Nicaragua… it’s not a place many Americans seem to visit. Many of us have been to (and love!) Costa Rica, but what about the Central American country right above Costa Rica? Nicaragua is situated in between Honduras and Costa Rica, with the Pacific Ocean on one side, and the Caribbean Sea on the other. Nicaragua is a Spanish-speaking country with beautiful beaches, volcanoes, huge lakes, jungles, forests, and It’s actually the largest country in Central America.
The number one question people have about traveling to Nicaragua is “Is it safe?” Nicaragua has a history of political and social unrest, but at the moment, Nicaragua seems fairly safe for the average tourist. Based on my own experience, I would not hesitate to recommend traveling to Nicaragua. During our 11 day stay, I never once felt unsafe or uncomfortable. Nicaraguans are lovely people: helpful, kind, and generous. Many Nicaraguans do not speak any English, but with our very minimal Spanish, we were able to travel successfully.
Our family was in Nicaragua for 11 days/10 nights over Spring Break in April. Since Nicaragua is not on most people’s travel bucket list, we didn’t experience any Spring Break “crowds”. It was, however, Easter weekend, and it seemed to be a pretty big holiday in Nicaragua, so there were a lot of locals out and about on the beaches, traveling on the ferry, and eating in restaurants. Once the holiday passed, it seemed like the local crowds thinned out a bit.
Before you go on to read my ridiculously detailed trip review (because I realize that not everyone wants every detail of our vacation) here is a quick summary of our itinerary: Flew directly from Ft. Lauderdale into Managua, Nicaragua. Rented a car and drove to Playa Majagual, near San Juan del Sur. Stayed in Playa Majagual 2 nights. Drove to San Jorge to catch the ferry. Took the ferry to Ometepe Island. Stayed on Ometepe 3 nights. Took the ferry back to mainland, drove to the airport in Managua, returned the car, and flew to Big Corn Island. Landed and took the panga to Little Corn Island. Stayed on Little Corn 4 nights. Took the panga back to Big Corn Island. Stayed on Big Corn Island 1 night so we could catch our early flight from Big Corn Island back to Managua, then Managua back to Ft. Lauderdale.
Our trip started in Fort Lauderdale, where we boarded a Spirit Airlines flight directly to Nicaragua’s capital, Managua. Our flight was delayed a few hours, but after we finally took off, we landed in Managua an easy 2.5 hours later. We went through customs, grabbed our bags, and headed to the car rental counter. We rented through Avis, which was easy. A shuttle took us to the car rental facility about a half mile away, and we hopped into our diesel pickup truck. I highly recommend renting a truck or large SUV, and I recommend renting from one of the well-known car rental companies. The main roads in Nicaragua are great and well-maintained, but once you are off the highways, the roads can be dirt and full of potholes and rocks, so you will definitely appreciate having a larger, more rugged vehicle.
We had booked all of our lodging months before we left, and our first stop was directly on the beach, on the Pacific side. Our Airbnb was on a beach called Playa Majagual, 15 minutes from the more well known San Juan Del Sur. It was a really great location and an amazing, unique place to stay. I was looking for someplace fairly close to the airport in Managua to stay a couple of nights before we headed off to the other locations we wanted to visit. Although this place was absolutely wonderful, I wouldn’t consider it close to the airport. I mistakenly thought it was about an hour from the airport… turns out it was 2.5 hours. For about 2 hours of the trip we were questioning if we were going in the right direction and on the correct roads. Fortunately for us, Google Maps knew exactly where we needed to go. Since our flight was delayed, we ended up arriving at night, and we had a little bit of difficulty locating the property. Luckily we found a restaurant, fueled up with dinner, and we were able to figure out that the house was right next door to the restaurant.
