Need Nicaragua , Costa Rica info- Heading down for Christmas

[Kevo]

A good friend of mine from high school is getting married in Managua the weekend before Christmas. Mrs Kevo and I will be in central America for 12 days. The first five days we are renting a beach house with some friends on the pacific coast of Nicaragua.

After the wedding, we've got the week of Christmas unbooked. We're flying into/out of Managua and looking for recommendations for places to go and things to do. We're thinking about heading to Costa Rica and checking out either the pacific coast or some jungle resorts near Monteverde. Resorts or vacation rental recommendations are welcome.

Some questions we have are-
-How easy is it to get from Managua to the west coast of Costa Rica and/or Monteverde?
-What are the holidays like in Central America? Will busses be running? Should we consider renting a car?
-If you had a week to kill in that part of the world at Christmas, where would you go? We're willing to travel overland to anywhere within a days drive of Managua to spend Christmas week.


Thanks for the help, mags!

[boltonoutlaw]

Popoyo

[Name Redacted]

Wow, getting married in Managua? Is your friend from there?

I would check out Granada on your travels too. Cool colonial city, two hours south from Managua and there's a giant volcano in the middle of a lake you can hike. I have a few different friends who travel between Costa Rica (where they live) and Nicaragua frequently, and they rarely have problems.

No idea about Xmas travel but renting a car could be a good idea. We hired drivers to take us everywhere and that worked out pretty well. The roads down there can be pretty gnarly, confusing, and sketchy. Especially around Managua.

Have fun, sounds like a great trip!

[Tippster]

Popoyo

DAMN

[butterscotch]

and there's a giant volcano in the middle of a lake you can hike.

I assume you are talking about Ometepe, which is indeed a sweet place to visit. Or at least it was 10 years ago.

[philth]

I was in Popoyo for 2 weeks last Christmas. Stayed in Rancho Santana and surfed Colorados every day. Posh but inexpensive by US standards. DO NOT TRAVEL BY CAR OR FOOT OVER THE NIC/CR BORDER. It is a fucking nightmare. Just fly. As said above Grenada is very cool. This place is a great. http://www.magnificrockpopoyo.com
As for Costa Rica I spent some time on the west coast (Tamarindo) in the 90's and it was amazing. Went back last year and Tamarindo turned into a total shithole. Jaco has always been a shithole. Montezuma and Mal Pais were cool little villages.

Have a look here as well.

https://ranchosantana.com

and here…cool american surfer owns this.

http://www.meltingelefante.com

[KQ]

Have you checked out the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree message boards? Some good information here and a place to get answers:

THORN TREE FORUM/COUNTRY FORUMS/CENTRAL AMERICA

[Name Redacted]

I assume you are talking about Ometepe, which is indeed a sweet place to visit. Or at least it was 10 years ago.

Yep, that's the one. Didn't get a chance to hike it, we were only there two days. Looked cool from a distance though.

[Kevo]

Thanks everyone. My friend is marrying a Nicaraguan girl that he met while in grad school, hence the wedding in Managua.

What's the deal with crossing the NR/CR border? What's the problem? If possible we'd really prefer not to fly.

We've booked this place in Playa Grande, which looks like a cool little surf town. If we don't find anything else, we'll stay there. We have about 4 weeks to figure everything out- up until then, we can cancel the reservation with a 100% refund.

[philth]

Border on the NIC side was third world mayhem. Hundreds of thieves an grifters standing around. Everyone acting like they want to help you. Super aggressive and If you even respond to anything they say they will demand $$. After waiting on Nic side for an hour we were met buy a local with a car to take us to Popoyo. Dudes were taunting our driver. In the car the guy tells us the place is not safe and says something about a reason why it was sketch so maybe that was not normal. Our friends waited on a bus for 12 hours at the border getting their papers "sorted out" the day before . Rental car companies DO NOT allow cars through the border either way. Having a Nicaraguan in your party is a different story but still no cake walk. I'm sure some people have had different experiences but ours was epic. I sound a bit alarmist but I have travelled quite a bit in third world and this was crazy. This was at the border ONLY. Nicaragua was beautiful and people very friendly. I like it better than CR.

Playa Grande is cool.

[Name Redacted]

Border on the NIC side was third world mayhem. Hundreds of thieves an grifters standing around. Everyone acting like they want to help you. Super aggressive and If you even respond to anything they say they will demand $$. After waiting on Nic side for an hour we were met buy a local with a car to take us to Popoyo. Dudes were taunting our driver. In the car the guy tells us the place is not safe and says something about a reason why it was sketch so maybe that was not normal. Our friends waited on a bus for 12 hours at the border getting their papers "sorted out" the day before . Rental car companies DO NOT allow cars through the border either way. Having a Nicaraguan in your party is a different story but still no cake walk. I'm sure some people have had different experiences but ours was epic. I sound a bit alarmist but I have travelled quite a bit in third world and this was crazy. This was at the border ONLY. Nicaragua was beautiful and people very friendly. I like it better than CR.

