Nicaragua is certainly the country that surprised us the most. To be honest, we didn't expect much in advance. Also because we hadn't heard a lot of stories about it. But Nicaragua has a very relaxed vibe and there are many fun activities to do. We traveled through Nicaragua for 4 weeks. Curious about our experiences with Nicaragua? Read them here!
Experiences with Nicaragua
Activities
As I said there are lots of fun activities to do. You can book nice tours in almost all places. We found the coolest tour volcano boarding on the Cerro Negro. It is a very unique experience. We thought it was quite exciting beforehand, but afterwards we wanted to do it again. How many people can say they've slid down a volcano once?
In addition to sliding down the Cerro Negro volcano, we were also able to see lava in an active volcano. Namely in the Masaya volcanoThis was really such a cool experience. We had done this with a full-day tour, which we can certainly recommend. This way you learn a lot about the surroundings of Granada and you see all the highlights in one day.
Not necessarily a real activity, but certainly one of the highlights of Nicaragua was visiting the white Cathedral in Leon. It is the most beautiful cathedral we have ever seen. And the best thing about it is that you can go on the roof, and here you can take the most beautiful photos.
We also found renting a motorbike in San Juan del Sur and Ometepe a very nice experience. Of course this is only possible if you can actually drive a motorcycle. But if this is an option, we definitely recommend it. Because of this we had the opportunity to visit beautiful beaches in the area of San Juan del Sur, which were really beautiful. On Ometepe we were able to admire the whole island in 2 days by motorbike. Something we can definitely recommend to everyone!
We can also really recommend a city tour in Leon or Granada. We did this in Granada and found it super fun and interesting. You learn all about the history of the country and the city, but also about how chocolate was created, for example, and why it is/was so important for the country. We also had a very nice tour guide who we could ask everything about the country and life in Nicaragua.
There was really only 1 tour that we both didn't like that much. That was the Island tour in Granada. You actually only sail along private islands where people have built a mega house. There is also 1 island with 4 monkeys on it. These monkeys were placed there by humans and can never leave. We got a bad feeling about this and this ruined the tour for us. We would therefore not recommend it to you.
Cities
The tourist spots in Nicaragua mainly consist of cities. Yet they are not all the same and they all have their own charms. For example, we really enjoyed San Juan del Sur immensely. There is a lovely beach with a beautiful sunset. You can really relax there and eat delicious food. And that's really what life in San Juan del Sur is all about.
Ometepe was also quite an experience. It feels like you are really on an island at sea, while you are actually on a huge lake. The island is super beautiful and we couldn't get enough of the views of the water and the huge volcanoes on the island. The motorbike gave us the opportunity to really see the whole island. This also gives you a good idea of how the people live on the island, which we found very special.
Granada and Leon are cities that look a bit more alike. They are both beautiful colonial cities. Both have beautiful cathedrals, churches and other buildings. We are both surprised by how beautiful these two cities were. There were also many nice and tasty restaurants in these cities. So far they are still 2 of our favorite cities.
Experiences with safety in Nicaragua
I can actually be quite brief about this. In Nicaragua we felt the safest of all Central America. Everyone was really very friendly and relaxed. There were also no really heavily armed security guards or police. All in all we had a very pleasant and safe feeling in Nicaragua.
Accommodations
Accommodations in Nicaragua are quiet cheap, especially if you compare it to the other countries in Central America. But you do have to sacrifice a bit on luxury. Often we had no air conditioning, and we could only get this if we would pay a lot more. In addition, we almost always had a cold shower. Fortunately there were always fans. But it was not very luxurious. There was also a limited choice of cheap decent accommodations.
Experiences with restaurants in Nicaragua
In restaurants in Nicaragua you can eat tasty and very cheap. After Panama and Costa Rica to be honest, we were a bit fed up with beans, rice, patacones and Mexican food. You could eat this everywhere in Nicaragua. And we found it local food not very special or tasty. In addition, they also eat a lot of cheese in Nicaragua, but we personally did not find that tasty cheese. As a result, we ended up eating a lot of pizza, burgers and Chinese. Of course there was also other choice in cuisines. But if you want something different, such as western or Mediterranean, you pay a lot more.
Experiences with the infrastructure in Nicaragua
Nicaragua isn't very developed yet if you ask us. It is fairly back to basic (no air conditioning, power cut, many animals, horse and carriage), but it is getting up and running. The roads in Nicaragua are good. Only if you deviate from the main road, you do have a chance that you will end up on a dirt road.
The buses in Nicaragua are always really full. Still, it's doable, and very cheap. The connections with the buses were good. Sometimes it was just a bit difficult to find where the bus left. There are not really bus terminals in Nicaragua. But if you ask the nice locals where the bus goes, they always want to help you. We ourselves have had very good experiences with the buses in Nicaragua.
So transport to the tourist spots is good. But otherwise it is almost impossible to get to other places without your own transport. Can't find anything about it online either. Because of this we have not been to the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. Also, Uber is not yet available in Nicaragua. As a result, you can only take taxis, but they are often quite expensive. In addition, the taxis are often not official taxis, or they have nothing to be recognized by.
By the way, flying to and from Nicaragua is quite a drama and very expensive. There are simply not many planes flying. It is therefore better to fly via the capital of Costa Rica.
Locals
The people in Nicaragua are super nice and always want to help. Outside of hotels and restaurants, people on the street often help you on their own (in hotels and restaurants you often have to ask things yourself). We also noticed that the people in Nicaragua are very religious. Each village has its own church. It is also widely used in most villages. We also happened to be in Nicaragua around Easter and that was celebrated extensively here. For example, statues of Jesus were carried through the cities, and there were whole parades. In general, we have very good experiences with the locals in Nicaragua.
Nature and wildlife
There was not much of variety in Nicaragua in our opinion as it was mainly cities, dry plains and beaches. This is partly because you can't really get to the Caribbean part. And also because we were in Nicaragua at the end of the dry season. Because of this everything was very dry and there was little green.
We were also able to spot much less in terms of animals. We only saw many howler monkeys and the national bird pass by regularly. This is probably also due to the drought. After we had been to Costa Rica, this was also completely fine, since we saw a lot of nature and animals there.
Climate/Weather
So when we were in Nicaragua it was very hot and dry. But we were at the end of the dry season, namely in April. Marlo has also had heat stroke here twice because the sun is strong. Because you are mainly in the city, you also have fewer opportunities to cool off.
Our favorite places in Nicaragua
We have had very good experiences with Nicaragua, and there is really only one thing we didn't like. If we have to choose which place we liked the most, it is definitely San Juan del Sur. We had such a good time here and enjoyed the relaxed life. In addition, we found Leon a really beautiful and fun city. We couldn't believe our eyes here, but also had delicious meals and coffees in the nice restaurants.
Conclusion about our experiences with Nicaragua
Do we want to come back here and was it worth it?
We definitely want to go back to Nicaragua again. Especially in San Juan del Sur and Leon we would stay for a while again. We thought Nicaragua was totally worth it. We probably wouldn't necessarily travel there next time, but rather go for a nice holiday. And when we are there again we would also like to go to Corn Islands this time.
Could we stay here for a long time and do we want to start something here?
Nicaragua is too far behind for us to start anything. Yet San Juan del Sur is really a wonderful place where we would like to stay for a longer period of time. This is actually the only place in Central America where we have felt so relaxed and at home. We would like a holiday home on the mountain near the hotel where we slept, where you can completely relax. The entire atmosphere in San Juan del Sur, including the beautiful views and sunsets, has ensured that we have very good experiences with Nicaragua.
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