Jump to content

San Juan del sur, Nicaragua


newhopecruiser
 Share

Recommended Posts

On our recent cruise through the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess we visited the port of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. We walked around town for a while and then found our way to the very lovely Pelican Eyes Resort Hotel. www.piedrasyolas.com It is just a short walk from the cruise ship terminal at the end of Calle Central. This beautiful resort sits on top of a hill and afforded a breathtaking view of the town and our ship in the harbor. Great for taking photos. There is an animal rescue facility on the premises, where they care for injured and abandoned animals. Monkees, birds, pigs, racoons, cats, etc. Katie (from Canada) gave us a most interesting complimentary tour. They also have a small veterinary hospital on the grounds. The hotel supports the Fundacion A. Jean Brugger a non-profit organization that provides needed services for children and senior citizens. The day we visited they were entertaining some of the Sr. citizens around the pool. There was music and dancing and laughter and everyone was having a good time. It only added to the fun. We enjoyed some cool refreshments at their beautiful restaurant before returning to our ship. They were very happy to see any visitors from the cruise ships. We also spoke with Ralph Hewitt, the owner of another local hotel. Ralph and his wife Renda are originally from Texas. They own and operate the Park Avenue Villas in S.J.d.S www.parkavenuevillas.com. Ralph also extended a welcome to visitors from the cruise lines. All in all this was one of our favorite stops. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to spend a very pleasant afternoon while in this port.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your post, we were there in January and chose to do a tour to Granada which we did enjoy very much. However I had a suspicion that there was more to San Jaun del Sur then we saw...it was just unfortunate that we didn't get to see more of it.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We also visited San Juan del Sur Nicaragua. We chose to do the excursion to Rivas. This was pretty much a waste. We got what was advertised, but there is not much to do or see in Rivas. We chose this excursion because the distance was about 45 minutes driving from the ship. We were planning on a tour the next day to Antigua Guatemala that was 1.5 hours from the ship, so we chose based on distance. On the drive to Rivas the guide pointed out his brothers house, his cousins house and his fathers house - all very sad. There is one church in Rivas. The tour guide did not go in with us. He then took us for a short walk of about 20 minutes. We did not stop or go into any buildings. We then drove to a hotel that was on the shore of Lake Nicaragua where we were givin a bowl of fresh cut fruit and coke. We could see the 2 volcanoes rising out of the lake. We spent about a half hour here, there was plenty of seating. Since the volcanoes were in the distance it may have made a nice photo oportunity but I am not sure if there will be enough clarity between the Volcanoes and the water and sky and clouds. All in all a very hot trip.

 

San Juan del Sur was nicer looking than Rivas. As the OP described there were many nicer buildings in San Juan del Sur then Rivas and we would have been happier walking around here. There is also a beach within walking distance from the ship. On the day we were docked there were many locals at the beach because it was a workers holiday (May 1). I do not know if any ship passengers went to the beach or the safely of the water. Looked more like a Pacific beach with dirt rather than a Caribean beach with sand and blue water. Maybe someone else can comment.

 

If I had to do it again I would either take the Antigua excursion without lunch or just walk around San Jan del Sur. Maybe I would take a taxi tour to see the volcanoes. I did not stop to see if there were any taxi drivers who spoke English.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
We also visited San Juan del Sur Nicaragua. We chose to do the excursion to Rivas. This was pretty much a waste. We got what was advertised, but there is not much to do or see in Rivas. We chose this excursion because the distance was about 45 minutes driving from the ship. We were planning on a tour the next day to Antigua Guatemala that was 1.5 hours from the ship, so we chose based on distance. On the drive to Rivas the guide pointed out his brothers house, his cousins house and his fathers house - all very sad. There is one church in Rivas. The tour guide did not go in with us. He then took us for a short walk of about 20 minutes. We did not stop or go into any buildings. We then drove to a hotel that was on the shore of Lake Nicaragua where we were givin a bowl of fresh cut fruit and coke. We could see the 2 volcanoes rising out of the lake. We spent about a half hour here, there was plenty of seating. Since the volcanoes were in the distance it may have made a nice photo oportunity but I am not sure if there will be enough clarity between the Volcanoes and the water and sky and clouds. All in all a very hot trip.

 

San Juan del Sur was nicer looking than Rivas. As the OP described there were many nicer buildings in San Juan del Sur then Rivas and we would have been happier walking around here. There is also a beach within walking distance from the ship. On the day we were docked there were many locals at the beach because it was a workers holiday (May 1). I do not know if any ship passengers went to the beach or the safely of the water. Looked more like a Pacific beach with dirt rather than a Caribean beach with sand and blue water. Maybe someone else can comment.

 

If I had to do it again I would either take the Antigua excursion without lunch or just walk around San Jan del Sur. Maybe I would take a taxi tour to see the volcanoes. I did not stop to see if there were any taxi drivers who spoke English.

 

What did you think of Antigua? Was the tour worth the drive? We are also have difficulty deciding what to do in San Juan del Sur, we are thinking of just walking around the town and visiting some of the resorts as the OP did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What did you think of Antigua? Was the tour worth the drive? We are also have difficulty deciding what to do in San Juan del Sur, we are thinking of just walking around the town and visiting some of the resorts as the OP did.