Playa Grande is cool.

Doesn't surprise me. Just getting off the plane in Managua and walking out of the airport was similar to your experience. Our driver had dark tinted windows and still had my wife lay down till we were out of the city.

However, I have friends who travel back and forth every three months for a visa stamp and they seem to not think it is that big of a deal. Maybe certain border crossings are better than others.

Next time we go back, we'll try to know more Spanish too. You definitely start to feel a little helpless when your Spanish skills are as bad as mine.

[Kevo]

Border on the NIC side was third world mayhem. Hundreds of thieves an grifters standing around. Everyone acting like they want to help you. Super aggressive and If you even respond to anything they say they will demand $$. After waiting on Nic side for an hour we were met buy a local with a car to take us to Popoyo. Dudes were taunting our driver. In the car the guy tells us the place is not safe and says something about a reason why it was sketch so maybe that was not normal. Our friends waited on a bus for 12 hours at the border getting their papers "sorted out" the day before . Rental car companies DO NOT allow cars through the border either way. Having a Nicaraguan in your party is a different story but still no cake walk. I'm sure some people have had different experiences but ours was epic. I sound a bit alarmist but I have travelled quite a bit in third world and this was crazy. This was at the border ONLY. Nicaragua was beautiful and people very friendly. I like it better than CR.

Playa Grande is cool.

Good to know. I've traveled extensively in third world countries as well and haven't been bothered by much. Traveling with Mrs Kevo is different though- I tend to be a more on edge when she is with me in sketchy situations because I feel like I can't tone down my situational awareness.

Unfortunately it looks like there aren't good options to get from Managua to Northwest Costa Rica by air without lengthy layovers in San Jose. It's also pretty expensive.

I guess that brings up the idea that maybe we should just explore Nicaragua and not try to go to CR?

[WTF is dat]

Fly from nicaragua to costa rica! do not try to get across the border.

Rent a car in costa rica and travel the country. It is a beautiful place.

spend at least a couple days visitng Manuel Antonio National park. Beautiful beaches and a nice laid back beach town vibe. You can stay in quepos cheaply, and the city is quite nice by third world standards. The surfing in this area is also great, if you are into that type of thing.

I would also suggest spending at least a few days somewhere near the Arenal volcano. Again, this area is surprisingly nice for the third world. There is tons of cool stuff to do in the area... ziplines, rainforest walks, etc. Arenal Volcano is beautiful. There are also numerous hot springs in and around arenal that are worth visiting.

Renting a car is key because it will enable you to travel much more of the country. The road system throughout costa rica is pretty good by third world standards, although the potholes are INSANE. We never had much trouble driving around, and never felt unsafe. Locals are friendly and helpful.

[whitekingsalmon]

Little corn island..,... Thank me later. Cr is a shitshow during Xmas.its the new hawaii..... Good for business thou.

[WTF is dat]

flying into san jose is not necessarily a bad option... that is what we have done both times. Fly into san jose and rent a car. Arenal volcano is a 3 hour drive from san jose. The coast is another 2-4 hours from Arenal

[philth]

I guess that brings up the idea that maybe we should just explore Nicaragua and not try to go to CR?

Bingo. SInce your there anyway….easier and much to see. Nic now is like CR 30 years ago. Not yet tainted by tourism but not exactly roughing it. Love the place.

[PassTheDutchie]

Unfortunately it looks like there aren't good options to get from Managua to Northwest Costa Rica by air without lengthy layovers in San Jose. It's also pretty expensive.

Have you checked Nature Air? I doubt it comes up on Kayak, Oribitz, et al.

It's CR's local carrier; cheap & frequent flights, caveat being you often have to fly out of San Jose's secondary airport (an easy taxi).

[Supermoon]

We've booked this place in Playa Grande, which looks like a cool little surf town. If we don't find anything else, we'll stay there. We have about 4 weeks to figure everything out- up until then, we can cancel the reservation with a 100% refund.

I'll second that Tamarindo is not that awesome compared to other places in CR. I like staying in Mal Pais/Santa Teresa a lot better. I stayed here with my lady, and we had a really good time.

That being said, I think next time we go to Central America it will be Nicaragua. Seems a lot more like CR was five or ten years ago before it got crazy down there with American tourists.

