Nicaragua Green Trip More Details
DAY 1
Airport – Granada
Welcome to Nicaragua, today, our representative will be waiting for you at the airport & will be transported to the colonial city of Granada. Once in Granada, you will have the afternoon free at your disposal.
DAY 2
Boat Ride + Lava Tour at night + Montibelli Reserve.
Good morning! Today, early in the morning, we are going to have a cup of coffee and at 5:30 am, we are going to be picked up to do our boat tour. To do this tour so early is perfect for two things; it’s still cool and a lot of birds are waking up and we will be able to see them. Once we are done with it, we are going to have some free time. At 4:00pm, we’re going to continue with the Masaya Volcano Night Tour.
Islands Boat Tour: Lake Nicaragua is dotted with jungle-clad islands. The biggest is the twin-volcano Isla de Ometepe. But off the lake shore from Granada lie a few hundred smaller islands — some of the most beautiful places to visit in Granada. This is an archipelago of around 360 small volcanic islands that today wonderfully dot the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Las “Isletas” is a place located just 10 minutes from the Colonial City of Granada.
Las Isletas on a private boat are impressive, the large number of birds that can be seen, the flora and fauna in general, plus the panoramic views is something unique you will not forget.
On the tour you will learn the geological process by which these small islands were formed, or at least, the two theories that are believed are the reasons for the formation of the archipelago. You will also learn about the life of the locals, how they live, what activities they practice, the educational system of local children and much more of the culture of these families.
Lava Tour Overnight: Our adventure will begin at 4:00 pm, we will drive 40 minutes to the entrance of the park, once we get into Masaya Volcano National Park, we obtain our tickets and drive approximately 6 kilometers to the Santiago active crater parking area; it will still be daytime here, so we’ll walk about 20 minutes to the different viewpoints to admire the different beauties that this park has to offer.
This National Park is not only lava, that is why we will arrive before sunset, and we will walk to the top of the Masaya Volcano, throughout the entire journey, from the beginning to the end, our certified and experienced tour guide will explain everything related to this park; its eruptive history and formation, its geology, flora, fauna and tourist importance of this park, in addition to the events that have occurred here over the years.
Once on the edge of the San Fernando and San Juan craters, we will obtain one of the most dazzling views of Central America, with also the most astronomical sunset in the region. From here we will contemplate, in addition to the geological ring called “El Ventarrón” in which the 54 square kilometers of the Masaya Volcano National Park rest; we will enjoy the volcanoes: Mombacho, Masaya, Nindirí, Momotombo, Momotombito (this last one if Managua City is not foggy), the Masaya lagoon, the Xolotlán Lake in Managua and Cocibolca Lake in Granada, the cities of: Managua (capital of Nicaragua), Masaya and Granada and if all this were not enough; get ready to admire the most exuberant sunset (if it’s not raining) of this Land of Lakes and Volcanoes. Here, the sun’s rays play with the steam that comes out of the Santiago crater, this mixture of sun rays and volcanic gasses form a spectacular phenomenon that is admired every year by thousands of tourists from all over the world.
Once the sun is gone, we walk back to the active crater of Santiago, to observe a gigantic and divine lava lake at the bottom of it. We will be at this area for 10 to 30 minutes so that you can take the photos you want and record this tour in your memory as one of the best of your life. Once this tour is finished, we are going to drive about an hour to Montibelli Private Natural Reserve where we are going to spend the night.
DAY 3
Bird-Watching Montibelli + Private Transfer to San Carlos
Montibelli is a Natural Reserve made up of about 400 acres of tropical dry forest in Managua’s high sierra. It is home to a variety of unique animal and plant life, offering our tourists an up-close vantage point from which to admire this rugged landscape.
The recently-renovated lodge is located on the reserve. Tropical fruits and vegetables are grown on the Reserve & its surrounding areas and used to create mouth-watering authentic fare at the lodge restaurant. The grounds are great for bird watching, boasting a myriad of colorful species including parrots, hummingbirds, golden orioles, and Nicaragua’s national bird, the mot-mot. It is also one of the only places in Nicaragua where the rare trogon can be spotted.
Bird-watching Montibelli: We get up early today, have a cup of coffee, we go for a guided bird watching tour around the property and return to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast we are going to drive about 6 hours to the city of San Carlos at the other side of Lake Nicaragua. We are going to spend the night in this hotel and the next morning, we are heading to El Castillo on the riverside of San Juan River.
