeds and cruise around.
Maybe even take a night from the coast (SJDS) and add it to Ometepe.

In a different thread you mentioned you might want to go to Leon as well. I would definitely include Leon. I have traveled extensively in Nicaragua but have yet to go to the Corn Islands. I am sure they are great if you are looking for a Caribbean island experience and one day I will go snorkeling there but there is just so much to do and see on the mainland.

Ometepe has the volcanoes (tough climbs), Charco Verde (beach, nature trail with wildlife, butterfly place, fun ziplining with great views at Chico Largo Adventure), Ojo de Agua (natural spring pool), San Ramon waterfall, kayaking (Rio Istian), petroglyphs, homestays...

Leon is a great colonial city and the volcanoes near Leon are amazing. Cerro Negro has an active crater, great views and you can board or run down. Volcano Telica has a very impressive crater. There are sunset tours but I love the overnight camping trip. You could start with Leon (day 2-4). Then go to Granada (day 5-6). Then Ometepe (day 7-10).

Thank you so much for your feedback. Any awesome things we must do in Granada, Playa Gigante or Ometepe?

I would also skip SJDS and add a day to Isla de Ometepe. I didn't like SJDS. With a day extra you can go kayak the Rio Istian and visit the beautifull San Ramon waterfall. I loved Isla de ometepe!
Maybe move from Isla de Ometepe to Rincon de la vieja? It's close to Liberia where the bus from Nicaragua drops you off.
In Puerto viejo you can visit the jaguar rescue center.

Also, Rio Celeste is beautifull but maybe it will take a lot of time for you to get there without renting a car. also you pay a lot to enter (18$). When I visited the water wasn't blue because of the rainfall.

I also rafted from Puerto viejo to San jose, don't know if you can do it cheaper..

Quiet beaches where I can walk and walk

The beach you want is Playa Jiquilillo in the north of Nicaragua. You can walk for 1-2 kms and maybe see only one other person. It's still very untouched by commercial activity. Most visitors eat at their lodging , because there are almost no restaurants, no stores either. And there you can do a kayaking trip into the adjacent nature reserve too. From there you can also do an overnight trip up to the Cosinguina peninsula, and trek up Volcan Cosiguina in a few hours with a guide. For some of the best views available in Central America, often with no other gringos.

Of course with 2 weeks you need to go down to Ometepe too. Despite the recent tourism spurt, most of Ometepe is still trapped in a way earlier time, just a great natural place.

Hey guys! So sorry for the long delayed reply... Work got so busy and I had to put my trip planning on ht back burner. Our interest are sight seeing and diving into the culture, but also being able to spend the day at the beach if we wanted to.

I noticed that most of these comments are all recommending Guatemala instead of Nicaragua? How come?

My friend was able to do more research than I was, and she thought we should fly into Nicaragua. She suggested Managua - Leon - Granada - Ometepe - San Juan del Sur - then head to Costa Rica for a couple of days to and fly home from San Jose. What do you folks think?