TRAVEL REPORT: SAN JUAN DEL SUR, NICARAGUA
Located next to "The Switzerland of Central America", Costa Rica; we have two side by side countries, yet worlds apart when it comes to value and affordability. San Juan del Sur, is a little gem of a backpacker paradise, and rates well on my Backpacker Travel Score, of 1-5 points.
Backpacker Travel Score = 3.5
Affordability= 4
Food= 3
Culture = 3
Safety = 4
Activities = 3.5
Hotel Value= 4
Transportation = 4
When entering Nicaragua from Costa Rica, you will instantly feel as if everything just went on sale 50 to 75 percent off, with no sacrifice in quality. Water went from 2 dollars a litter, to one dollar a gallon! San Juan del Sur can be done easily for less than twenty dollars a day.
The people of this area are laid back, hard working, and family oriented. The locals are happy to see the tourist dollar come to town. What used to be a sleepy fishing village with not much opportunity is now a happening backpacker hot spot, with new businesses popping up regularly.
The main religion in the country is Catholicism and the "Nicas" are at a crossroads between the new age street culture and keeping to their conservative values; which differentiates them from neighboring countries who sport much higher crime rates.
San Juan del Sur is located on the South Western Coast of Nicaragua, it's the most touristed part of the country and is frequented by surf enthusiast from around the world. To the north and south there are many lovely beaches to enjoy. Surfing, sun bathing, partying, exploring near-by beaches, and hiking to the giant statue of Jesus Christ looking over the town are the main activities to take advantage of.
The food in Nicaragua is quite simple; grilled meat with a cabbage salad and side of rice, potato, plantain, or Yucca is typical, and will cost about 3 - 5 dollars. You can usually find a homemade chili sauce on the table to spice things up. In town there are an array of western style restaurants catering to the tourist, but expect to pay more.
The most economical way to eat, is take a 10 minute walk up the road to "Poli" the local supermarket, who's slogan in Spanish reads "Welcome to the Lowest Prices". Most hostels offer a kitchen that can be used. This will save you big and certainly help keep you on budget.
I recommend staying at Paco's Apartments; located one block back from the bus stop/market area. Here, friendly Paco will rent you an apartment by the day, week, or month. After negotiating I paid 8 dollars per night for a weeks stay. You will have you own kitchen and patio, very comfortable. Hostels are generally 6 to 12 dollars for a shared dorm and more for a private room. Negotiation goes a long way in San Juan del Sur.
To get here, I recommend taking the chicken bus. They are safe, easy, and will cost you pennies on the dollar. Once in town, you can walk from one side to the other in 10 minutes. To visit near-by beaches there are plenty of transportation options; bus, bicycle, taxi, but the most liberating is to rent a moped outfitted with a surfboard holster!
If you are a budget travel you will enjoy this place. You can get an all included apartment for about 200 dollars a month, and probably live on 300-400 a month; no wonder there is a rapidly growing retirement community from North America. With great weather, fun activities, and a youthful backpacker spirit; San Juan del Sur is an excellent place to spend some time and I highly recommend it!
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Recent Travel Reports:
https://steemit.com/travel/@world-travel-pro/world-travel-report-paradise-hot-spot-lake-atitlan-guatemala
https://steemit.com/travel/@world-travel-pro/world-travel-report-panama
More reports and travel tips coming soon!
Thanks for sharing! Do you know Spanish? Or is it fairly easy to find a couple people who speak English? I really like your rating system and the flow of your post, picture, short paragraph , and repeat several times!
Forgot to answer your question here. Yes I'm fluent in Spanish. Depends on the country regarding finding those who can speak English, South America less English is known, Panama, and Costa Rica is almost bilingual. Touristy parts of Mexico and Guatemala no problem. Nicaragua is hit and miss. As a general rule. If you need help and ask enough people eventually someone will speak enough English for you to get by that applies all throughout the world and especially Asia (not mainland China). In fact in Korea and other parts of Asia sometimes they will randomly try to start talking with you in English to show off to their friends.
Sorry to go on and on. I just have so much information in my head, and now I have an outlet to share it ....here on steemit.
You mentioned you are a Professional Poker Player, Wow. I've always admired people who could turn that into a living! Impressed! I certainly don't have the ability to do that. Anyway, again I'm glad I can answer your questions. Don't ever hesitate to ask. Have a great night!
please stop posting. My bucketlist gets fuller and fuller with every post ;-)
Was just thinking......I certainly show you how to do your bucketlist on a budget. Thanks for the up-vote by the way. Have a great evening!
no man keep your reports coming.
I ll try to be funny from time to time.
I still enjoying my time in asia but I wll follow your footsteps in the future.
Will certainly do so. I have 99 followers! Maybe tomorrow I'll hit my first 100. It's great encouragement, as well as comments like yours. I really put a lot of time and thought, as well as on ground research into each report. So glad that you enjoy them.
Regarding Asia. Take your sweet time. After 4 years of not being in Asia, I bought a ticket to Thailand for August 8th. My cousin asked me the other day, you must be so excited to be in Mexico right? I told her I'm more excited about going back to Thailand in a month! Enjoy!
you deserve everyone of them and many more.
I have to leave thailand on Juy 31 and I am not sure yet if I extend or go to bali.
I live in kind of a bubble here atm. A street full of muay thai camps, gyms and healthy resteraunts but I am enjoying it so much. Not sure if I am gonna leave. Well... future Tobis problem
Where in Thailand are you? I've been to Bali.....I'd take Thailand over Bali any day. If your in the Islands, switch up and go to Chang Mai or hop to another Island, or try Krabi town, you can even get city crazy a do an exciting week in Bangkok, or another destination, Cambodia and Loas are adventures and dirt cheap.
