San Juan del Sur

Understand

History In the 1840's this sleeping fishing village entered the international stage as a key stop on the Ruta del Tránsito, which brought Americans from the East Coast to California during the gold rush and later. To avoid the long overland journey, Cornelius Vanderbilt organized a faster and more comfortable trip that began on an ocean liner from New York City to San Juan del Norte, followed by a river cruise up the Rio San Juan and over Lake Nicaragua to San Jorge. From there, there was only a short 30 kilometer horse carriage ride to San Juan del Sur, where they boarded another ocean liner to San Francisco.

Etymology Surprisingly, San Juan del Sur (southern San Juan) lies further north than San Juan del Norte (northern San Juan), its sister town on the Caribbean coast. The explanation is that San Juan del Sur lies on the Pacific Ocean, which the early Spanish explorers called Mar del Sur (South Sea). To confuse things further, the Nicaraguan town of San Juan de Oriente (eastern San Juan) lies further west than both San Juan del Sur and San Juan del Norte.

Getting there

By plane The most convenient international airport is in Managua (MGA IATA), a 3-hour drive north of San Juan del Sur. An alternative is to fly into Liberia (LIR IATA), a 2 1/2 hour drive south in Costa Rica, crossing the border at Peñas Blancas.

By bus From Rivas there are frequent buses (C$25) directly to San Juan del Sur, which takes about one hour. From Managua, Granada] and Costa Rica, first take a bus to Rivas, and then another bus to San Juan del Sur.

By taxi "Colectivo" taxis cost C$35 (córdobas) per person from Rivas, no matter how full the taxi is. However, that means the driver might try to fill up the taxi before leaving. Taxi drivers are honest as to whether it is a colectivo or not. The easiest place to find taxis in Rivas is at the bus terminal.

By boat San Juan del Sur is a stopping point for many cruise ships. It is the only cruise port in Nicaragua except for Corinto further north along the Pacific coast.

Getting around

Walk The town is small and you can comfortably walk everywhere, reaching all restaurants and hotels. No matter where you are in town, the beach is at most 500 meters away.

Taxi There are also constant offers of "Taxi, Sir?". Some hotels offer shuttle service to nearby beaches, or call Carlos Rivera taxis private phone +505 86180261. There are a number of beaches north and south of town. Shuttles or pangas can also be arranged through surf shops.

Car Traffic is pretty reasonable within the city center itself. The main road into town is usually clear but does sometimes back up, usually when all the beach goers and residents return home for the day.

Vehicle Rentals To explore the surroundings, you can rent an all terrain vehicle (ATV), which comes in handy on the small dirt roads that are frequently in bad condition.

Motorcycle Motorcycle are popular in Nicaragua, and if you're thinking about making San Juan Del Sur your home base for exploring the surrounding area, a motorcycle can be a great choice. Motorcycles also mean you can arrive at and depart from any of the nearby beaches whenever you want without having to time your day around the group shuttles. Note that while the roads in the town itself are decent, and the major north/south highway you'll take to most nearby beaches is great, a lot of the side roads are not. Some of the beaches can be a bit harrowing to get to with flooded out dirt roads, extremely steep terrain, and interactions with fully loaded beach shuttles. These are all doable even for those who have never ridden a motorcycle (manual transmission or otherwise) before, though not without some risk. Also no need to get a surfboard mount, just rent surfboards at the beaches. Many of those roads would be nightmarish with a surfboard strapped to your bike.

See

There are many brightly colored houses which land on every tourist's camera but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to San Juan del Sur's beauty. The waterfront is a joy and small boats bob at anchor in the harbor as pelicans swoop down to perch on their bows. The walk up to the cross overlooking the harbor is an arduous 20-minute trek, but the vistas of the harbor are spectacular. A zip-line canopy tour can get you up into the treetops, and spider monkeys and other natural life abound in the region. There are dozens of spectacular remote beaches both north and south of downtown where pounding surf and dramatic rock formations await the intrepid shutterbug.

Do

Hang out, talk, drink, eat. It is very laid-back here.

Swimming San Juan del Sur has a wonderful beach for swimming. There are also several less crowded beaches close by. Take a day trip water taxi to Playa Madera, north of San Juan de Sur for US$8. Sign up at the stand in front of Hotel Estrella. It leaves about 10AM and returns at 4PM. The boat ride is about half an hour. Playa Madera can also be accessed via taxi, that costs around US$10-$15 for two people. The drive can be difficult, and you may encounter hills where your cab driver will ask you to get out and walk up the hill. In addition to the beaches to the north of San Jan del Sur, there are some great beaches to the south (including Playa del Coco), which are less accessible but afford more privacy.

Surfing Move a bit and you will find beautiful beaches with excellent waves to surf. Some of the nearby beaches are only accessible by water taxi. Your surf-rental-shop or hotel should be able to point you in the right direction or arrange things for you.

NSR Surf Shop, Nort del Texaco (walk 50 meters north of Texaco station off main road upon entering town). Chicabrava Surf Camp, Edificio Chicabrava, calle frente al mar (1/2 block north of Eskimo Ice Cream, beach front road), ☏ +1 713 893-5260, +505 82853569. Elite surf camp for adventurous women who appreciate comfort and a challenge. Daily surf lessons, board rentals, and a variety of surf/travel packages, which include surfing world class waves, spectacular accommodations, authentic local cuisine, yoga, soothing massage, and a variety of exciting activities in a safe environment. US$30 and up. SanJuanSurf (San Juan Surf), Beach Rd (in the NicaLifeRealty building). Beach Road (in the NicaLifeRealty building). This is a shop for surf gear and apparel - The SanJuanSurf T-shirts and caps have become a popular souvenir.

Bicycling Rent bicycles and explore the smaller beaches to the south and north. They cost $5 per day to rent, but are not in

Buy

This is a small town. There are increasingly more and more shops in this small tourist town, and a market area that is aimed both at locals and at tourists with increasingly "American" prices. There's an English bookstore with a café in it, wide range of all kinds of different books, just ask your way around, it's not hard to find. T-shirts of varying quality saying something along the lines of Surfing San Juan del Sur are sold at many touristy places.

Eat

There are a string of o