San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

[camNaud]

Can anyone provide any information of this port? excursions in the area and any worthwhile must see or do places? We are visiting this port on the Island Princess next year and have heard very little about the place, so any help would be apprieciated.

[Grannycb]

We were on the Island Princess this past December. I enjoyed (maybe not the correct work) this port - DH didn't care for it. You see poverty almost everywhere you look. We took a tour to the colonial city and lake with Princess. It was a long ride over rough roads. The lunch we had was the most tasty we had on the entire cruise. The lake had some nice views and passed an island filled with monkeys for a photo op. The tour guide was very good. People who walked around close to the ship got some terrific pictures of local life. You'll see oxen and horses pulling carts all over the place.

[camNaud]

Can anyone else provide more info about this infrequently visited port?

 

thanks again

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

We were there in February on the Azamara Quest and had a good 10-11 hrs in port. This gave us time to plan a private tour which included a stop at a beautiful overview in Santa Catarina, a shopping trip in San Juan de Oriente (known for excellent and unusual pottery-bring lots of money-you'll be tempted), a stop in Masaya at a very large market which sells the crafts from several local villages (great hammocks and local art) and finally to Granada for lunch. Our guide called ahead and ordered our lunch, allowing us to avoid a prolonged lunch when we could be sight-seeing. We ended the day with a boat ride on the lake in Granada, stopping at Monkey Island where I was delighted when several monkeys jumped right into our boat to "play".

 

I did not find the roads to be unusually rough and the scenery on the drive back and forth was beautiful.

 

I booked privately through www.tropicaldiscovery.com I prefer private shore excursions as they allow us to do more in a limited time. The excursions offered by the ship were to either/or location instead of all of the locations noted above, although they are all geographically close and there was plenty of time to visit all places without feeling rushed.

 

As far as cost, had we shared our tour with another couple, we would have actually paid the same or less than shorter tours offered by the ship.

 

I remember reading on a previous thread that someone was "afraid to to ashore in Nicaragua". I felt perfectly safe during the entire excursion; people were extremely friendly and we saw many tourist buses full of happy people.

 

Enjoy this lovely port!

 

murphysmum;)

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

I just noticed that I had answered a question about Nicaragua which was posted in "Caribbean other" section. The Central American port mentioned is not in the Caribbean, but rather Pacific Coast of Central America....without a map in front of me I can't remember if it has an Atlantic Coast, but I don't believe so.

 

Since it appears that it will be visited more frequently now (and is a wonderful port/country) do we need a separate Nicaraguan site now?

 

To the person who monitors these boards, thank you!

 

murphysmum:rolleyes:

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

I just booted this in the hopes that a site will be created for Nicaragua. The country deserves it's own site.

 

Thanks...

 

murphysmum;)

[camNaud]

murphysmum,

 

thanks for your posting.. just the sort of info we were looking forward.

 

I'll join you in the call for Nicaragua to gets it's own site.

[thatlauragirl]

Can anyone provide any information of this port? excursions in the area and any worthwhile must see or do places? We are visiting this port on the Island Princess next year and have heard very little about the place, so any help would be apprieciated.

 

I've spent a lot of time in the area doing missions work and can answer any specific questions you might have. My biggest suggestion for a 1st-timer would be to visit Granada. It's a beautiful colonial town not too far from your port and it's definitely one of the prettiest areas you will find in the country. Lake Nicaragua is worth a look, too. It's pretty massive and I'm told there are even sharks swimming in the lake (although I've never seen one). There are a few volcanoes but I've never been close to them and I'm not sure what kind of tours there might be.

 

My one word of caution would be about some of the local beaches. If you are looking at any near Corinto, I would hesitate to use them as the water there is heavily polluted and many local children get REALLY sick after swimming. Also, the rip currents are especially fierce throughout this region and I've never seen a lifeguard, although that might be changing with this new tourism coming in.