Bali is nice, with an interesting and lovely hindu culture. I shouldn't turn you off from that. But it's really touristy. Thailand is like Thai friendly touristy. Bali is like in your face touristy. Give me your money touristy. But it has it's perks, especially if money is not an issue and you want to go surfing and do touristy stuff. Food is definitely pay more get less as well.
I am in phuket chalong. So pretty touristy also but as I mentinoed the street is very fitness focused.
When I go to bali I already picked a MMA Camp I want to stay.
I enjoy training too much atm to miss out.
Right I remember you're way into the MMA stuff. I stayed a month in Phuket like 7 years ago. With the big Kick Boxing stadium, I know exactly where you're at. Very exciting place.
You know what is best for you! If we cross paths I better stay on your good side. I'm sure you could totally kick my ass! lol Best of luck, Enjoy!
Ha ha ha! For a moment I thought you were serious. Regarding solicitation type stuff lol..... Everyone needs a good bucket list. Glad I can make it longer!
Really informative post, thank you! Have a question though, if I'm unfamiliar with this area and from a different country, where do I catch that chicken bus from? Would I be flying into Liberia, Costa Rica, and hopping on it from there?
Good Question. When I write "the chicken bus". That's just what people call it. It really means all public buses in the country. All the buses minus expensive tour buses are chicken buses. Which are basically old United States School Buses as you can see in the photo.
So from Costa Rica you would cross the border by land. Then take a "chicken bus" to El Virgen....name of a town. Then change to another Chicken bus direct to San Juan del Sur. If you have some Spanish ability it would be easier. Likely you can find a friendly local passenger able to help, a middle aged women is a safe bet.
From the border of Costa Rica, you will get endlessly hassled to take a private shuttle for between 20 and 40 dollars. If you can split the price with some it may be worth it and quicker. But you'll miss out on the adventurous "Chicken Bus Experience" with the locals. The whole trip from the border of Costa Rica costs like 1.20 USD.
The reason they call it a chicken bus is because you might be sitting next to a local who is bringing dinner home....a live chicken!
Hope this helps!
Great post , food looks really good and I loved your photos too ! Thanks for sharing upped !👍👍👍
Thank you!
your welcome!
Looks like a very nice place to be...
@pocketechange
Upvoted!
A very beautiful city to visit indeed! The food looks really tasty and I feel like grabbing the plantains. I love plantains! Yes, I do.
Thanks for sharing these beautiful picutres.
Thank you! Means a lot to me that my sharing of information is appreciated! Have great day!
nice, one of these days. Do you have any photos of your room?
Yes, you can actually see it here in one of my first posts, with my mosquito net hung up. It's not luxerious that's for sure. but I don't expect that for 8 dollars a night. two burner stove, cold shower. But it's hot there, and wifi worked well. There were better aparments there but they were taken.
Here is the link to the post, just scroll down a bit.
https://steemit.com/travel/@world-travel-pro/must-have-travel-item-when-visiting-the-tropics
haha, thanks, nice. Doesn't look too bad - except for that ominous fan.
It's not air conditioned, and I slept comfortably with my mosquito net and the fan. I ate well and averaged about 13 dollars a day while there, well under my 20 a day budget, which helped make up for Costa Rica and Panama, where I spent about 40 a day for crap food and hotel. I burned mosquito coils and kept the room clean, and made good use of the big refrigerator in the room. It doesn't take much to make me happy.
Most hostels in there offer you a bed in a shared room with half a dozen people for about that price. In summary you get what you pay for, but what you pay for goes a lot further in Nicaragua!
If you're traveling with a bigger budget, by all means shoot for something nicer. But at least you know what you can do with 8 dollars in San Juan del Sur. If you go there tell them the tall Gringo "Daniel" sent you.
jaja, vale, mi amigo!
jaja, sigue no mas!
meep
You've honestly convinced me about Nicaragua. I had no clue they had such a big lake either. And 8 dollars a night for an apartment is nothing!
Just a technical question: why 3.5 rating for the activities?
Hey travel brother! From Guatemala to Colombia. Nicaragua is like the unsung hero. 3.5 is pretty good in my opinion. Was teetering on a 3.
For example, there are no cheap good massages like Thailand, you can go to the beach, or go to the beach or go to a different beach. There's no fantastic night life, no big shopping mall, or circus de soley shows like here in Playa del Carmen. There's no exotic cenote jungle waterfall cave stuff or ancient aztec ruins either like here in Playa del Carmen. No exciting casinos....So I've got to leave space for a more deserving 5 rating. Bali Indonesia, Phuket Thailand and here at Playa del Carmen, Mexico would all be closer to a 5.
Where I'm at now. Has it all. It's definitely going to rate high in activites, food, culture, evertyhing. Best place I've been to yet between here and Ecuador. It's really first world living at 3rd world prices. Very exciting place, safe. with great infrastructure. I'm looking forward to doing a report on it. I like it here so much, I could see myself spending 2-3 months a year here.
Anyway, I've got to save something for the report! I'll be in touch.
Nice post! Temtped to go there... keep up the good work.
Awesome! Make sure to follow, there will be much more coming soon!
Following already, very intrested. Have a good day
Great! Thank you!
I am seriously concidering to visit this place some day. Thank you for sharing this!
Seriously, at this point in my life I get more satisfaction from comments like yours, than earning money on here. Thank you for your appreciation!
You're welcome! :-)