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Carno · 12-04-2004, 05:19 PM

Well, I went there for the surf, so I was prepared for and expecting less than desirable accomodations. I flew out of Miami for about $400, round trip. We rented a 4x4 (a must if you plan on going anywhere other than the bigger cities), drove for 6 hours to this little village on the coast and basically just looked around for places to stay. We knew that the village had places to stay, but we weren't sure what exactly we would find. Anyways, we ended up in a little surfer motel that was owned by some locals. The rooms were like 8x8 and had two beds, a fan and a door. Extremely basic but for $7 a night we didn't care. It was an extremely chill place and the locals were super cool.

We stayed on the second story, since the ground floor was the toilets and the kitchen. Local girl worked in the kitchen and made food for everyone. The toilets were pretty gross by American standards, but I didn't really care. Basically we surfed three times a day and between sessions we just ate or chilled in the hammocks and read and talked. The food was fucking amazing. They mostly had pork and chicken, but some fishermen in a different village sometimes came by and sold their fish to the Pancho (the owner of the motel place). The fishermen would also bring lobsters sometimes. Every meal was served with rice and beans and some form of plaintains, usually tostones. For drinks they had a cooler full of beer and soda and Powerade. The beer was fantastic, by the way.

Ummm.. after a few days there we left for a couple of nights to hit up other surf spots. We drove through some bigger cities and stayed in a places that were a little nicer. Some rooms had air con, but they were $10 a night. Driving was probably the worst part of the trip since the roads are sooo shitty. Our top speed the entire time was 40 mph.

We went to one city, San Juan Del Sur, for a couple of days to hit up this one spot, and also to party. We went to a few bars and then to a disco. We met tons of really cool people in every place we went. And man could those Nican girls dance. I don't think I've ever seen a girl shake her ass that fast...

We also met lots of travellers as well. We met people from Cali, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Florida, Scotland, France and England. Almost everyone we met was super cool as well. Most of them were surfers, but the Canadians we met were hikers.

On the way back from San Juan we took a ferry to the volcanoe island and stayed there so we could hike the volcanoe the next day. It took us 6 hours to go up the volcanoe and 4 hours down; my legs have never been that tired. It was an amazing experience though. Hella sketchy terrain and it was hella steep. Anyways we went back to the first place and just surfed and chilled and met people.

The locals are very nice, and all the people we met were super willing to help out. Many people offered their extra bedrooms for us to stay in. We gave tons of stuff to the local kids, everything from surf wax to clothes to magazines to boards. They were all super stoked on surfing.

The rental SUV was $1200 for the month ($600 a piece), the plane ticket was $400, plus $100 tax to ship surfboards, and all other expenses for the entire trip came to a grand total of $252. If you don't rent a car, you can stay there for well under $1000 for a month. A car was a necessity for us since we were going to out of the way surf spots along the coast.

It is a very good idea to go with someone who speaks Spanish though. Some peopel speak English, but not many. Also, Costa is just a short bus ride away, and knowing Spanish is not a necessity there. Nica is kinda sketchy in the northern areas, but if you stay further south on the Pacific side, everything is cool. We never had any problems. I am definitely going back, hopefully for two months next time. It was a great experience.

12-04-2004, 05:19 PM	#12 (permalink)
Carno Junkie	Well, I went there for the surf, so I was prepared for and expecting less than desirable accomodations. I flew out of Miami for about $400, round trip. We rented a 4x4 (a must if you plan on going anywhere other than the bigger cities), drove for 6 hours to this little village on the coast and basically just looked around for places to stay. We knew that the village had places to stay, but we weren't sure what exactly we would find. Anyways, we ended up in a little surfer motel that was owned by some locals. The rooms were like 8x8 and had two beds, a fan and a door. Extremely basic but for $7 a night we didn't care. It was an extremely chill place and the locals were super cool. We stayed on the second story, since the ground floor was the toilets and the kitchen. Local girl worked in the kitchen and made food for everyone. The toilets were pretty gross by American standards, but I didn't really care. Basically we surfed three times a day and between sessions we just ate or chilled in the hammocks and read and talked. The food was fucking amazing. They mostly had pork and chicken, but some fishermen in a different village sometimes came by and sold their fish to the Pancho (the owner of the motel place). The fishermen would also bring lobsters sometimes. Every meal was served with rice and beans and some form of plaintains, usually tostones. For drinks they had a cooler full of beer and soda and Powerade. The beer was fantastic, by the way. Ummm.. after a few days there we left for a couple of nights to hit up other surf spots. We drove through some bigger cities and stayed in a places that were a little nicer. Some rooms had air con, but they were $10 a night. Driving was probably the worst part of the trip since the roads are sooo shitty. Our top speed the entire time was 40 mph. We went to one city, San Juan Del Sur, for a couple of days to hit up this one spot, and also to party. We went to a few bars and then to a disco. We met tons of really cool people in every place we went. And man could those Nican girls dance. I don't think I've ever seen a girl shake her ass that fast... We also met lots of travellers as well. We met people from Cali, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Florida, Scotland, France and England. Almost everyone we met was super cool as well. Most of them were surfers, but the Canadians we met were hikers. On the way back from San Juan we took a ferry to the volcanoe island and stayed there so we could hike the volcanoe the next day. It took us 6 hours to go up the volcanoe and 4 hours down; my legs have never been that tired. It was an amazing experience though. Hella sketchy terrain and it was hella steep. Anyways we went back to the first place and just surfed and chilled and met people. The locals are very nice, and all the people we met were super willing to help out. Many people offered their extra bedrooms for us to stay in. We gave tons of stuff to the local kids, everything from surf wax to clothes to magazines to boards. They were all super stoked on surfing. The rental SUV was $1200 for the month ($600 a piece), the plane ticket was $400, plus $100 tax to ship surfboards, and all other expenses for the entire trip came to a grand total of $252. If you don't rent a car, you can stay there for well under $1000 for a month. A car was a necessity for us since we were going to out of the way surf spots along the coast. It is a very good idea to go with someone who speaks Spanish though. Some peopel speak English, but not many. Also, Costa is just a short bus ride away, and knowing Spanish is not a necessity there. Nica is kinda sketchy in the northern areas, but if you stay further south on the Pacific side, everything is cool. We never had any problems. I am definitely going back, hopefully for two months next time. It was a great experience.