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Published: March 18th 2015
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San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua With high winds blowing we relaxed on the ship, had a leisurely breakfast in one of the dining rooms, then took the elevator down to deck 4 to get a tender to town. Wow what a choppy boat ride into this small port and town.
San Juan del Sur is a small town on a horseshoe shaped harbor. Even though we have been told there is not much to see here (many people have opted for the long ride to Grenada or Managua) we elected to poke around today. Today we are happy to just wander around, shop, have a great local lunch and check email.
We get off the tender and find ourselves at the far right of the harbor. There is nothing here and only a dirt road heading into town. We take it. We pass vendors with their wares and see buildings along the shore and up into the hills. We turn right and come across a beautiful, simple Catholic church that is in a park in the center of town. We go inside and it is cool and dark. We sit in a pew and just enjoy the
peace and quiet. We can see beautiful flowers outside through the open doors which allow the breezes to cool the church. We leave the church and start taking side streets, just wandering. The temperature is hot, but with the high winds, it was not unpleasant walking around town. After looking for some larger local shops, not tourist destinations that might have an additional bag to carry all of our purchases….. (Yes, we finally did quite a bit of shopping on this trip)….. we gave up ;-) We headed toward the harbor, collected some sand, and found a lunch place right on the beach, with wifi. We could see lots of little fishing boats in the harbor and our gigantic Ruby Princess off in the distance.
Our lunch of chicken wings and grilled fish, along with fried plantains and hot sauce, was excellent and quite reasonable. For us, it was so good to have a wonderful meal off of the ship. We have loved the wonderful food on the Ruby Princess, but it was nice to get some local Nicaraguan cuisine as well.
A tiny town like San Juan del Sur loves to have the cruise ships come in
as it significantly adds to the economy, however dropping off 3000 people all at once also strains their resources. We started back along the main street toward the vendors and the tender dock. The shops were all just tourist type booths, but the quality of hand made items was really nice and we were impressed. Jean met a young woman who wraps wire with string and then turns the wire into hair ornaments. They were really intricate and pretty so she bought two as gifts.
Right now, the tender dock area itself is a little messy because there was lots of construction going on. They are building a new major tourist center and plaza, but for now the roads are just dirt. As usual, Jean’s broken Spanish, and Cope’s 20 word vocabulary, carried the day as the people were so helpful and open.
Next, 3 Days at Sea, then Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Our Last Stop! Oh no, oh no, can this be true. Is our South American Adventure coming to a close? Can hardly believe it.
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San Juan Del Tour
non-member comment
Hi Jean & Cope
I'm glad you enjoyed visiting our little town. Unfortunately most people do opt for the long bus ride to Granada or Managua and they miss out on what San Juan has to offer. Not just the friendly locals, fresh seafood and pretty church that you mentioned above, but also the statue of Cristo de la Misericordia overlooking the bay (one of the largest in the world), the adventure park at the back of town which has views of Lake Nicaragua and the twin volcanoes of Ometepe, and luxurious resorts such as Pelican Eyes which offer cocktails and spa treatments for a fraction of the price that you'd find on your cruise ship. I hope that you'll come back and see more of the town, and if you do be sure to check out sanjuandeltour.com to make sure you don't miss anything.