 

We really enjoyed Antiqua and would go back in a heartbeat. The city was very interesting, the people were facinating and the trip up was really wonderful. In fact in the future we could skip the Panama Canal and just enjoy the countries and cities of Central America.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
We really enjoyed Antiqua and would go back in a heartbeat. The city was very interesting, the people were facinating and the trip up was really wonderful. In fact in the future we could skip the Panama Canal and just enjoy the countries and cities of Central America.

 

Thanks for saying this. Visiting Central America on the Pacific side is the only reason we have a B2B cruise booked for the Panama Canal. Have already been thru the Canal a couple of times but our upcoming cruise has port stops in Central America we've never been! Excited about seeing them! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On our recent cruise through the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess we visited the port of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. We walked around town for a while and then found our way to the very lovely Pelican Eyes Resort Hotel. www.piedrasyolas.com It is just a short walk from the cruise ship terminal at the end of Calle Central. This beautiful resort sits on top of a hill and afforded a breathtaking view of the town and our ship in the harbor. Great for taking photos. There is an animal rescue facility on the premises, where they care for injured and abandoned animals. Monkees, birds, pigs, racoons, cats, etc. Katie (from Canada) gave us a most interesting complimentary tour. They also have a small veterinary hospital on the grounds. The hotel supports the Fundacion A. Jean Brugger a non-profit organization that provides needed services for children and senior citizens. The day we visited they were entertaining some of the Sr. citizens around the pool. There was music and dancing and laughter and everyone was having a good time. It only added to the fun. We enjoyed some cool refreshments at their beautiful restaurant before returning to our ship. They were very happy to see any visitors from the cruise ships. We also spoke with Ralph Hewitt, the owner of another local hotel. Ralph and his wife Renda are originally from Texas. They own and operate the Park Avenue Villas in S.J.d.S www.parkavenuevillas.com. Ralph also extended a welcome to visitors from the cruise lines. All in all this was one of our favorite stops. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to spend a very pleasant afternoon while in this port.

 

Is it necessary to purchase a day pass if visiting the Pelican Eyes resort? If not, how do you get in?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...

We will be on the Island Princess visiting San Juan del Sur on 11/17/14. From what I've read on the State Dept. web site and elsewhere, it sounds as though San Juan del Sur has real safety problems. If you took any tours or went ashore on your own, what was your experience?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • 10 months later...

We are planning to take the Coral Princess Panama Canal cruise in 2018. A couple of questions, Does the ship have to tender, I don't see any kind of a dock looking at Google earth? Also, if you or anyone knows, how does one get to the Cristo de la Misericordia? It looks like it might be walking distance from town.

 

Thanks, Will

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are planning to take the Coral Princess Panama Canal cruise in 2018. A couple of questions, Does the ship have to tender, I don't see any kind of a dock looking at Google earth? Also, if you or anyone knows, how does one get to the Cristo de la Misericordia? It looks like it might be walking distance from town.

 

Thanks, Will

 

Princess lists SJdS as a tender port.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

VISA for Nicaragua for Philippine Green Card holders. This appears to be the only country on our Panama Canal cruise where my wife (who holds a US green card) needs a tourist visa. We live in Arizona. We had to go and meet face to face in the Los Angeles Nicaraguan consulate and pay $10 in order to get the tourist VISA. We were told that without VISA we would not be able to board the ship in Miami. We would be turned away from our Panama Canal cruise. We are slated to be on the Jewel January 20, 2017 final destination Los Angeles California. VISACentral was not very helpful. They could not tell me if a Tourist VISA was required or not, only that I needed to appear face-to-face at the consulate and request a VISA. There was no revenue opportunity for them as it related to my case. I felt dismissed.

 

NCL, you have to do a better job making clear to your passengers which countries require a VISA and which do not, rather than passing this off to third-party who doesn't know much either. It left us panicked (as to whether or not the investment we made in our vacation will all be lost when we show up to board the boat). There has to be a better way to deliver peace of mind to your customers prior to boarding.

 

We ended up going to the Nic consulate in Los Angeles and speaking with Eric. We tried to call all 7 consulates for Nicaragua across the US (Miami, Boston, Houston, Washington DC, Los Angeles etc.), no one answered their phone, no one returned our phone call after 5 days. When I sat down in Eric's office in Los Angeles. I noticed that his phone was intentionally off the hook. He received a phone call internally (while I was there) and he had to put his phone "on-hook" to be able to take the incoming call.

 

We experience panic daily for over a week, because we were unable to connect to someone in the consulate, and this seemed as though it was critical to being able to have the appropriate documentation for boarding the ship or forgo all of our vacation investment.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by skaay1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Hamradiocruiser, it is on the opposite side of the harbor from the tender port. Not within walking distance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks kiwimum. I've seen pictures and it looks like about a 15 to 20 minute walk on the beach, maybe a half hour. I know one has to zigzag through some neighborhoods to get up to the statue. I was just wondering how long that would take.

 

If anyone else on this thread has experience with this, any input would be appreciated.

 

Cheers, Will

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...