DAY 4
Public Boat to El Castillo + Cayman Night Tour
We are going to have breakfast at 7:00 am and then, we will take a boat to El Castillo, located in San Juan River, this drive in a public boat through the San Juan River will take us 2 hours, upon arrival, our local tour guide will be there waiting for us and take us to our hotel for us to do the check in. The afternoon is on your own in the town; at 7pm, we will embark for more than one hour in the caiman tour. This tour will take us on the riverside at night for us to enjoy the darkness noise; frogs, toads, basilisks, caimans, nocturnal birds are part of the menu for us to see tonight. Around 9pm, we will get back to our hotel.
DAY 5
Walking Tour to Indio Maíz Biosphere Reserve + San Juan River Boat Tour (Manatees & Crocodiles)
We will pack our breakfast today and we are going to have an early cup of coffee. Today will be served before we embark in our private boat, one of the most amazing reserves in Nicaragua. Indio Maíz is about 1 hour from El Castillo, we go down the river, enjoying the vast wildlife, we’ll get into the reserve and walk in it for 2 hours in the heart of it. Once we are done, we go in our boat down the river to look for Manatees, big Crocodiles, birds, sloths, etc. Then, we are going to get back to El Castillo around 4pm.
The Indio Maiz Biological Reserve is without a doubt, a natural paradise that is still little explored and which houses a large amount of biodiversity. The richness of its forests in terms of flora and fauna but also the important homework of this reserve using the huge amount of carbon dioxide and convert it into pure oxygen is what gives this reserve the consideration of being “The Lungs of Central America”
DAY 6
Public Boat to San Carlos + Private Transfer to Granada + Night at Apoyo Lagoon
We have an early breakfast today and take the 8:00 am boat to San Carlos. We are going to take a private transportation for 5 hours from San Carlos to Apoyo Lagoon. Here at Apoyo Lagoon, we are going to relax and spend the rest of the day.
Apoyo Volcanic Lagoon: Apoyo is the largest volcanic lagoon in Central America, the Apoyo volcano was once a gigantic volcano which eruption was probably the largest in our history as a country, its conical-looking crater more than 170 meters (500+ feet) deep was filled by rainwater. Today we have a natural paradise here in the depths of this volcano. Its waters are loaded with components such as sulfur dioxide which makes it healthy for the skin and when swimming here, the body will relax and everything will be in an environment with tranquility and peace.
DAY 7
Adventure Tours in Rural Community
The communities of Charco Muerto and Los Cocos are located in the southwest side of the city of Granada, in front of the volcanic island of Zapatera and on the shores of Lake Cocibolca and if that’s not enough, this place is also located at the base of the Mombacho Volcano Cloud Forest which enrich Charco Muerto and Los Cocos with a vast variety of biodiversity. The geographical characteristic of this location has privileged these communities with spectacular panoramic landscapes such as coves, beaches, mountains, viewpoints, cliffs, underground waters and above all, beautiful people.
Our day will start early at 6:00 in the morning, at that time we leave Granada and take the Pan-American Highway for 30 minutes and then take a dirt road for almost 25 kilometers to the beach of Casa de Tejas Farm and Playas del Coco in front of Zapatera Island. The road is rustic, muddy and rocky, with streams and ravines, which makes the adventure more dynamic.
Once in the community of Los Cocos, we’ll walk for approximately an hour, passing through tropical forests, we’ll reach the top of a mountain with beautiful viewpoints where we can rest while admiring the spectacular views, after there, we’ll go down the mountain until we reach to the community of Charco Muerto; This is a peninsula with a very particular geological characteristic, full of coves, rocky walls and cliffs, this place is magical in the sight of those who visit it!
From there, we will go on horses to the base of the volcanic hill known as “La Lomona” (the big hill). From there, we will walk to the top of this hill for about 40 minutes. The majestic and dazzling views up there is something you are going to love. From above, you would see and take photos of the Zapatera archipelago, Lake Cocibolca and when it is clear, the imposing Concepción volcano of Ometepe Island can also be seen.
There at the top of La Lomona, we are going to have a picnic, grill beef and have a few beers while we relax for a while in the shade of a big tree. After about two hours, we will go back down to Charco Muerto and from there, by rowboat (you will have your own paddle) to where we left the motorcycles to return to Granada.