It was late, we were tired, and we all crashed pretty quickly. We soon found out that the house didn’t have air conditioning or hot water (in typical Nicaraguan fashion). Our cold-ish showers were the perfect way to cool down before we went to bed, with fans blasting on us to keep us cool throughout the night. The beds were outfitted with mosquito nets, but the windows had screens so we chose not to use the nets. Just a quick note if you decide to book this Airbnb… there are 3 separate suites (bedrooms with their own bathrooms) but they are each accessed from the outside of the house. As in, if you have kids with you, you might be in the primary suite upstairs, next to the kitchen, while your kids might be sleeping in one of the two downstairs bedrooms that are accessed by the outdoor stairs. Each room either opens up to the upstairs porch, or the downstairs beachfront backyard. Basically, if your kids are young, this house may not be ideal for you.
The next morning I was woken up by my younger son letting me know that a sea turtle was nesting on the beach! If you know me, you know my obsession with sea turtles (and photographing them!) so I jumped out of bed and ran right to the beach. To my surprise, it was a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, the rarest of sea turtles! She was still digging her nest when I arrived, so I was able to watch the whole process, until she crawled back into the ocean. I could not think of a better way to start my vacation, it was such a treat! While we were watching the sea turtle, we grabbed coffee and smoothies from the beachfront restaurant right next to our Airbnb. There are actually two restaurants right there on the beach, so you never have to go far for a meal. The house has a kitchen, but we didn’t use it at all. The restaurants were delicious and very reasonably priced.
We spent the rest of the day playing on the beach, relaxing on the hammocks in the yard, and exploring the rocks, tide pools, and adjacent beaches. We walked to the next beach over which was very crowded, but had several restaurants and places to rent surf boards. This beach is known for its easy surfing waves, so there were lots of people in the water. It seemed to be full of locals enjoying the holiday weekend. At sunset time, we walked over to the beach on the other side of ours to watch the sun go down. This beach had one restaurant and lots of locals on the beach watching the sunset. A highlight of our time at this location was one particular dog that we met, not sure if it was a stray or had an owner, but it roamed free and adopted us for the day. We named it Desayuno (means breakfast, because we met him during breakfast) and he hung out with us all day until the night.
The next morning, Brian went over the other beach to rent a surfboard and catch a few waves before we headed out. We were sad to leave this quaint, friendly little beach town but we had a full itinerary ahead of us. We checked out of the Airbnb at 11am and drove to San Jorge to catch the ferry to Ometepe Island. Ometepe is an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. It is made up of two volcanoes, one dormant and one active, connected by a strip of land in between. It was a busy time of year, and we wanted to bring our rental truck to the island so we could get around, so that meant we needed a reservation for the ferry. I had contacted our hotel before we left home and they arranged a reservation for us for 4pm that day. We arrived at the ferry long before 4pm and we were very lucky to get a spot on the next ferry that was departing. We were super glad we didn’t have to wait around until 4pm. Now, about the ferries. If you’re picturing the ferries of the Northwest or even the Northeast, you are picturing completely wrong. These ferries carry a very limited number of cars, as most people don’t bring their car with them. The ferries look old and barely seaworthy, but they pack them with people and cars, and off you go! The whole way over, my family was deciding which way we would swim if anything happened to the ferry… were we closer to mainland or the island, which way was the wind blowing, etc. But we made it without a hitch, Brian drove the truck off the ferry (no one else is allowed to be inside the vehicle while loading/unloading) and we were on our way to our hotel on Ometepe! We made a quick stop at a pharmacy where I successfully stumbled my way through a request for Dayquil and NyQuil, then we grabbed a coke and some chips from a roadside stand.
We drove about 45 minutes and found our next hotel, Selvista Guesthouses. It’s an eco-resort (a farm of sorts) set in the jungle with its own restaurant, plus pigs and dogs. It’s a super unique property with each of the guesthouses looking like treehouses in the jungle. We stayed in the Mango House and it was perfect for us. The kids had their own suite on the first level, Brian and I had our own suite on the second level, and the third level is a big open space with a futon and hammock chairs. The view from the top was great, you could see the volcano and over the tops of the trees. Again, no air-conditioning but plenty of fans. Oh, plus VERY hot water when you needed it. We explored the property as soon as we arrived, visited the pigs, checked out the outdoor kitchen and restaurant, and read the list of activities the resort offered. The boys were insistent that we rent ATVs, so we reserved them for the next day.
