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Nicaragua Highlights Tour: Volcanoes, Markets, Granada
4.6
429 Ratings
Guanacaste
Discover Nicaragua’s top attractions in just one day from Costa Rica!
Visit a dormant volcano crater, witness the active Masaya Crater, shop at artisan markets, wander through the colonial town of Granada, enjoy a boat ride around the islets of Lake Nicaragua, and even feed monkeys!
Discover Nicaragua’s top attractions in just one day from Costa Rica!
Visit a dormant volcano crater, witness the active Masaya Crater, shop at artisan markets, wander through the colonial town of Granada, enjoy a boat ride around the islets of Lake Nicaragua, and even feed monkeys!
Duration:
15 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Pinilla - 4:00 am
- Tamarindo - 4:30 am
- Playa Langosta - 4:20 am
- Tamarindo - 4:30 am
- Native’s Way - You will picked up from your hotel promptly and taken to the border where your guide will help you in every step of the crossing, which takes about 30 minutes. The guide will make the process easy for you and will take care of…
- Pinilla - 4:00 am
- Tamarindo - 4:30 am
- Playa Langosta - 4:20 am
- Tamarindo - 4:30 am
- Native’s Way - You will picked up from your hotel promptly and taken to the border where your guide will help you in every step of the crossing, which takes about 30 minutes. The guide will make the process easy for you and will take care of all of the passport paperwork and visas. From here we will travel to eat a hearty breakfast to start off the day.
- Playa Conchal - 4:50 am
- Playa Flamingo - 4:30 am
- Playa Hermosa - 5:30 am - Secrets Papagayo, Villas Sol, Occidental Papagayo, Mangroove
- Playas del Coco - 5:20 am
- Liberia - 6:00 am
- Mirador de Catarina - Here you will enjoy an incredible view over the dormant volcano crater, Granada, and Lake Nicaragua. You will be allowed to walk around freely for a while before getting back in the bus and heading to the next stop.
- Masaya Crafts Market - Do some shopping for inexpensive souvenirs and experience the Nicaraguan life style before sitting down for a typical Nicaraguan lunch.
- Masaya Volcano National Park - An active volcano where you will have the opportunity to stand right next to its crater and hear it rumbling and spewing of gases. An incredible, rare sight.
- Catedral de Granada - An old Colonial town near Lake Nicaragua. Stop at La Merced Church, considered one of the most beautiful buildings of Granada. It is flanked by a large tower that houses the church bells. You will ascend the stairs and reach the roof of the church. From here, you’ll have a panoramic city view of Granada, Mombacho Volcano, and Nicaragua Lake with the islets. This is the perfect place to take pictures of the beautiful city and the surroundings.
- Las Isletas - Your last stop is a one hour boat ride in Lake Nicaragua viewing the Nicarguan Islets around sunset. Your guide will stop by Monkey Island consisting only of monkeys that will come out and take food from your guide on the boat! You will then head back to Costa Rica, stopping on the way to pick up some snacks for the ride home.
What's Included
- Hotel, Condo, or House pickup and drop-off
- National Park fees
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Bottled water
- Lunch
- Breakfast
- Hotel, Condo, or House pickup and drop-off
- National Park fees
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Bottled water
- Lunch
- Breakfast
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Andaz, Four Seasons, Planet Hollywood - $50 transport fee per booking, not per person
- Las Catalinas - $50 pick-up fee per booking, not per person
- Gratuities
- Andaz, Four Seasons, Planet Hollywood - $50 transport fee per booking, not per person
- Las Catalinas - $50 pick-up fee per booking, not per person
Additional Information
- Passport name, number, expiry and country is required at time of booking for all participants. Please bring your passport on the day of your tour
- Entry to Nicaragua: Send photo of passport to [email protected] or WhatsApp
- Your departure Ticket that proof of flight out of Costa Rica
- If your hotel is not listed, contact us for quoting
- It is…
- Passport name, number, expiry and country is required at time of booking for all participants. Please bring your passport on the day of your tour
- Entry to Nicaragua: Send photo of passport to [email protected] or WhatsApp
- Your departure Ticket that proof of flight out of Costa Rica
- If your hotel is not listed, contact us for quoting
- It is prohibited to enter the country of Nicaragua with the following items: all kinds of Drones, all kinds of Binoculars, including those for Night vision, and any object considered for professional, journalistic, and similar audiovisual reproduction.