On the way back, we will stop by the crystalline and underground waters of Aguas Agrias, this tropical paradise is located at the base of the Mombacho volcano, the water comes from the Mombacho cloud forest, infiltrating through the underground sources and running for many kilometers until it flows here into this place which is perfect for swimming in its waters loaded with medicinal properties for a perfect relaxation. After this, we will return to Granada, arriving here around 5 in the afternoon.
DAY 8
Managua’s Hotel + Airport
So sorry to say that this is our last day in beautiful Nicaragua. We hope you have had the best trip of your life and hope to see you guys again in this country. After breakfast today, we drive 10 minutes to the airport and say goodbye to you.
INCLUDES
- Air-Conditioned Land Transportation
- All Water Transportation
- Bilingual, experienced & certified Tour Guide
- All Entrance Fees
- All breakfasts
- Taxes
PLACES VISITED
- Apoyo Lagoon
- Granada
- Managua
- San Carlos
- San Juan River
Dirk MMarch 28, 2024Simple the Best in Nicaragua don't know what to start. Mario loves his job more then most tour operations go, we first made reservations with him through WhatsApp about seeing the Islatas In Granada Nicaragua, It was perfect It was a little bit more expensive than the rest of their tour guides that are on the streets but he promised us a private tour any picked us up from the airport on time and gave us a beautiful Sunsets, I was a little apprehensive over giving him a deposit but his Google reviews were good and it was only $20 deposit. After that he did not push us to use him but we decided to use him to go to Mobacho volcano and do the Puma, after reading lots of reviews on how to do it we decided with Mario and his team. Honestly there was no shenanigans he picked us up from a hotel there was no waiting around to take a 4x4 vehicle the guide over there spoke perfect English and then his driver waited for us to be picked up It was fantastic compared to other people issues trying to save a little bit of money. He also gave as a right to the airport pretty late at night with his driver. Don't hesitate to use him and services for all your tour needs and Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Thank you again. Very polite all the transportation cars what clean and communicated very well. Thank you Mario and GustoSteve PMarch 8, 2024Fantastic service!!!! I cannot say enough positive things about Mario and his company. They treated me and my group extremely well, far beyond the call of duty. If you are looking for a very knowledgeable tour guide and one with excellent connections I highly recommend them. Also, if you happen to get Maynor as a guide suggest you ask him to sing, he has literally an award-winning voice.RolandMarch 8, 2024Amazing and Memorable Experience with Mario Romero and Golden Tours Nicaragua! Mario Romero of Golden Tours Nicaragua surpassed every expectation as a provider of group transportation, excursions, and as a tour guide and person. To begin with, Mario’s oral and written English and Spanish are superb. From his very first, detailed, descriptive, and thorough introductory summary-of-services email, our correspondence was professional, timely, and clear, enabling one of the smoothest "business" transactions I’ve ever enjoyed, covering logistics and pricing, but also littered with helpful tips and suggestions for me to hone my tour. A bit of context, I’m a Canadian musician and tour leader who ran a 2-week musical excursion for a group of 25 middle-aged choir singer “gringos” from Canada in February 2024. I’d been to Nicaragua before to plan the tour, and so I knew my way around, although I don’t speak Spanish. I needed support running my tour on a variety of fronts; little did I know that by engaging Golden Tours, I’d have most of them covered. Mario Romero responded to a query I’d posted on Facebook looking for recommendations for a bus company to get my group from the airport to our destination. I sent him a quick message outlining my needs, which he responded to promptly and professionally, as mentioned above. Not knowing him, I wrote a few more exploratory emails to feel out the collaboration. He answered all questions promptly and thoroughly, had great prices and services, and it was quickly apparent that he could offer much more to my tour than mere group transportation. And so I engaged him, a decision I have never been more happy with in my life. At that point, Mario helped me settle on the best dates and times for group movements and excursions, working around other facets of the itinerary and helping to bring focus and optimal sequencing among a diverse array of activities. As the collaboration progressed, Mario continuously adapted plans to best fit my group’s needs as he better understood their age and interests. In the end, Mario Romero and Golden Tours