We ate dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Zapote, and it was amazing. Breakfast was included with our reservation, and that was delicious as well. After breakfast the next morning, we practiced driving the ATVs and we were off. Dax had gotten a terrible sunburn the day before, so he rested while the three of us rode ATVs all the way around Maderas Volcano. It was such a fun way to sightsee! Once we finished, we went back and got Dax, who was feeling better, and headed to San Ramón Waterfall.
The boys were over the moon thrilled that we let them drive the ATVs. Brian and I were passengers while they sat in front and were in total control. A bit terrifying at first, but they both got the hang of it and were amazing drivers, even over those rocky, bumpy, hilly, dirt roads! We entered the waterfall property and because we had 4-wheel drive vehicles, we were able to drive about halfway to the waterfall, then park the ATVs and hike the rest. If you don’t have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, the hike is about double in length. The hike wasn’t exactly tame; there were parts where you had to scramble up boulders and over rocks. It was hot, but we had no problem and were happily rewarded with a refreshing shower under the waterfall! There were other people there, but it was not crowded. The waterfall was pretty and definitely worth the journey. Once we finished at the waterfall, we hiked back down, hopped on our ATVs and started heading back to the hotel. We had seen a sign that advertised Coconut Ice Cream so we had to stop and check it out. We walked up to the house, ordered our ice cream, and watched as the lady shaved frozen coconut and added milk. It was truly homemade, right in front of us. Although not my boys favorite, they ate their ice cream, played with the dogs at the house, and we attempted to speak Spanish with some cute little boys, about 7 years old, that lived there. Such a fun detour! We got back on the ATVs and the skies opened and started pouring on us. Trent was driving and just continued on, which I was thankful for because I could not see at all. The rain was pelting my eyeballs and I felt blind, but Trent somehow soldiered on and got us back safely!
For our second full day on Ometepe, we decided we wanted to ride horses. I was determined to ride horses on the beach. We contacted Zac’s Horse Tours, just a few minutes from the hotel, and we were able to get a reservation for the same morning. We had a fabulous tour of the island, through the streets to the jungle and up into the mountains, then back down and on the beach. The horses seemed well cared for and they were easy to ride. We all had a really great time. Riding on the beach was absolutely beautiful, we even got to run the horses which was fun and exhilarating. We returned back the stables by mid-day and the horses were definitely ready for some water, rest, and relaxation.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a resort called El Pital Chocolate Paradise. I definitely recommend checking it out if you have a chance. The views are gorgeous and the food is outrageous; many of the options contain chocolate. This was actually one of the resorts I had considered staying, but I am very glad we didn’t. The vibe is more “young couples on a yoga retreat”… than “feral children burning off energy”. But it’s great to visit and enjoy the amenities for an hour or two.
For the rest of the day, we decided we wanted to visit Ojo de Aqua, a natural spring-fed pool on Ometepe. Once we arrived, we realized the price was about four times as much as we expected (because we were from the United States; not a huge deal but it made me feel like they were trying to rip us off) so we decided to change plans. It all worked out, because we headed to a little beach bar/hostel that we had previously passed by, and we had the best time there. They had a little structure right over the water to enjoy a drink and a snack, plus an adorable puppy we got to play with. We ordered a couple beers, a soft drink, and a snack, all for less than $10. Insane. They also had a huge swing that went out over the water and we had so much fun playing on it. We were excited to see howler monkeys on the property! Highly recommend a stop if you see it, but it was so small that I don’t even know the name of it. After that, we headed back to the hotel for our last delicious dinner at the restaurant, then we were off very early the next day.
We saw these pink chickens a couple of times while we were on Ometepe and my mind is still blown. What in the world is happening here? Seriously, why are these little chicks pink? If anyone knows, please fill me in!
