Save Granada (or better yet, Laguna Apoyo) for the end, as it is close to airport. Granada is touristy, and a few hours will suffice as far as the town itself is concerned.

Good strategy so far as being near the airport at the end. Yes, Granada is touristy. But often tourists go to a particular place for good reason. Tourists love Granada because it is one of the most beautiful small colonial cities anywhere in Central America. The museum at the San Francisco convent has an amazing collection of Pre-Colombian statues.

On Ometepe island, the best area to stay is the middle of the island around Playa Santa Cruz or Baigue. With intermediate fitness level, you should be able to manage a hike 1/3 of the way up Volcan Madera from Finca El Porvenir to the mirador, where the view is really great. El Porvenir is a nice place to stay too.

We just looked up for information about your advice atz111. That would make it easyer. We are going to be in Nicaragua for 2 weeks definitly. We wanted to do everything in two weeks, a jungle trip the islands and see Granada ometepe and so forth.. making the plans we didnt read enough information about getting to the rainforrest, we arrive the 19th at 11:30 Pm and leave August 3rd at 6:00 so we already have a two day loss. Thats Why we want to travel from one place to the next asap. You guys are great help though!

December is when tourism starts picking up. Its the beginning of the dry season, easier to get around, and its cold in america/europe so everyone wants to go where its warm. Late November early december is a good time to come because the rainy season is ending so everything is still super green and lush, but its not all muddy and wet all the time.

Yes, they cut the power off at pre-arranged times. Its all from diesel generators. Usually its on for some hours each day. However, if its broken, it could be down for an extended period of time. Some hotels and restaurants and stuff have their own generator so they might have power all the time, or at least power more often.

Doesnt matter which side first. Thats up to your preference.

Boats dont overturn between Bluefields and Corn Island. There has really only been one time in many years where there was an accident between big and little corn, and that was on a day when the boats were told not to go because of the weather but the captain ignored it and went anyway

Ometepe isnt really a beach place. Its a tourist location, but its a huge island, and there are plenty of places to go without tourists or parties. SJDS and the surrounding beaches (tola, popoyo, gigante, maderas, marsella, etc) all have a reputation for being surf/party beaches. If you are looking to avoid that, you can just go to any beach north of Tola.

Not necessary to book in advance, unless you have specific tastes. Everywhere always has plenty of rooms if you arent picky. But if you need A/C or wifi or something special, then book ahead. The luxury places usually book up faster than the local place with a bed and a fan. I prefer booking as i go because it keeps the itinerary open. Never once been left without a room, even on christmas/new years.

No. Most of Nicaragua is farther than 4 hours from those cities. But as far as tourists know or care, most all of Nicaragua is within a few hours of those cities. There is a majority of the country that is 12+ hours away, and much of it on the caribbean side is accessible only by boats and animals, and can take multiple days of traveling to arrive. But for most tourists the small swath of pacific from Leon-Managua-Granada-Ometepe-SJDS is all of Nicaragua.
The rest of the country has a lot to offer, and some of the best places (in my opinion) are out there, but the difficulties in getting there, and the fact that they are not luxurious / westernized or well publicized means that they are rarely visited.

If you were in La Gamba you were close to Piedras Blancas, right? I haven't been but it is not that far from the Osa. So yes, the wildlife there must have been great. So is the wildlife in the Puerto Jimenez area (Dos Brazos de Rio Tigre, Cabo Matapalo, Carate) but getting to the Osa and back takes time. Also, if you wanted to do the three day trek to the Sirena ranger station in Corcovado Park (20 km hike to get to Sirena, hike around Sirena on day 2, 20 km back out) that is expensive as you need a guide, permits, reservations... You can also enjoy that area without entering Corcovado. Nice rainforest trails and lots of wildlife outside of the park as well. If you are interested, let me know but you would need at least 5 days (assuming you are not flying but taking the bus). The other great area for wildlife is the Caribbean coast. Like I said: the beaches south of Puerto Viejo and Cahuita. In the Cahuita National Park we saw many sloths, monkeys, lizards, birds. We also saw agoutis, eyelash vipers... In Manzanillo (there is a wildlife refuge there too) we also saw poison-dart frogs. If wildlife is more important than rafting you could go to Tortuguero after Cahuita and there is also Sarapiqui.

