Nicaragua Day Trip

A Nicaragua day trip? If you’re curious about this beautiful Central American country, but you’re not sure where to start, a day trip to Nicaragua might be just the ticket. Nicaragua shares a border with Costa Rica, and your tour guides will be happy to help you cross the border and spend the day.

Getting To Nicaragua

How do you get to Nicaragua? From several resort locations in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, it’s just about a 90 minute drive. We selected a day trip from our villa at Bahia Pez Vela Resort through Cacique Tours. Our tour guide picked us up in a van directly from our villa’s doorstep bright and early (4:45 a.m.) for a full day of adventure.

The Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border is not your typical border stop; it’s actually two stops. First you have to process your passport at the Costa Rican customs office, then you have to do a five-minute walk through the “no-man’s land” between borders. Then you enter in the Nicaraguan customs office.

(The “tree of life” sculpture, one of many around the country, that visitors see as soon as they cross the border into Nicaragua.)

Once you enter Nicaragua, you will meet your Nicaraguan van and tour guide, who will stay with you for the entire day in Nicaragua. (Our tour guide, Eduardo, was amazing!)

Lake Nicaragua Sightseeing

The morning began with a traditional breakfast on Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America, covering a landscape dotted with volcanoes.

We enjoyed breakfast at a tiny local lakefront restaurant. The owners served us rice and beans, eggs, fruit, fried plantains, salsa, and slices of the freshest, most delicious avocado you will ever taste.

(Traditional Nicaraguan breakfast)

Next, we took a quick detour through the city of Rivas before heading back to the shores of Lake Nicaragua. There, we set out on a boat tour that wound through the lake’s tiny islands. Each home is its own island!

(A single home on a tiny island in Lake Nicaragua)

We also made a quick stop at “monkey island” – an island too small for a house, but just the right size for a crew of mischievous monkeys.

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The Colorful City of Granada

Next we headed over to the historic and colorful city of Granada. Granada is perhaps best known for its colorful yellow Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral (Granada Cathedral)  in the central plaza.

(Granada Cathedral)

To get to know the city a little better, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through the city’s streets.

(A horse-drawn carriage in Granada, Nicaragua)

We saw plenty of low-slung and colorful colonial haciendas. Every now and then an open door would allow us a peek inside, where we would get a glimpse of a beautiful courtyard or pool. We also toured a chocolate factory, and had a chance to buy some cocoa products.

Masaya Volcano

For lunch, we had another traditional Nicaraguan meal. We each had a choice of chicken, fish, or steak, served with patacones (fried plantains), traditional cheese, and rice.

Then we headed up the mountain to see the mouth of Masaya Volcano.

(A view down into the mouth of Masaya Volcano)

Two things surprised us about the volcano: One, that we were able to get so close. And two, that the fumes were truly overpowering. There was a five-minute time limit for being at the top, and at first we were joking about it but after about four and a half minutes, we were ready to head out.

Our last stop was a shopping trip in a traditional open-air market. Although most of the offerings were touristy (think: coffee mugs and magnets), we were able to get a pretty pair of leather sandals for just $10. (Everyone takes American dollars.)

Then, after we had finished shopping, our tour guide Eduardo surprised us all with maracas that said “Nicaragua” and each had our names carved on them.

Our Nicaragua day trip was a very full day (leaving at 4:45 a.m. and returning at 8:45 p.m.). However, we didn’t regret a minute of the opportunity to see this fascinating country up close.

Tour details: Check out Cacique Tours here, and check out the resort villas at Bahia Pez Vela here.

(Blogger disclosure: We did not receive any compensation for this post; we paid for all travel and expenses on our own. All opinions reflected are our own.)