4 Days in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
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Seven years ago this summer I discovered glamping. I also discovered the most comfortable, high-quality hammocks in the world. This was ideal for someone like me, whose second favorite pastime is napping. I also developed a taste for Toña beer and a love for volcanoes. I practiced my incredibly rusty Spanish with my tour guide, Elvis, while drinking a beer in the back of a seatbeltless Jeep. I took a motorboat across a shark-filled lake to look at an island filled with monkeys. I fell in love with Nicaragua.
Why Nicaragua? Well, I found super cheap tickets to Managua and thought, why not Nicaragua? After all, there are plenty of interesting facts about Nicaragua. Also, there are a bevy of awesome things to do in Nicaragua. The country offers great places to visit like Grenada, San Juan del Sur, and Big Corn and Little Corn Islands. So, three weeks later we touched down on a hot, humid, day in Managua. We were picked up by our driver, Elvis, who quickly made me realize that I may have overestimated my Spanish-speaking ability. Yes, you can probably get around without speaking Spanish, but it’s always nice to make an effort.
Things to Do in Managua, Nicaragua:
Managua is home to just over one million people, with an additional million living in the surrounding suburbs. It’s not an easy city to get around. Accessible tourism, accessible facilities, and accessible routes are limited. The attractions are scattered around and there doesn’t seem to be any discernible hub. But there are a few modern and fully accessible hotels located around the Metrocentral Mall, in Los Robles, Altamira, and Las Colinas. Many of Managua’s attractions are not accessible to those with mobility issues. However, Paseo Salvador Allende and Plaza de la Revolución are both accessible. But this was July and I was in no mood to wander around the hot, humid, traffic-filled city. Get me to the beach! With the windows down, Elvis drove us to our destination, playa San Juan del Sur. The ride from Managua to San Juan del Sur takes about two and a half hours on somewhat bumpy, unpaved roads.
Travel Guide to San Juan Del Sur Beaches:
If you’re wondering where to stay in San Juan del Sur Nicaragua I highly recommend the Los Cardones Eco Lodge, an eco-resort perched on the Pacific coast. It was the pinnacle of romantic glamping for couples. Our beautiful thatched roof bungalow sat right on the ocean and the sound of waves lulled us to sleep each night. Beach glamping by the sea really is a perfect middle-ground for someone like me who dislikes traditional camping but doesn’t mind roughing it a smidge. This eco-surf resort is also a sea turtle sanctuary protecting turtle nests and their eggs from the many poachers in the area. Each night we would hang a sign outside our bungalow door asking to be woken up to see the sea turtle babies hatching. We could watch them scurry off into the ocean in the moonlight. Just one of the many benefits of staying in eco-glamping huts. The resort also offers yoga, beach horseback riding, and surfing lessons.
Our glamping retreat was an incredible experience. Los Cardones is a pretty posh resort on one of the best Nicaragua beaches. But as their website mentions, if you’re looking for 5-star accommodations, are admittedly high-maintenance, or are afraid of thunderstorms and iguanas, this not the place for you. I would also not recommend Los Cardones if you‘re a wheelchair user. The property is not accessible to all. The property itself is easy to navigate on flat, paved walkways, but the bungalows all require walking upstairs. Glamping near the beach can be accessible, but it’s imperative to find a resort with beach wheelchairs, ramps, and accessible bathrooms.
For a Wheelchair-Accessible Tour of Grenada check out his Grenada City Walking Tour With Horse Drawn Carriage Ride.
There are multiple wheelchair accessible, beachfront vacation rentals and hotels in the town of San Juan del Sur. Just check out Trip Advisor for wheelchair-accessible homes for rent. Rentals sleep 5-8 people and start at $145/ night. You can get an outstanding place to stay for very little money in Nicaragua. I also recommend a vacation rental if you require air conditioning. While it is a unique and amazing experience to stay in a natural surf lodge and sleep in a bungalow by the ocean, the heat and humidity are downright oppressive during the day. Hotel Los Cardones was better at night when the ocean breeze blew through the windows, but the days were almost unbearable if I wasn’t directly in the water.
We had a full bathroom inside our spacious thatched-roof bungalow, complete with shower, toilet, and sink with cold running water. Given the fact that my every waking moment felt like living in one prolonged hot flash, cold showers were perfectly fine with me. The mosquito netting over the beds helped protect us from bug bites as we slept. Though, I must say the mosquitos weren’t all that bad. A few spritzes with bug spray and I managed to keep them away.
Did I mention how much I loved the hammocks?