Ometepe travel tip: Make sure you make a ferry reservation at least a week in advance. It seemed that it was difficult to get a reservation both ways (probably more so because it was a holiday week) but we were actually unable to get a reservation on the day we needed to depart Ometepe. In an act of pure desperation, we left the hotel at about 5am that day in hopes of a last minute opening on a ferry. It was early, we weren’t able to have coffee, and it turned into quite the adventure. We arrived about 15 minutes before a ferry was to depart, and somehow they had a spot for us. Hallelujah! But because the boys and I had to get out of the truck so Brian could drive it onboard, we were separated and the boys and I had to go through the boarding area by ourselves. The only problem, we didn’t have our passports with us, they were in the truck with Brian! I had to leave the boys on the dock in some random Nicaraguan port, run and find the truck, grab the passports, run back and hopefully get there before the ferry left without us! It was nerve-wracking to say the least. I made it, kind of, and the person taking tickets and information basically just let us go without recording all of our information. The ferry was absolutely packed, we still hadn’t found Brian, I still hadn’t had any coffee, and we just sat down on the deck and zoned out. Brian finally found us and thankfully, we had another uneventful ferry ride after that. As soon as we all got off the ferry, we found a little stand and got some coffee. Nescafe, instant coffee for the win! From there, we had to make our way back to Managua to the airport, return our car, and hop onto our flight for Big Corn Island.
We were all hungry since we hadn’t had breakfast, so we found a roadside restaurant that was absolutely perfect. We got the typical Nicaraguan breakfast – eggs, Gallo pinto (rice and beans), queso fresco, fruit, and plantains. Plus, they had a bounce house so the boys bounced off some energy. The ideal stop. Once we arrived in Managua, we returned the car, only to discover that they wanted to charge us for a scratch on the front bumper. I had read that they are very particular about the condition of the car upon return, and I would completely agree. They checked over every centimeter of the car. After driving on rocky, dirt roads for the past week, there were definitely blemishes to be found. It seemed like the manager on duty excused the fee they wanted to charge us, but the guy that drove us to the airport demanded money from us to pay for the scratch. Definitely sketchy, but we were happy to pay $30 to the guy rather than who knows what else would have happened. This was all in a very broken English/Spanish exchange. We were relived to reach the airport and check in for our flight to Big Corn Island.
The only airline that flies to Big Corn Island (you can’t fly directly to Little Corn) is La Costena, and they have their own little section of the airport, making everything quick and easy. Once we transferred weight around in our bags, they weighed each of us individually, and we passed through security. The plane ended up leaving an hour ahead of schedule, which I guess was fine because everyone was there. But heads up, be on time, or even extra early, for your La Costena flight! Once we spotted the plane, we all felt a little panicked. This plane was small and old, basically the Nicaraguan airplane version of their ferry, haha. We walked out, boarded, threw our luggage behind the last seat, and settled in. The plane had shoulder seatbelts and sat about 12 people. The inside looked just as old as the outside… no renovations done here, haha.
After an hour flight, we landed on Big Corn Island. From there, we took a taxi to the ferry dock where we purchased tickets to take the panga to Little Corn Island. We boarded the panga, were instructed to put on life jackets, and settled in for a 45 minute ride to Little Corn. Apparently it can get quite rough and choppy, but our ride wasn’t too bad at all. We arrived at the Little Corn Island dock, gathered our luggage, and were led to our resort by a friendly local (he promoted his boat business on the way). Little Corn Island is very unique in that it doesn’t have any motorized vehicles on it, not even golf carts. A few people ride bikes, but mostly, everyone walks where they need to go. The island is traversed with walking paths, and if you’re not sure where you’re going, you can just ask someone and they’ll point you in the right direction. After about 15 minutes of walking, we arrived at our resort, Little Corn Beach and Bungalow. We were greeted with a welcome drink and this was our first indication that the service and experience would be impeccable.
