Nicaragua

Darryn and I traveled to Nicaragua in January 2018. We decided Nicaragua because we had always heard great things from Darryn's side of the family (his cousin met her husband there and lived there for a while). We also knew it was starting to get a little bit more popular and we really wanted to experience it before it became too touristy. When we saw Air Transat put up a direct flight at a really good price we took it as a sign for us to go. I am so glad we did. It is so beautiful there and we crossed so may things off of our bucket list. Even seeing the Volcanoes when we were descending into the airport was breathtaking,

We were renting a car and our plan was to go to Laguna De Apoyo for 1 night, Ometepe for 1 night, San Juan Del Sur for 2 nights, Little Corn Island for 2 nights and then Grenada for 1 night, That plan changed and I will explain how below.

If you want to visit some of the awesome places we stayed , scroll down!

Day 1- We arrived at the airport and picked up our rental car. We had this tiny Suzuki car, but it did the job and was awesome on gas. We headed to our first destination which was an Air bnb on Laguna De Apoyo (a crater lake). It was a little tricky finding the house but we eventually made it. This Air bnb was AH-mazing!!!! Check out the pictures below! I think there was about 7 private rooms and then like 2 shared bathrooms. There was a pool and a common area that had the most amazing view of the lake. We took our bags to our room, got dressed and walked down the road to a restaurant. I cant remember exactly what we ordered but I remember it being cheap and delicious! Tip- It was across from the resort on the road. The food came from the same place but half the price because you weren't "in" the resort After dinner we headed back to the house and just relaxed in the hammocks with some cold beverages.

Day 2- The next morning when we woke up the house/grounds keeper was up getting coffee ready. A bonus about this place was that breakfast was included! We had pancakes, yogurt and fresh fruit. Everything was really good and very fresh. We were sad to leave the house but we had a place booked on Ometepe so we had to get going. Ometepe is an island in Lake Nicaragua with twin volcanoes, which we took a ferry to from San Jorge. The ticketing area for the ferry's can be a bit hectic so leave a little extra time for it. This is a journey that neither Darryn or myself will ever forget.

We purchased tickets for the ferry across, and while we are waiting we can see 2 different style of boats that they are loading. The first is a small but safe looking ferry boat being loaded with mainly tourists. The second is a small, very old, not safe at all looking boat they call a 'Panga' being loaded with mainly locals. Sure enough, they staring pointing at us and telling us to hurry and that we need to get on the Panga. OMG. The boat was so packed that Darryn had to stand on the other side, while I curled myself into a ball on a wooden pallet beside 3 boxes of baby chickens. 10 minutes into the ride and water was swooshing around the floor ankle deep. I remember we just kept looking over at each other laughing because the whole situation was just so bizarre.

When we finally arrived on the island you are overwhelmed with the amount of people offering Moped rentals and taxis to take you where you want to go. We took our time walking around, then decided to rent a Moped (I will say that we regret not renting a 4 wheeler instead though)

We stayed at the Hotel Villa Paraiso. It was nice and the price was decent. After arriving at the hotel, we brought our bags to our room and then took the moped out for a quick ride before the sun went down.

We ate dinner at the hotel. It was good but a bit pricey. It was good but a little pricey. I do wish we would have stayed for at least 2 nights on Ometepe. When booking I didn't realize how large it was, and how much there was to see and do,

Day 3- We ate breakfast at the hotel before checking out and heading to Ojo de Agua, which is a natural swimming hole. The water that fills it comes from an underground river that comes from Volcano Maderas. The water is so clean and clear! There is a rope swing and they have a bunch of sun chairs all along the sides. The admission is $3.00. I would definitely recommend this place, it was very beautiful and so refreshing.

After our swim, we returned our Moped and headed back on the ferry- The actual ferry this time. We then headed to San Juan Del Sur (SJDS)

I'm going to start off my saying that I read a lot of reviews of people saying not to go to SJDS unless your'e young and love partying. I almost didn't include it in our itinerary because I was scared we would be too old, and the scene would be way too crazy for us. We went however because Darryn's cousins husband is from there, so we knew we couldn't leave without seeing his hometown. Ok, SJDS is awesome. DO NOT skip this place. You can definitely party hard if you want, but you can also just come here to relax on the beach. There was a nice balance of both.

We had the next two nights booked at Surfs Ranch. I'm sorry but I would definitely not recommend this place. I picked this resort because it was "all inclusive" and online it showed yoga classes, a rock climbing wall and a bunch of other activities. Unfortunately when we arrived nothing was working, there were no classes, the food was horrible and it was so far from the town. They offered a shuttle, but at very minimal times and it always seemed like so much of a hassle. We eventually just booked our own cabs. Lets just say, we quickly realized that we weren't going to be spending much time there.

We spent our first night in SJDS walking around town and drinking at a bar on the beach. We didn't want to be too hungover for the famous Sunday Funday pool crawl the next day, so we went to bed relatively early.

Day 4- If you happen to be staying in SJDS on a Sunday and you do feel like partying, I highly suggest taking part in the Sunday Funday Pool Crawl. Its a pool crawl that slowly makes its way to 4 different bars/hostels throughout the day. It starts at the Pacha Mama Hostel, where you can also get your wristbands. Tip- There are rumors that you have to get up early to wait in line for a wristband, but you definitely do not. We did and one of the staff said we could come back later, and that they have never sold out of wristbands. So we left for some breaky and to see the Christ of the Mercy statue that over looks the town. The view up there is unbelievable so I would definitely recommend it, and you'll get some great pictures.