Things to Do In San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua:
Most of our time was spent enjoying one of the best beaches in Nicaragua taking in the scenery, petting local beach dogs, and relaxing. The San Juan del Sur surf scene is incredibly popular. Surfers come from all over the world to surf San Juan del Sur. It’s like a giant eco surf camp. Los Cardones even offers lessons. Given the fact that my joints have been known to dislocate when I sneeze, I don’t participate in any activity that involves repeatedly falling. But the beach goes on for miles and it’s easy to find your own secluded section to enjoy apart from the San Juan del Sur surfing scene.
The resort is in the wilderness so you can expect plenty of wildlife. Be prepared for plenty of lizards, stray beach dogs, sea turtles, and crabs. Oh my god, the crabs! At sundown each night you could literally hear them clicking across the paved walkways. They crawled out of sand holes and crept around everywhere. Luckily, they couldn’t make it off the ground and into the bungalows, but our walk from the bar area to our room each night was a careful, creepy headlamp lit hustle past creepy crawlers and their accidentally crushed brethren.
Masaya Volcano Tours:
We did 2 different excursions during our stay, but you could easily lounge in your hammock with a good book and some ceviche the whole time. The first was a trip to Masaya Volcano National Park. Entrance to the park runs about $4.50 US. There’s a small exhibit detailing park history as well as information on local flora and fauna at the start of the park. After the exhibit, our driver Elvis took us right up to the top of the massive crater where we could peer over the edge into the giant gassy abyss. Masaya volcano is an active volcano, though there have been only several small eruptions in the last 50 years. It’s a pretty awe-inspiring sight to behold looking down at the incandescent glow through thick clouds of smoke. Plus, the indigenous people used to toss in virgin sacrifices to appease the evil spirits. And how many of you can you say you’ve seen something like that?
There are hikes in the area, but given my health, we opted to drive right up to the parking area and look into the mouth of the volcano. It’s not necessary to climb up the hill to get a good view. You can easily see down into the crater right from the parking area. You must wear a hard hat to view the volcano. Occassionaly debris is tossed out of the crater. But that’s part of the charm.
The Masaya volcano night tour is also supposed to be an amazing experience. If you opt to see the park at night you can look down into a glowing core of lava underneath the night sky.
Lake Nicaragua… Sharks?!
Our second excursion was a day trip to Granada and a boat ride on Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America and the 10th largest lake in the Americas. A local guide took us around to see some of the many fancy island homes, the screeching monkeys of monkey island, and other lake highlights. Unfortunately, soon after we visited a Chinese company won their bid to build a canal straight through Nicaragua using the lake to open access between The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This will allow ships too large to pass through the Panama Canal easy access to the north. Of course, the social and environmental impacts are devastating. The locals seemed to be unanimously against building the canal, but the potential financial gains were too great and construction began in 2014. I’m sure this has driven out many of the wealthy homeowners with fancy island vacation homes. But bigger than that, it’s taken a stunning area of natural beauty and completely destroyed it. Score one of business and industry.
One terrifying thing about Lake Nicaragua is it’s one of the few lakes in the world that’s home to sharks. It was originally assumed the sharks were trapped within the lake, but in the 1960s, it was discovered they were actually able to jump along the rapids of the San Juan River (which connects Lake Nicaragua and the Caribbean Sea), almost like salmon. Of course, I didn’t learn about the jumping Nicaraguan lake sharks until I was already out in the middle of the damn thing in a dinky boat. Luckily, we didn’t see any.
Grenada, Nicaragua.
After our boat ride and a terrifying lesson in jumping sharks, we spent a fun afternoon strolling around Grenada, enjoying lunch, and doing some shopping. Grenada is super chill and easy to navigate with wide-open roads and walkways. There are tons of markets selling all sorts of inexpensive handmade goods and crafts. I would have snagged a hammock, but I feared my already terrible sleeping habits would have escalated into full-blown hibernation.
Shopping tip: Nicaragua uses the Nicaraguan córdoba and the US dollar. I would recommend changing over only a small amount of money as most places accept the US dollar and prices are marked for both. Other than a few tips and some incidentals like bottled water, I don’t think I paid for anything in córdoba.
Nicaragua is an amazing place and I’d urge anyone to visit and see for themselves. It has all the incredible natural beauty of Costa Rica, without all the tourists. But I will leave you with one word of warning. Once Covid-19 is behind us and things return to some semblance of normalcy, please consult The State Department before planning your Nicaragua travel. Travel insurance is also recommended. While I found the areas we visited to be safe and well protected, in the past few years there have been periods of major political unrest and demonstrations across the country. These protests have turned violent and people have lost their lives. Regardless of where you travel, it’s sound advice to always check out state department warnings first and register for updates in case a warning is issued while you’re abroad. I don’t want to scare anyone off of traveling, but it’s best to be aware of the political climate and any dangerous areas you may want to avoid, especially as a traveler with heath issues.