[Name Redacted]

If you stay in NI, head out to Milagro Del Mar. Nice, remote little resort. on the pacific. Great surfing, nice pool and a good restaurant. There's also a cool eco lodge down the beach called Los Cardones.

[Stikki]

We've booked this place in Playa Grande, which looks like a cool little surf town.

I spent a week in Playa Grande in August and had a good time. Just wanted to hang out and learn to surf it was great for that, in a previous trip I had done most of the "adventure" stuff in the Liberia area and seen a few of the other beaches (Brasilito, Playa Hermosa, etc.) so for a week hanging out it was perfect. One of my travel companions gave the analogy Playa Grande::Tamarindo as Maui::Waikiki. If you stay at that place for sure get a car, the beach is long and that hotel is near the south end, the north half of the area has most of the places to eat, surf shops, best surf breaks, etc.

[MarcusBrody]

I've been in Nicaragua at a similar time of year and it was a good time for travel.

If you go to Ometepe and are deciding which volcano to hike, I'd go for Maderas over Concepcion. It's the forested one. It's less high, so you get less bragging rights, but a hike through a rainforest to a caldera up top where you can swim is more fun in my mind than a slog up the exposed sides of Concepcion. YMMV. We stayed at a place called Little Morgan's for most of our time their. It's kind of in the center of the island in comparison to the towns and from there you can walk up Concepcion from there. It's a bit more rollicking than most places I stayed in Nicaragua, but that might be a good thing. We had a private room/cabana, so we could go to bed whenever we wanted in any case.

The place that I'd most recommend from my time in Nicaragua is Rancho Esperanza, in Jiquilillo, Chinandega (all spellings approximate). It's this really laid back beach hostel up the coast a few hours from the more crowded, touristy beaches like Poneloya and las Penitas. Really cool people. Nice facilities for the spot (I don't know your standards, but when I say nice facilities, I'm still talking about places without hot water and with composting toilets). To get there, you go from Leon to Chinandega, then get a bus that goes along the coast and tell the guy you want to get off at Rancho Esperanza. It's two hours or so if I remember right. The bus was always reliable for me, but it could be pretty packed. If you aren't a poor grad student, you can also take a taxi. I'm not sure how much it costs though.

If you're interested in going up to the north/cloud forests/etc.. I was there too. I'd have to figure out the names of places though. We based ourselves out of Esteli. It has a totally different feel from Ometepe and the coast. It's more like a cattle town.

All this info is from four years ago, so things may have changed a bit.

[Kevo]

Thanks for all the info, mags!

We got into a bit of a tough situation due to lack of availability in Nicoragua at Christmas, so we are officially going to go overland to Costa Rica. It's been a while since I've had a legit 3rd world adventure, so we'll see how it goes. We've hired a private driver to take us from Managua to Playa Grande and back. It was not cheap.

The plan as of now-

12/17- Fly to Managua, meet up with a friend and a private driver and go to San Juan del Sur
12/17-12/20- We've got a 7 bedroom house rented with some of my high school friends and their significant others. Somehow, everyone that I was friends with in high school turned out alright and can afford to go to a destination wedding over the holidays without thinking too much about it. The plan is to dive and surf and party for a couple days.
12/20 and 12/21- Back to Managua for a birthday party Saturday and the wedding Sunday
12/22- Head to Costa Rica. Relax on the beach, maybe dive and surf.
12/27- Back to Managua
12/28- Fly home to CO.

I have the week of 12/29 off for a company holiday, so hopefully there is good skiing in CO by then.

[powtario]

Grande is awesome. Really nice and quiet, pretty chill, only downside is that food can be a bit pricey in the restaurants closer to the shore.

Surfing there is wicked, and if you want to walk into the touristy kip that Tamarindo is a water taxi across the river is a couple bucks. There is an estuary between them so the Grande-Tamarindo drive is actually pretty long. Playa Avellanas S of Tamarindo is amazing, but will likely to rammed over Xmas from Tamarindo overflow.

[BS720]

I'd highly suggest San Andres over CR, but seems like you have the rest figured out. Is your seven bedroom house in Mango Rosa, Pelican Eyes or town? For the record, I don't think the border crossing is bad at all. Other borders nearby are much worse.

A few places to check out: Bello Horizonte in Managua, and Shaman, if you want a club. In SJDS, make sure you eat the tacos at Taco Stop(ask for the chipotle sauce!!!), and try the pizza at Sergio's(his house, not in town).

Edit-Late night/early morning fun is to go to a beach in SJDS for a swim. You can do it in town, Marsella or Maderas. If you go to Marsella, bring a flashlight to check for yellow eyes.