One Week in Nicaragua with Toddlers

We’ve lived in Costa Rica for nearly 6 years and have only crossed the border into Nicaragua once! Grant and I had first visited in 2018 while backpacking Central America and then once we moved to Costa Rica we went on a surf trip with a group of friends. (Well reading a book on the beach trip for me since I was pregnant with Marin at the time!)

Flash forward to 2024 and Marin is now in kindergarten and his school was on summer break longer than most of the other school’s in the area so I decided instead of paying for another week of summer camp or doing our usual activities again, we would take a family vacation to Nicaragua!

Getting to Nicaragua with Toddlers

We started our trip with a 3 am departure from our house so we could skip the line at the border. We drove three hours to Penas Blancas, parked our car, and crossed into Nicaragua on foot with nothing but our packs and our sense of adventure! I was itching for a true backpacking trip so we started with a chicken bus to Rivas to hop on a ferry to our first stop: Isla Ometepe.

Getting Around Nicaragua with Toddlers

On Ometepe we rented a quad and the rest of the trip we used the same taxi driver to take us around. We randomly found him via a guy (presumably his coworker) shouting “taxi to Popoyo” when we were boarding the ferry back to the mainland. We liked him so we got his number and used him for the rest of our transportation. We used a golf cart to scoot around in Hacienda Iguana and in San Juan del Sur we rented a bitchin’ Polaris purely for fun!

Isla Ometepe with Toddlers

Isla Ometepe is a magical island. It is in the middle of a huge lake and is home to two gorgeous and giant volcanos! From waterfall hikes and monkeys, to kayaking and swimming in natural springs, we had an amazing time zipping around Ometepe on our quad. Read all about our Ometepe trip here!

Playa Santana with Toddlers

We actually cut our Ometepe trip a night short because we had done everything we wanted to on the island and we were getting a little tired of glamping. Our next booking was in Playa Colorado but it wasn’t available for the previous night so I splurged a bit and booked a nice hotel, Costa Oeste, on Playa Santana. We couldn’t wait for a hot shower, pool, and some A/C! Playa Santana has some luxury accommodations in the Rancho Santana neighborhood and this beach is gorgeous! We hung by the pool, watched the surfers, and had a nice dinner at the nearby Happy Coconut restaurant.

Playa Colorado and Hacienda Iguana with Toddlers

This is the part of our trip I was most excited for. I was targeted with an Instagram ad for “Colorado Surf and Stay” and I thought (due to mis-advertisement in my opinion) that the boutique hotel was on the beach with a pool and right in front of an amazing surf break. Turns out it was a house in a community, Hacienda Iguana, that had access to a beach club with a nice pool in front of the amazing surf break…that you had to take a golf cart or bike to.

At first, I was bummed and a little pissed, but once we readjusted our expectations we had an amazing time! We rented a golf cart and would drive to the beach club where Grant would surf and me and the boys would hang at the pool and playground. I considered taking a lesson but the waves were too big for me! The beach club was awesome and had other like-minded families who lived and vacationed there. The community of Hacienda Igauna is really nice too with a brewery, pizza spot, and a couple of cafes.

What started as a disappointment I would now actually recommend! Just rent a house in Hacienda Iguana, don’t stay at the Colorado Surf and Stay! While I preferred Ometepe, this was Grant’s favorite part of the trip. The surf was perfect and the sunset Toñas at the beach bar weren’t bad either! Four year old Marin even caught his best wave ever!

San Juan del Sur with Toddlers

We wrapped up our trip with an old favorite, San Juan del Sur. An old favorite meaning that some places aren’t best revisited, but rather as a memory instead. We loved SJDS when we first visited in 2018. Read all about that trip here. When we re-visited in 2019 it was a little more run down due to some political and civil unrest in the country and when we went back this time it was downright seedy…in the day time at least.

We stayed at a private room in a hostel called Tapihouse and the owner was so kind and it was clean…enough. In the evening hours SJDS has some charm as cute boutique surf shops and restaurants open, but it definitely isn’t super kid-friendly. The thing about SJDS is that it is a good home base for daily surf adventures. Surf all day and come back for happy hour, dinner, and a little nightlife and you’ll love it.

Playa Hermosa and Playa Remanso

With the kids we couldn’t do this so we had to improvise. We splurged on a Polaris (they are outrageously priced to rent but we haggled since it was for less than 24 hours), and hit the beaches. We first went to Playa Hermosa which was nice and chill. The most adventurous and entertaining part was the road to get there which was covered in pot holes and river crossing! We were muddin’!

Next stop: Playa Remanso. This beach was so cute and I wish I was here earlier in the day so I had time for a surf lesson. It is the perfect beginner surf break with cute beach bars and restaurants all around. If we visit again I want to hang out here longer! It was such a great vibe.