 

Nicaragua is a study in contrasts and I have a fierce love for it but I know it to be both beautiful and harsh. Most of the people you will meet are beyond friendly and will give you the shirt off their backs. Their hospitality shames me because they are quite a generous people despite the intense poverty they live in. But there is poverty and a lot of horrible things that come along with it. This is the 2nd poorest country in this hemisphere (2nd only to Haiti) and the people suffer. I've spent a lot of time in neighborhood dumps and landfills where you can find chidlren living. They are almost feral, for lack of a better word, and it's a shocking experience to spend time with them. The "drug" of choice in this area is glue, of all things. There are a lot of teenagers that sniff glue and cause permanent damage to themselves in doing so. I've been told there reason for doing this is it takes the edge off hunger pain.

 

I'm very excited that the crusie ships are going to start frequenting this region as it will be bring in desparately needed revenue and has the potential to help a lot of people. I think it's also important for those of us living privileged lives to see a reality that we don't often think of. As far as crime goes, I think it would be like pretty much every other Caribbean/Mexican port. Just use common sense, know where you're going, and you'll be fine.

[NorcalGuy]

I've spent a lot of time in the area doing missions work and can answer any specific questions you might have. My biggest suggestion for a 1st-timer would be to visit Granada. It's a beautiful colonial town not too far from your port and it's definitely one of the prettiest areas you will find in the country. Lake Nicaragua is worth a look, too. It's pretty massive and I'm told there are even sharks swimming in the lake (although I've never seen one). There are a few volcanoes but I've never been close to them and I'm not sure what kind of tours there might be.

 

My one word of caution would be about some of the local beaches. If you are looking at any near Corinto, I would hesitate to use them as the water there is heavily polluted and many local children get REALLY sick after swimming. Also, the rip currents are especially fierce throughout this region and I've never seen a lifeguard, although that might be changing with this new tourism coming in.

 

Nicaragua is a study in contrasts and I have a fierce love for it but I know it to be both beautiful and harsh. Most of the people you will meet are beyond friendly and will give you the shirt off their backs. Their hospitality shames me because they are quite a generous people despite the intense poverty they live in. But there is poverty and a lot of horrible things that come along with it. This is the 2nd poorest country in this hemisphere (2nd only to Haiti) and the people suffer. I've spent a lot of time in neighborhood dumps and landfills where you can find chidlren living. They are almost feral, for lack of a better word, and it's a shocking experience to spend time with them. The "drug" of choice in this area is glue, of all things. There are a lot of teenagers that sniff glue and cause permanent damage to themselves in doing so. I've been told there reason for doing this is it takes the edge off hunger pain.

 

I'm very excited that the crusie ships are going to start frequenting this region as it will be bring in desparately needed revenue and has the potential to help a lot of people. I think it's also important for those of us living privileged lives to see a reality that we don't often think of. As far as crime goes, I think it would be like pretty much every other Caribbean/Mexican port. Just use common sense, know where you're going, and you'll be fine.

Thanks Thatlauragirl.

Due to a heavy itinerary, we are considering doing a "beach day" and a little looking around at San Juan del Sur just to "recharge our batteries". Can you recommend that at all? Is the beach/water decent right there in town?

[Xoe]

includes San Juan Del Sur, the first port day on the cruise (Day #1 is a sea day) and the only port not in Costa Rica. I took the ship's all-day excursion and was very glad I did so. Although the roads were rough, it was a most educational day. Our guide had spent his school years in the Bay Area of California, sent there by his family for his safety as well as his education. He was a marvelous guide who helped us understand Nicaragua's hard, heartbreaking history. We saw beautiful places, including Granada and the volcanoes. True, there was poverty, to which some posters have objected; however, that's the way it is and perhaps we need to be aware in order to understand and, hopefully, to help.

 

I think a tour, including Granada, is well worthwhile; I would not have wanted to miss it. If you are interested in photos, go to

http://fredasphotos1.shutterfly.com/action

and then go to the 4th album down, "Costa Rica/Wind Star". There are quite a few photos of the Nicaragua day trip, early in the album since it was our first port day on the cruise.