You will also see some wildlife in Nicaragua (but CR is the best country for wildlife). I don't see how you could fit in the Rio San Juan area (Los Guatuzos is great). Unless you cross the border at Los Chiles-Las Tablillas after Tortuguero and Sarapiqui (you could also go to Cano Negro for more wildlife if you do that). But for Los Guatuzos (that would be my pick but there is also El Castillo and Indio Maiz) you need at least 3 days. Los Guatuzos has wetlands and rainforest and lots of wildlife (I loved the giant iguanas) and you would have to get there by boat from San Carlos (boats go most days but not daily). But then you would either have to fly to Ometepe (I believe only on Thursdays and Sundays) or you would have to take a bus to Managua (6-7 hours) and then first make your way south for Masaya, Granada, Ometepe and SJDS and then back to Managua and to Leon. So that might all take too much time. In the area you were planning to go to you would see monkeys and birds on Ometepe (nature trail at Charco Verde around dawn and dusk, at the base of the volcanoes, maybe at Ojo de Agua natural spring pool, at the San Ramon waterfall, while kayaking...). The best spot near Granada is Chocoyero-El Brujo (actually closer to Masaya) but an overnight would be best as again, wildlife is most active at dawn and dusk. Many birds there (and green parakeets at the waterfall), monkeys and we also saw an anteater and a boa constrictor. In Guatemala the best spots for wildlife are Tikal and Yaxha.

Hiking: you are young and if you are fit as well you should have no problem with some of the easier-medium hikes. The volcanoes on Ometepe are both tough and so is Acatenango near Antigua (amazing overnight trek with great views and you will see active volcano Fuego erupt). Ometepe would be hot but Acatenango gets very cold at night and you would have to be acclimatized. But even if you don't climb the volcanoes on Ometepe I would still go as the volcanoes are also amazing to see and there is a lot more to do on the island.

The trail in the Cahuita NP is 4.8 km but you don't have to walk the whole trail and if you do you can go back to Cahuita by bus if you don't want to walk back. In Manzanillo you can just go for a short walk in the rainforest. If you want to go far take a guide. In Nicaragua, on Ometepe, the San Ramon waterfall hike is not hard, especially not if you can get transport to the spot closest to the waterfall. Masaya is not a hike as they drive you right up to the crater. In Leon I highly recommend both Cerro Negro (only a short hike) and Telica. Telica is a medium hike (it gets steep here and there but the hike is not that long, 4 hours maybe... it does get hot). There is also a sunset tour which has much less hiking but the overnight camping trip really is amazing.

Title: Isla de Ometepe: Shangri-La for Mosquitoes?

Destination: Isla De Ometepe, Lago De Nicaragua (Nicaragua)

Theme: Trip Misadventures

Style: Trip Report / Informational

Synopsis: Isla de Ometepe is heralded as a paradise amongst Lago de Nicaragua. Yet, travel reports neglect to comment about the mosquitoes. Oh, and not the giant-sized kind from northern Canada or the irksome malaria-carrying breed we avoided in Lagos. These tiny, unassuming Nicaraguan assassins exist on a grandiose scale that suggest we reached the Shangri-La of mosquito breeding habitats.

Could it be a one-off year? Has El Niño created a perfect set of conditions to warrant this new, unsuspecting force of nature? Surely, Lago de Nicaragua’s beloved centrepiece deserves a comment that mosquitoes dominate the landscape on an unprecedented scale.

URL: https://flatearthnomad.tumblr.com/post/153912913012/isla-ometepe-shangrila-mosquitoes

Yes, I'd say you'd want to spend 3-4 days on Ometepe island, not 2 days. There's no reason to go to there if you only plan 2 days. The transport with the ferry takes too much time, and the local transport on the island is slow too. But if you open up your schedule a bit, Ometepe is a wonderful rural place to explore, very relaxing for a few days.

And if you want a Pacific beach to explore, you'd be better off going to Las Penitas than going to San Juan del Sur. Las Penitas is only 1/2 hour from Leon, and it's a better beach than the town of SJDS, and that way you don't short yourself on time for Leon.

If your flight leaves from Managua in the morning, you should make Laguna de Apoyo your last place, since that's the closest one to the airport.

Mombacho is nice, especially if you like hiking and are in good shape to do some of their tougher hiking trails. Its one of the nicest and most beautiful hiking areas. But its definitely not off the beaten path, and is probably the 2nd most visited / touristy volcano in the country. SJDS and Ometepe are also standard tourist stops. You arent going to find too much "off the beaten path" in the area of those places. The southwest pacific part of the country is where most all of the tourists go to, so while you might find some areas with less concentration of tourists, you probably wont really find any "off the beaten path" stuff in that area. Plenty of nature stops though, but youll probably have to leave that area of the country to really get off the beaten path things.

Actually, I think Managua and Liberia are about equal distance from the San Jorge ferry landing which serves Ometepe island. And the transit to get to either place would be comparable in cost. The only real difference is the time and effort needed for border crossing formalities.

Going between San Jorge and Liberia is not expensive or complicated. You need one shared taxi to the border, and one bus to Liberia.