North of the long, mostly undeveloped beaches of Playa Amarilla and Playa Colorado is Playa Santana, which is really five beaches. The 1,100-hecatre (2,700-acre) Rancho Santana (www.ranchosantana.com) is an intentionally rugged, private complex with multiple residential communities that share a beach club, organic farm, and surf center. A clubhouse and hotel complex on the northern…
CONTINENT CROSSING During the California gold rush, thousands of would-be prospectors from the east coast of the United States travelled by ship to Nicaragua, where they were able to cross the country via the San Juan River to Lake Nicaragua and then overland to the Pacific, where they could catch a ship up to the…
SHARKS The relatively shallow waters of Lake Nicaragua are the last place anyone would expect to find a shark. Their appearance surprised scientists who believed they were a unique freshwater species – until 1976, when the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Thomas B. Thorson tagged some of them, revealing that highly adaptable Caribbean bull sharks (Charcharinus leucus)…
Volcán Masaya National Park Nicaragua’s first and largest national park, the 54 sq km (34 sq miles) Parque Nacional Volcán Masaya @ [map] is the home of five craters and two calderas. The extremely active Masaya caldera, known as the ‘Gates of Hell’ to the Spanish, exploded as recently as 2001, allowing a new vent…
Granada and the Masaya Region The short distance between Managua and Lake Nicaragua is one of the most visited in Nicaragua. For many travelers, the cobblestone streets and colonial townhouses-turned-boutique hotels in Granada serve as a base from which they explore the rest of the country. Easy day trips from the city allow for hikes…
A UNICYCLIST TURNED REVOLUTIONARY A California-born engineering graduate named Benjamin Ernest Linder, inspired by the Sandinista Revolution, moved to Nicaragua in 1983 to help the country’s poor. After several years in Managua he moved to the northern highland town of El Cuá, in the middle of a war zone where the Sandinistas were fighting the…
THE POTENTIAL CANAL Conceived by Ortega’s administration, Nicaragua’s Grand Interoceanic Canal project was pushed through parliament in 2014 with almost no debate. Backed by HKND, a Chinese company that few know anything about, the proposed $50 billion waterway is the hope of many to finally develop a Panama-like economy and modern infrastructure in Nicaragua. The…
Fact The city of Managua straddles several fault lines that experiences major seismic activity every 50 years or so. The last major quake occurred in 1972, which destroyed large swathes of the city center and displaced two thirds of the population. A 5.6 magnitude quake and its aftershocks hit in 2014, destroying roughly 2,000 houses,…
NICARAGUA A land of contrasts, Nicaragua is Central America’s sweet spot with all of the culture and nature, yet few of the tourists. Main Attractions Léon Granada Isla de Ometepe Solentiname Archipeligo San Juan del Sur Corn Islands Costa Esmeralda Word is quickly getting out about Nicaragua, long off the radar for all but the…
BAY ISLANDS DIVING With easy access to the world’s second largest barrier reef, the Bay Islands of Roatán, Utila, and Guanaja, not forgetting Barbareta and 60 or so other cays, are best known for diving. Nearly every hotel and resort offers some form of dive package. So what makes the Bay Islands such a famous…