coordinated all of my group travel needs, first from the airport in Liberia across the border into Nicaragua, and then from San Juan Del Sur to Granada, to the Masaya Volcano, to Ometepe Island, to beaches, and other destinations. All of this unfolded perfectly and with great adaptability, for example, adapting to the fact that the group had multiple lodging designations to shuttle between. Mario also coordinated the bulk of my group’s excursions, which was enormously helpful since he made all the necessary calls and reservations, handled payment matters with venues, and dealt with small issues that arose directly with venue staff on my group’s behalf. Yes, that’s merely what the job entails, but he carried this out perfectly, never allowing an opportunity for misunderstanding to slow things down. In this capacity, he additionally served my group as translator, tour guide, historian, botanist, sociologist, and philosopher. I do not exaggerate. He even supported our choir by acting as MC and verbally introducing musical selections we sang in our three evening - and very much outside of business hour - concerts, a role I could never in my wildest dreams imagine that our “transport guy” would be able to fill. Mario was liked and respected by every member of my group, a response he earned by simply being an amazing human. At the end of the tour, having discovered Mario’s passion for music and his desire to learn to play, we gave him the group’s electric piano, as a parting gift and partial gesture of thanks. I will definitely be back to Nicaragua to work with Mario and all the guys from Golden Tours Nicaragua - drivers Justo Cárcamo, Marvin Calderón, and tour guide, Maynor Ríos, who led an unforgettable spontaneously-organized early-morning bird-watching tour along the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Thank you, Golden Tours Nicaragua!Susan-voyageMarch 6, 2024More than a tour guide! Mario provided lots of support to our musical ensemble during our visit to San Juan del Sur and Granada and shared his knowledge of Nicaragua, volcanos, birds and more. He attended all of our concerts and provided introductions to our repertoire in Spanish. Going beyond the role of a tour guide. Gracias!David RFebruary 4, 2024Nicaragua in September I have traveled with Golden Tours several time and have had a wonderful experience every time. I recommend Mario to help you make your Nicaragha trip unforgettable. They are very knowledgeable and can answer questions or even help plan your trip. I am going back to Nicaragua the end of February and first of March and have everything booked with Golden Tours.Sophie RJanuary 28, 2024Great! Nous avons fait le tour Mombacho, Masaya et Laguna de Apoyo en une journée avec notre guide Abbott. Tout était parfait, il allait à notre rythme et répondait très bien aux questions.EvelienJanuary 12, 2024una guía de sueños Mario es una guía fantástica! Él es amigable, confiable y muy útil. Logró involucrar a todos en el grupo cada vez. Sabe mucho y puede contar historias bien. Me sentí 100% cómodo con él y nada es demasiado para él. Él es el mejor guía que he conocido. Gracias, Mario ????Stijn BeleynJanuary 11, 2024Authentiek, veel info over fauna en flora, amusement Super toffe ervaring in Nicaragua! Mario is de beste gids die je kan hebben. Hij verzet hemel en aarde om u volop te laten genieten van dit prachtige land! De trip naar Charco Muerto was een top ervaring om de lokale bevolking te leren kennen! Zeker niet twijfelen om hem te contacteren en volop te genieten van Nicaragua!!!!tinatravelerJanuary 10, 2024Family tour with Mario Our family had a wonderful tour with Mario. He showed us around Granada and we had the best sunset experience at Masaya Volcano park. We got there early to see the sunset while most tours only came at night. Transportation to Ometepe and all the way to our resort in Costa Rica. He even set us up for transfer to Liberia airport. Always on time and professional. Highly recommend for peace of mind.Peter DJanuary 9, 2024Best tourguide ever! Mario was our tourguide for 10 amazing days in Nicaragua. He showed us amazing places: El Castillo, Indio Maiz, Los Gatuzos, Solentiname, Granada and all the volcanoes in the area. Communication is excellent, his English is impeccable and his enthusiasm is the icing on the cake. Everything was super easy and smooth, he took us to places we would never have found on our own, places we would never have dreamt of going if it weren't for him. His love for nature, wildlife and people is contagious. His knowledge of the history and the culture of Nicaragua is vast and being around him is fun. While we were exploring and having the time of our lives, he was clearly enjoying the experience as well - which is awesome. Tip - if you can - visit Charko Muerto - you'll get a taste and feel of what the real Nicaragua is like that you cannot find anywhere else!