After a quick lunch we made our way back to Pacha Mama for some fun. I'm not going to go on much about our experience at Sunday Funday, but I will say that we both haven't had that much fun in a long time, and we will never forget that experience. It was CRAZY!!! I don't think I could ever explain in words how epic it really was. We ended the night eating street tacos before jumping in a taxi back to our hotel.

Day 5- We woke up really late and kind of groggy. We also had a big decision to make. Ever since we had arrived in Nicaragua, we had been hearing about the extreme weather the Corn Islands were having. We were suppose to be leaving SJDS to head back to the airport for our flight to Big Corn Island, where we would then take the panga over to Little Corn Island for the next 2 nights. After speaking with the hotel we had a reservation with on the Island, we all decided it was best that we didn't go because the weather just wasn't safe. Instead, we checked out of Surfs Ranch and drove to Playa Maderas.

Playa Maderas is a short drive from SJDS and is a very popular beach for surfing, and has a small restaurant there as well. We decided to take a walk and have lunch, so we could figure out how to spend our next 2 nights. We had lunch at the restaurant and after a couple minutes of searching on Air Bnb we decided to go spend our night in Tola Beaches, and figure out the next day when it comes. The manager of the place we were staying at gave us directions, and after getting lost only a few times we finally arrived... and it is literally in the middle of no where. Ill admit, we were super nervous driving there. There was nothing around us, the sun was going down, and we weren't even 100% sure if we were going the right way. When we arrived and saw where we were staying we quickly forgot about the drive. We stayed at SUYO. I cant remember if they had 6 or 8 of these beautiful little cabanas right on the beach. They also offered a common area with a kitchen, bathroom, showers, and they offer 24 hour security. These cabanas offered one of the best views I have ever seen. Tola Beaches is very remote and there isn't much offered there for going out to eat. The manager at SUYO told us to walk down the beach a little bit and there were 1 or 2 places to grab a bite to eat. We stopped at the first place we saw, which was a hotel and restaurant. I am super disappointed that we didn't get the name of the place because the food was SO cheap, and SO good. We both got lobster, roasted potatoes, rice, corn and salad and it was $10 bucks each. 10 DOLLARS!!! The owner (who oddly enough) was from Alabama even drove Darryn to go take out cash because he didn't offer debit/credit. Tola beaches and our dinner at that place is definitely a night we wont forget.

Day 6- We woke up pretty early and very tired. We never really put much thought about what it would be like sleeping on a surf beach at night in a small hut, we just thought about how beautiful it looked. The tide at night came up so high that it almost reached or deck posts, and the sound of the waves crashing sounded like thunder cracking every 10 seconds. I literally felt like I was sleeping on a boat in the middle of a hurricane. Usually the sound of the ocean is peaceful, but this was terrifying. Even Darryn admits that he felt uneasy the whole entire night.

We decided we wanted to head back to SJDS for our last extra night. After packing up our things and heading to check out, the manager asked if we had felt the earthquake that had just happened (we hadn't). She said it was big and has no idea how we didn't feel it. When we pulled out, there was even officials driving around on a megaphone announcing it to the community.

Our room back in SJDS was a converted shipping container at AquaViva hotel. I booked it on Air Bnb, and this place was so cool. (Even if you don't plan to go there you should check it out). After checking in, we went to check out The Moose is Loose, a Caesar bar they have in town. We are HUGE Caesar lovers so this was a must! Darryn even did the shot challenge and won himself a tank top. We had dinner and some drinks, and eventually made our way to bed.

Day 7- We booked a 2 hour fishing excursion for this morning, so we got up early, grabbed some breakfast, and headed to the water. Side note- The men who took us fishing asked we felt the earthquake, and told us we must of been drunk if we didn't feel it. Anyways, This excursion was so much fun. I forget what type of fish we were catching, but we would catch them soon as we put our lines in the water. When we were finished, the guys gave us some of the fish and took us to a restaurant, where they prepared it all for us, with a bunch of sides for like $15 bucks. It was obviously delicious and way more food then we could eat. After lunch we had to say goodbye to San Juan Del Sur and head to our final destination of our trip.

Our final half day and night we spent in Grenada. I always just assumed that this was a must see when going to Nicaragua, but honestly, I kind of wished we just passed through instead of spending a night here. It was way more pricey then everywhere else, and the whole vibe just wasn't as good as everywhere else. Darryn and I aren't really city people, and maybe that was part of it, but I would personally not recommend spending the night there. Stay in Laguna De Apoyo and just do a day visit/tour.

We stayed at the Mansion De Chocolate. It was massive, and had a nice small pool. The rooms were really out dated, but the location was good. We were going to book a tour to go and see the Masaya Volcano, but one of the staff at the hotel told us we could just drive ourselves. So thanks to him, we saved some money and didn't have to sit on a bus with a bunch of other tourists. Double win! Masaya was really neat. Its crazy and a bit scary that you can just drive to the top of a volcano, and look down at the lava bubbling away, and lighting up the night. I would highly recommend checking this out.

After Masaya we had dinner at El Zaguan, a steakhouse that we had heard really good things about. Unfortunately we found it very pricey and not that good. After, we badly wanted to head out on the town for some drinks, because it was our last night, but we were both just so exhausted we ended up just going straight to bed.

Day 8- We packed our things up and headed back to the airport. We brought our car back, and ate in the airport. It was a sad day, but we were happy to be heading back home to the kiddos...

Links to some of the places we stayed-

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/20721923?s=67&shared_item_type=1&virality_entry_point=1&sharer_id=89173730

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/14983071?s=67&shared_item_type=1&virality_entry_point=1&sharer_id=89173730

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/21311963?s=67&shared_item_type=1&virality_entry_point=1&sharer_id=89173730