Rufus and I recently took a 10-day trip north to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We left Melody on anchor off Isla Bastimentos and travelled overland by bus and motorcycle. Our first stop in Nicaragua was the surf town of San Juan del Sur where we spent two nights and then rented our motorcycle from Chris at El Gringos.
We spent a day riding through the surrounds of San Juan and exploring the beaches. The next day we rode to the beautiful historical town of Grenada where we spent one night at Oasis hostel and walked the colourful city streets. The last 24hrs we spent on Ometepe which is a volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. We took the motorbike with us on the ferry and stayed a night on the far end of the island on the permaculture farm El Zopilote.
Nicaragua is one of the cleanest Central American countries we have visited and the roads are in excellent condition, especially for travelling by motorbike. The people are friendly and if you avoid the obviously touristy areas, especially San Juan del Sur, it’s not crazy expensive. We never felt unsafe and the weather was great.
I will start including summaries of our travel costs and how we travelled between countries (buses, water taxis, hostels etc) as well as a map for each destination, with our route, to give you a better idea of our trip.
one of the more secluded surf spots just north of San Juan del Sur my view for most of the trip š sunset over Morgan’s Rock, north of San Juan del Sur San Juan del Sur Cerveceria happy beer tasting face at San Juan del Sur Cerveceria
gypsies on the road between Grenada and Rivas our breakfast spot in San Juan del Sur Grenada colours Grenada: Hawaiian shirt and potty helmet: the ultimate biker fashion combo Grenada: opposite the hardware store Grenada: colour coordinating my potty helmet with the pink blooms Grenada: popular spot for locals and budget tourists to have beer and food in the evenings early morning, outside Oasis hostel, ready to ride to Ometepe Grenada Grenada Grenada Grenada Grenada Grenada Grenada Grenada Grenada Grenada Ometepe ferry waiting to be loaded onto the Ometepe ferry two trucks, three cars and a motorbike all fit on this tiny ferry…
view of Volcán Concepción as we approached Ometepe Island on the ferry Moyogalpa, Isla Ometepe Moyogalpa, Isla Ometepe Moyogalpa, Isla Ometepe “pedestrians” on the “highway” around the island of Ometepe our private cabana at El Zopilote the local watch dog outside our cabana fresh water beach on Ometepe the local beer