Little Corn Beach and Bungalow is spectacular. From the moment you arrive, the staff greets you by name and gives you a tour of the property. They treat you like family and are warm and welcoming throughout your entire stay. I cannot say enough good things about this resort. They are family friendly and seem to truly enjoy having children there. There is nothing snooty or pretentious about Little Corn Beach and Bungalow; it almost feels like a luxury sleep away camp, right on the beach.
The resort is made up of 11 bungalows, in a few different layouts. Most are beachfront, a few are just behind with a very short walk to the beachfront. We stayed in the family bungalow, or the bunkhouse, which was perfect for us. Two separate rooms with an adjoining bathroom and a screened-in front porch. Everyone had their own space and we were very comfortable.
One thing to note about Little Corn Island… they do not have power from 6am – 1pm. Seems crazy, but somehow, it works! We were all jolted awake each morning when our fans shut off abruptly at 6am, but we had no problem falling back asleep. It would, however, start to get pretty hot in the bungalow once the sun got higher, but by that time, we were always out and about, definitely not sitting in the bungalow. The bungalows do not have air conditioning, but they provide plenty of fans that you just point at your face while you sleep and it’s completely comfortable.
We only had 3 full days on Little Corn, so we wanted to make the most of it. As soon as we arrived, we arranged to go snorkeling the next day. We wanted to get out there and check the reef! We got up the next morning, had breakfast at the resort (all of the food at the resort is AMAZING!), and our boat picked us up right from the beach in front of the resort. So convenient. We snorkeled in 3 different areas and saw lots of nurse sharks, a couple sea turtles, a ray, lots of fish, and everything else you would expect. It was fine, not spectacular. We were told that we should plan a trip out to the Pearl Cays because the scenery out there is gorgeous. We didn’t want to miss out on anything, so we planned a trip on our second to last day on the island.
On our second full day, we walked over to a different part of the island to check out Otto Beach. The walk took a little while, maybe 30 minutes (or more) but we found ourselves at a beautiful beach with calm water. There is another really nice resort over there (Yamaya Reefs) which I had considered, but I’m glad we went with Little Corn Beach and Bungalow; I feel like Yamaya Reefs would not have been as child-friendly and was perhaps a little more formal than we would have liked. We had planned to eat lunch there with a couple other families we had met at our resort, but with the kids, we really didn’t feel welcome. Trent swim in the pool while we were waiting for a table and got yelled at by the staff, haha. For couples, Yamaya Reefs may be perfect, but for families, I would definitely recommend Little Corn Beach and Bungalow.
There is another little restaurant on this side of the island called Fry Fish Bar and it was the perfect spot for lunch while the kids played in the ocean directly in front. After lunch we walked back to the resort because we had horses waiting for us for a sunset ride! After riding horses on Ometepe, I knew I wanted to do it again, this time at sunset. We arranged the horses through our resort, and they had them waiting for us when we arrived back from the beach. There were four horses waiting, as well as the cutest pony you have ever seen! We were each assigned a horse based on our size and riding experience, and poor Brian landed on Blanco. Blanco was BAD! When I asked why Blanco was so crazy, my guide told me that it was because Blanco has eggs. I was like “what?!”, then I realized he meant that Blanco had not been castrated. “Eggs”, lol. Anyway, Blanco was WILD! My horse was also male, and Blanco kept coming up behind him and biting him, so my horse would kick Blanco, which was terrifying! But they also needed to keep Blanco away from the female horses, so there was a lot of shuffling going on. The whole ride had me kind of on edge, but it was also amazing because we rode all over the island and the little pony just ran along with us, prancing, kicking, and living its best life. The scenery was beautiful and we caught the sunset at the beach, riding through the water. Truly magical. And luckily Brian handled Blanco very well so no major incidents occurred. I highly recommend riding horses on Little Corn but try to request no Blanco! Haha.
