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Nicaragua Highlights Tour: Volcanoes, Markets, Granada
4.6
448 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
(448 Ratings)
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Jared_h
Feb 24, 2025
Amazing Tour of Nicaragua - This tour is a fantastic way to see some of the natural beauty that Nicaragua has to offer and sample some excellent Nicaraguan food. The sites and locations we visited were a great sampling of everything Nicaragua has to offer. And Miguel and Tonio were professional, fun, and knowledgeable tour guides and drivers--we were in good hands with them.
It ends up being a *very* long day, but it was well worth the time and money to see Nicaragua. There is some downtime on the bus between stops, so I recommend bringing a book/something to do as well as a portable charger for your phone.
I highly recommend this tour for anyone traveling to the Guanacaste/Tamarindo/Liberia area of Costa Rica with a day to spare during their trip!
Review provided by Viator
Maricruz_r
Feb 17, 2025
Great Tour!! - I had a great time on this tour. Claudio and Jason were professional and fun. Meet some amazing people on the tour and saw some great sites. It is a very long day but worth it.
Review provided by Viator
Robert
Feb 16, 2025
Fun day - Claudio was great, very informative of Nicaraguan history. Think I liked the chocolate factory the most. Bit of a long day but that’s what you signed up for.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kay_w
Feb 15, 2025
Amazing tour in a... - Amazing tour in a beautiful country. The guide and drivers did a great job taking care of the group.
Review provided by Viator
Marjorie_d
Feb 3, 2025
Lovely and interesting Nicaragua - I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and beautiful the country is. We saw Lake Nicaragua, the volcanoes, city of Granada by horse pulled carriage, cigar making, chocolate making. Don't miss this trip.
Review provided by Viator
Olive_z
Feb 1, 2025
Nicaragua is beautiful - It's a long day but really worth it. Nicaragua is beautiful and during the entire day you will get to know it better. Manuel was our guide,very friendly and knowledgeable and he made sure we had a great time. I felt very safe. Granada was the highlight of the day- beautiful colonial city, take the horse ride carriage- the experience will be even better. Both breakfast and lunch were delicious and locations with nice views. Fully recommended
Review provided by Viator
Mark_h
Jan 31, 2025
Excellent Nicaraguan trip! - Fantastic tour
Totally happy, great guide, good food, excellent education on Nicaragua
Have a better appreciation for the country and it’s people
Review provided by Viator
Renefelder
Jan 15, 2025
Great Nicaragua - We had a wonderful day with Miguel during our trip to Nicaragua.
We saw many things and got a first impression of that country.
Granada was wonderful. We have also spent some time on Nicaragua Lake and seen Jesus's statue at San Juan del Sur.
For us, it was a great day. We would book the tour again.
Review provided by Viator
Lobsterbacks
Feb 22, 2025
Looo g day from Tamarindo but glad we went. - Glad we went. Lake Nicaragua is fascinating and the homes built on the lakes’ islets are really impressive. The monkeys were fun to see but there’s no feeding- just photos from a small boat- best part of the day but only 30 minutes total boat ride. Breakfast and lunch were good but not memorable. The shopping was ok- $20 for 12 oz bags of coffee had me thinking I’d go home empty handed but she came down to $10- more than fair. 30 minutes there was fine for us. Loooong day from Tamarindo but out guides and drivers were good and made crossing borders pretty quick and seamless. Wish we could have seen the inside of the cathedral.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nikki_s
Feb 6, 2025
Poorly Managed Tour - Our experience with this tour was deeply disappointing, with several mismanaged aspects that made the trip stressful and frustrating.
Border Crossing Challenges: What was advertised as a smooth 30-minute crossing turned into a four-hour ordeal. The Nicaraguan guide requested an additional $20 per person to expedite the process, yet we still waited in the heat with no food or water for an extended period. Additionally, our passports were taken out of sight, which was concerning.
Customer Service Concerns: Attempts to get assistance from both Viator and Native’s Way while on the tour were met with little to no resolution, and follow-up communication was lacking.
Inaccurate Itinerary: Many aspects of the tour did not align with what was advertised. Stops were significantly shortened, including Mirador de Catarina, and meal breaks were delayed with inadequate facilities. The "Las Isletas monkey feeding" experience turned out to be just a short boat ride with no actual interaction with the monkeys as described.
Safety Issues: The Nicaraguan driver frequently used his phone while driving on dark, winding roads, and at one point, a windshield wiper fell off during the rain, making visibility a challenge.
Additionally, at the end of the trip, we were left to navigate the border crossing on our own late at night, which felt unsettling.
Final Thoughts: This tour did not meet expectations due to misleading descriptions, poor organization, and safety concerns. I would definitely NOT take a child on this tour.
While Nicaragua itself is a beautiful destination, we would recommend exploring alternative options for a more enjoyable experience.
Review provided by Viator
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