Ometepe Island – our favorite place in Nicaragua
Ometepe Island is surrounded by Lake Nicaragua, which is the largest body of water in the country. The island is formed from 2 volcanoes Maderas and Concepcion, which reach a height of up to 1610 meters. We stayed on the island for 3 days and explored it all by scooter.
How to get to Ometepe island
The only way to get to the island is by ferry, which runs several times a day and takes about an hour. The boat trip itself is an experience because you never know if you will survive 😀 The condition of the boats corresponds to the European standard about 50 years ago and there was so much smoke from the chimney that we almost suffocated when the smoke went on us 😀 One ferry ride cost us 85 NIO (2 USD)/person.
The ferry departs from the San Jorge port, where we took a taxi from the bus stop in the town of Rivas. We arrived to Rivas by the “yellow school” bus from Granada. Its bus stop in Granada is located here. Be prepared that tourists pay 2x more than locals, so we paid 100 NIO (3 USD)/person for one.
Best things to do on Isla de Ometepe
1. Concepción Volcano hike
Volcano can be hiked with or without a guide. But we gave up on this trip, because it was cloudy all days and the volcano itself only showed at us about 2 times.
2. Kayak trip
For us, the kayaks were the best experience on the island. If you decide for them, we definitely recommend going with a guide, because without him we wouldn’t have found a single animal. He just knew where to look and where to search. We saw caiman, turtles, different kinds of birds, etc.
We rented kayaks at Playa EL Perú Kayak Kencho and paid 25 USDfor two people with a guide.
3. Maderas Volcano hike
In our opinion, this hike is not worth it (at least according to the photos and comments on Google). At the end we didn’t this hike but we’ll put it in this article so you know the possibility exists. And why didn’t we go there? Because the difficult hike ends with a view into a flooded crater, and at first glance we would hardly even think that it is a volcano. We felt that the hike was simply not worth the effort.
4. El Ojo de Agua
A natural spring lake that has clean and clear water from an underground river from the Maderas volcano. We recommend going here early in the morning and ideally not on the weekend to avoid the rush of local people.
5. Moyogalpa
The biggest city on the island where you can find port, the most restaurants, accommodations and supermarket Pali.
How to get around Ometepe island
We recommend renting a scooter because it’s relatively cheap (well, at least for America, compared to the prices in Asia, it’s expensive) and you’ll be able to get around the whole island. We borrowed it directly for accommodation and it cost 15 USD for one day.
Best accommodation on Ometepe island
This is very individual based on one’s preference. Either you can live far from the city, secluded and with views of nature, or in the city, where you will be a short distance from the port, supermarket and restaurants.
We decided on the second option and stayed at Nathaly Hostal. It was one of the best value for money we found. Although it is located about 1.5 km from the center, it is still within walking distance, they had cute talking parrots, own restaurant, and they arranged the motorbike for us at a reasonable price.
Best time to visit Ometepe island
The best time to visit Ometepe Island is during the “dry season”, when there is minimal rainfall and therefore the highest chance of volcanoes peeking out at you. The so-called dry season here is from November to April. But it’s also about luck. We were here at the end of November and it rained every day :/