Once we got back from horseback riding, another guest at the hotel had set up a scavenger hunt for our family and the two other families our kids (and we) had been hanging out with. It was the nicest gesture ever! The man, an American, was there with his wife and sister-in-law and thought it would be fun to create a beach scavenger hunt for all of the boys (there were 5 in all, ranging in age from 4-14; no girls in any of our families). The boys had the best time reading all of the clues, then eventually digging for the treasure. Dax took one for the team and swam out to the swim platform (in the dark!) for the clue that had been hidden there. It was such an adventure and such an amazingly nice thing to do… what a fun memory for all of those boys!
We woke up very early the next morning for our trip out to the Pearl Cays. It would be an all day excursion and we were ready! It was expensive (it was just our family) and it was a long trip in a slightly sketchy boat, but I’m glad we went. The Captain’s name was Hiram, and the first mate’s name was Marlin, and they were great. They showed Dax how to climb a tree, grab a coconut and open it so he could drink the water and eat the meat. Dax LOVED it! Brian ended up getting a hogfish which they grilled up for us for lunch. We snorkeled, we explored, we enjoyed the beautiful islands. It was a very fun and relaxing day. There are a lot of islands in the Pearl Cays and it seems like many of them are privately owned, so you can’t explore them all. We ended up exploring two different islands and then on the way back we stopped at another spot they called Silky Cay. I can’t find any information on Silky Cay but maybe they meant Seal Cay? Either way, it was a really cool spot. Apparently it used to be inhabited and was some sort of lobster fishing establishment, but it was completely wiped out by a hurricane several years ago. All that’s left are some stilts that used to be a house. Anyway, it just pops up out of the ocean in the middle of nowhere and it’s really cool to see. I jumped in the water to snorkel and it was beautiful. I saw the biggest pufferfish of my life and all I wanted to do was hug it! It was not into that, so it hid in a rock until I left, lol. The coral heads out there were plentiful, vibrant, and alive, and I could have stayed out there for hours. However I was in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, snorkeling around by myself (because Brian was doing his own thing and the boys didn’t want to snorkel again) and I’m not gonna lie, I was a little freaked out. Luckily Brian was done at the same time so we got on the boat and headed back to Little Corn. It was a long day, but we loved it. Snorkeling, exploring, swimming, enjoying the sunshine… it’s our jam, so fun.
We were so sad to be leaving Nicaragua the next day! We made so many dog friends everywhere we went (and we named them all), we met so many amazing people, we connected with other tourists, we ate the most delicious food, and we just enjoyed our time together as a family. It was one of our best trips and the memories will last a lifetime!
Since there were a lot of transitions to end up back home in Florida, we split it into two days. We took the panga from Little Corn to Big Corn and stayed on Big Corn Island at Sunset Bay B&B for 1 night. It was difficult to find someplace nice to stay on Big Corn (it’s not very touristy) but Sunset Bay was perfect. We rented two separate rooms because they are basic hotel rooms and it worked out fine. Plus, they had air conditioning, hot water showers, and television, so the boys were in heaven! If your travel plans make it easier/less stressful to stay on Big Corn for a night, I would recommend Sunset Bay B&B. The rooms are basic but clean, the home-cooked breakfast is amazing, and there is a reef directly in front that was really fun to snorkel. There is also a bar and restaurant right next door so you don’t have to worry about finding dinner. Brian got a huge lobster dinner for $18; prices are incredibly reasonable. Some of the other guests at Little Corn Beach and Bungalow left the morning of their flight from Managua, but not knowing how everything would work out, I felt safer splitting the journey up. However if you want to do everything in one day, you can get a private panga to pick you up directly from the resort and bring you to Big Corn Island, then grab a taxi directly to the Big Corn Island airport.
Again, this whole trip was amazing and I completely recommend visiting Nicaragua with kids. It feels safe, prices are very fair, people are lovely, and there is so much to see and explore. I’m not sure why Americans haven’t really “found” Nicaragua yet, because it seems like everyone else has. We met very few American tourists, but lots of Canadian and German tourists (among others). Nicaragua also seems to be very popular among 20-something backpackers that are exploring Central and South America.
Final recommendation… bring your kids to Nicaragua, it is a fantastic family vacation spot!
Good job Sage ! Very readable and informative !