Where to eat, sleep, surf & repeat in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.
EAT.
Buddha Garden
Buddha garden is a lovely place in a slightly quieter street of SJDS. They serve vegetarian, vegan and raw food. Their smoothies are amazing and very big, and be sure to check out the 'chocolate turron', a combination of raw chocolate and peanut butter, yum! There is free filtered water. Expect to pay $6,- for a smoothie and $7,- for a breakfast dish. Buddha garden is next to a nice yoga school that also offers massages and has a little shop.El Gato Negro
El Gato Negro is a bookstore and café in one. They sell an amazingly great selection of second hand and new books. The gardening and yoga sections are both very large and well sorted. El Gato Negro serves great superfood smoothies, bagels and overnight oats. Make sure to try their chocolate superfood smoothie, banana chocolate muffin and a hot cup of 'cafe de la casa' (free refills!). Prices are around $4,- for a smoothie and $1,30 for a coffee. Don't touch the books unless you buy them.
Corner Taco
On the corner of SJDS' main shopping street is a little shop selling taco's. They offer fish, chicken, beef and veggie taco's for $1,50 each. Very much recommended, try for the only two seats and watch the streetlife, that can be quite entertaining at night, considering the liquor store is next-door :)
SLEEP.
Hostel Esperanza
Hostel Esperanza is a good option for couples who want a private room and don't want to pay too much for unnecessary extra's. The rooms are basic and clean, and so are the beds. They have a fan and a private bathroom. Breakfast is included and consists of typical Nica fare: gallo pinto, an egg & fruit. They have a kitchen you can use and free filtered water. In the high season there is a Mexican restaurant in this hostel. Prices for a double are standard $25,-.
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| Beautiful sunsets from the porch at Hostel Esperanza. |
Rapture Surf Camp
If you want to treat yourself to a luxurious room with outdoor rain shower and infinity pool overlooking the lush jungle, Rapture Surf Camp is the place to be. Situated about 30 mins outside of SJDS by 4x4 this jungle resort is the affordable option for a nice getaway with everything included. Everyday there is a surf safari in a 4x4 that takes you to the waves (defiantly a must, climbing trough the jungle path is a drag!), breakfast and dinner are included and surf lessons are optional. They have a wonderful volunteer/ host (seriously though, start paying your personnel surf camps!!!) Jan, who is very accommodating and helpful. Prices are super value, we paid €80,- per day for everything, good deal if you ask me!
Rapture just started out in Nicaragua and that is still quite noticeable. The German owners are still overseeing all kinds of building going on, they are planning a yoga platform and a surfshop too. Thing have to be fine-tuned a little more though. The surf teachers have to grow into their role a little better. They push you into ordering food at specific beach clubs on the beaches they take you to surf. Probably because they get free food or a commission in return, very annoying. On several occasions I saw them drinking during their workday and even in the car while driving up the steepest slope I have ever encountered. In my opinion, this is very unprofessional en dangerous. On the upside, the owner immediately talked to the teachers after my complaint and it seemed that helped. I hope they will professionalize some more and then this place will be an absolute gem!
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| Infinite views & monkey sounds at Rapture. |
SURF.
Playa Maderas
Playa Maderas is about 30 - 40 mins to the north of SJDS (with the Casa Oro shuttle). This beach is very pretty and has a left and a right that is quite advanced. They can be surfed at high and low tide. At low tide there is some nice white water in de front for beginners. When you get into the water, make sure you do the stingray shuffle, as these little buggers are very common around here, as L. experienced first hand.
Bring some food and water with you when you go to Maderas as a vegan, as there are not a lot of options and the price / quality ratio is slightly off. One exception is a little stall further back on the road to the beach, that sells Nica food for about $3,- a plate, very tasty with lots of vegan options!
To go the playa Maderas you can take your own car or catch a shuttle from Casa Oro in SJDS, for $5,- return. There are also several options to sleep on the beach. We have stayed at Los Tres Hermanos, a somewhat rickety beach shack that has privates for $25,-. The owners are quite unfriendly tough and there is LOUD music and drunk guys hanging around. Not recommended for single female travelers (this is the only place I felt uncomfortable as a woman).
Playa Remanso
A wonderful beach that has a very nice left during low tide that is all level, and at high tide there is a nice right that seems a favorite with the amazing locals. There are a few little beach clubs here where the food is not very recommendable, so again, bring your own if you are vegan.Playa Hermosa
A beautiful beach with lots of peaks. When we were there, none of the breaks seemed to work very well, with lots of close outs. It does have potential and I have seen Hermosa listed in many top 5 as favorite surf beach. There is a shuttle to Hermosa from Casa Oro again, but we went there with the Rapture crew. As Hermosa is a private beach, you have to pay $3,- to get in.BONUS: SHOP.
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| My new favorite bikini: the Olivia top and Nour bottom by Moietii. |
Moietii
Moietii is a Nicaraguan brand of swim wear. Everything is designed and handmade in Nicaragua by local woman. They have great styles and a lot of tiny bikini pants (my favorite). Make sure to check them out in SJDS on the high street. I couldn't resist and bought TWO bikini sets and a surf legging! |
| I've spent most of my days wearing an Auric onesie :) |
Ufff.. There is some info on here that is not correct! That is the problem with people passing through places quickly and thinking you get to know a place well enough to advise others about it.
ReplyDelete-Tres Hermanos: The owners were overseas when you were here. The owners are very friendly people, and both in this place as in general in this area of Nicaragua it is very safe for women to travel solo. Saying it is not recommendable for women to do so would imply it is not safe.
-Playa Maderas is 20 min away from SJDS, not 30-40.
-Rapture: "They push you into ordering food at specific beach clubs on the beaches they take you to surf. Probably because they get free food or a commission in return, very annoying". No, they absolutely don't. It's kind of a nasty thing to assume and publice about, you might wanna check your facts on that first.
-"everything on the beach is very, very expensive, and of bad quality". There's meals starting at $5, that you can eat right on one of the most popular beaches of the entire country. I don't think you can find that in a lot of places in Europe or the States, but instead of seeing this $5 as a way of helping out local businesses, there's complaints that it's not cheap enough.
-"The surf teachers have to grow into their role a little better", and several other remarks. You're in one of the poorest countries in Central and South America, where schooling hardly exists, people are incredibly poor (read: a husband who earns $200 a month has to provide for woman, kids, mother and sisters is a common scenario), and you get guided by 2 local guys who grew up in exactly that situation, who learned how to speak English, drive cars, set up their own business and know all about safety regarding surfing and the ocean. We're pretty much talking the top of Nicaraguan society. So a little bit of perspective of their role would be nice.
Take it from someone who's been living here full time for over 1.5 years
Thanks for your extensive reply Alexandra! These are just my experiences of course, and I am sure they are of momentarily nature. The blog is from my perspective, as a surf teacher and vegan, and in that respect I wrote my honest opinions on several topics. I did make a few clarifications, thanks for pointing them out! I had a lovely holiday and would recommend others to have wonderful holiday too :)
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