Location
JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & Spa
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(429 Ratings)
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1 star
Kerry_o
Dec 16, 2024
Long day, but worth it! - I was in Costa Rica for the week and looking to do more than just sit at the resort pool. This was a great choice and I'm so glad I did it. We saw so much for only being in the country for 1/2 a day. The tour guides were excellent, breakfast and lunch were delicious, and the tour was kept to a smaller size which made it more manageable. We weren't able to get to the volcano because the crater caved in. That was a disappointment, but you can't control nature. While I enjoyed the Christ of Mercy statue and appreciate that they substituted something instead of just skipping a stop, it wasn't the same as a volcano. I also can't say anything about that stop as we didn't make it. Some things to note...it is an early and a LONG day. The estimate said 15 hours, it was closer to 17 and we were not the earliest pickup (Our time was 5:30am). As others have mentioned the border crossing from Costa Rica to Nicaragua took a long time, and was somewhat unorganized...not because of the tour company but just the way the line was set up. Again, nothing that was in their control. It was the Costa Rica side that took long, once we got to Nicaragua we crossed without any issues. The breakfast restaurant was right on the lake and allowed for some beautiful pictures, lunch was held inside a courtyard, and we enjoyed an optional horse drawn carriage ride around Granada (I think this was an additional $10/person). There were plenty of stops for photos and a few minutes allowed at various sites. More time would've been nice but then the tour wouldn't have been a day trip. Overall, highly recommended.
Review provided by Viator
Yvonne_t
Dec 14, 2024
Good tour need longer - Long day. Very early start at 4.30am pick up from hotel. Transfer bus to our bigger bus to take us to the border. Bit chaotic there as the driver didn't speak English and left us to it. The tour guide on the Nicaragua side was fantastic though. Walked us across the border, went through everything with us. Very funny and knowledgeable. Breakfast and lunch were good. The horse and carriage ride was nice in Granada.As was seeing the old churches, very beautiful. We didn't get to go up the volcano as advertised as it was unsafe so we're taken to a statue of Jesus's instead. Bit disappointed in this to be honest. The boat ride around the small islands was ok. A bit choppy on the water! I think you need longer than a day here to see everything properly as it was very rushed.
Review provided by Viator
Nancy_k
Dec 10, 2024
An Amazing Day in Nicaragua - One of the highlights of our Costa Rica trip. It is an early start, and a late drop off but it was well worth it. Our Nicaraguan tour guide/driver, yep, one and the same, Claudio was FANTASTIC with us all day. We were a small group, just 4 of us. Just experiencing walking across the border, eating at local restaurants, visiting Granada. (Make sure you bring extra $$$ for a buggy ride.), the old churches, the boat ride, the religious statute, the horses on the side of the road eating, the chocolate and cigar factory. Soo many memories. Just a side note, you have to pay a minimal charge to use some public bathrooms. They will hand you sheets of toilet paper Some restaurants have the sink to wash your hands outside the toilet area.
Amazing. I will remember the great memories of the day. Worth the money and time.
Review provided by Viator
Jeff_h
Dec 9, 2024
Perfect Day!! - Everything was perfect. Claudio was a great Guide and the drivers were very professional. The boat ride through the islands and seeing the monkeys was the highlight. Highly recommend this trip. .
Review provided by Viator
Z9533junicolek
Dec 5, 2024
EXCELLENT! - Armando was our tour guide/private transfer to the border of Nicaragua so we can travel there for the day. He was incredibly knowledgeable, personal and friendly! We will for sure be using Natives Way again when we come back!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Charles_h
Dec 4, 2024
Awesome trip! - Great trip, but its a LONG day!! We had very good drivers and a GREAT guide who were Friendly and very knowledgeable! So much information! I would definitely recommend!!
Review provided by Viator
Sarahkempk
Dec 14, 2024
Frank the Tank day trip to Nicaragua - Booked the tour with Frank the Tank. Frank is wonderful and very responsive to Messenger communication and gives reductions for repeat or multiple tour bookings. The Nicaragua tour is interesting and the views spectacular. The guides and driver were excellent and very helpful, the equipment was clean and new and the food wonderful. Just be aware that crossing into Nicaragua is a very slow and painful process involving long lines, fingerprinting and multiple passport reviews. The trip overall takes about 15 hours and at least 10 of these are driving so I don't advise it with young kids, or if you're not prepared for the driving time. Return to Costa Rica is easier, but even the exit from Nicaragua is slow.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Corianne_b
Dec 12, 2024
Good tour overall - The actual time spent in nicaragua was awesome!! It was cultural, great food, great tour guides! The boarder crossing into nicaragua was less than desirable and long! And there was a LOT of drive time, but I would do it again!
Review provided by Viator
Mohamed_s
Dec 7, 2024
No mention was made of the hassle to cross the Nicaraguan border and travellers should be made aware to be prepared - The border crossing at the Nicaraguan border not a good experience luckily it didn't rain that day
People choosing to take this trip should be prepared
Review provided by Viator
Adrianna_c
Dec 6, 2024
Fun but rushed - It was a fun trip! Mario, our guide was very knowledgeable about our sites. Breakfast and lunch were delicious! I felt a little rushed through the trip we spent a lot of time driving and not enough time at the individual sites. I think it was a great experience, but you should be prepared to stand in the immigration line - it took our group over an hour to get through. If you are looking forward to the monkeys, you should know that there are only two on Monkey Island and if another group is ahead of you on the tour, they will not interact with you.
Review provided by Viator
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