SURFING IN SAN JUAN DEL SUR, RIVAS, NICARAGUA.

San Juan del Sur is located just north of Costa Rica. It is a fun little beach town and very inexpensive (the whole country is). This is a mecca for surfers although there isn't surfing right on the beach in San Juan del Sur. The town itself is poor and run down but it does have some nice places to eat, drink and play. There are also some fun excursions to see giant turtles and other wildlife while here. Once upon a time, San Juan del Sur was a locals-only hideaway. It didn’t take long for intrepid travelers to seek out the paradisaical, crescent-shaped bay. Now, San Juan is a joyful merging of cultures—still uncrowded and drop-dead gorgeous, yet with enough American appetizers and air conditioners to make most foreigners happy. San Juan del Sur’s small-town lifestyle is centered around the sea. In fact, the majority of San Juan’s residents make their living from it, fishing or managing dive and snorkel tours in and beyond the picturesque bay. International travelers also find San Juan’s waters superlative for surfing, fishing, and other water sports, and its neighboring beaches ideal for embracing the Nicaraguan beachfront mantra: Relaxation, with a capital R. What to Do: If you’re looking for bustling nightclubs and exclusive resorts, stay in Cancun. San Juan del Sur’s attractions and amenities are much more modest—which, in many ways, is a good thing. As mentioned, the Pacific ocean is rife with possibilities, from Scuba diving to deep-sea fishing to surfing (especially at Playa Maderas, twenty minutes away). Playa Maderas is a twenty-minute cab ride (make that an extremely bumpy cab ride]fromSan Juan del Sur in Nicaragua, and is one of the Nicaragua surf center's top surfing beaches.  Surfing is synonymous of traveling, discover the South Pacific of Nicaragua.  San Juan del Sur is one of the best destinations in  Central America for surfing, with over 60 kilometers of  Pacific coast in southern Nicaragua.  The shores near San Juan del Sur have a  topography ideal for creating good waves. The  irregularity offers a multitude of options swell  and thus, the highest density of different waves in all  the country.  It is also the most consistent area, frequent  winter waves are breaking among others, in Playa  Yanque, Playa Hermosa, Playa Maderas, Popoyo, Playa Los Perros and Playa Manzanillo considered this as one of the  best left in Central America.  Adventuresome travelers can rent horse or a bike and explore the coastline. Or they can journey by foot, hiking among San Juan’s volcanic hilltops and enjoying the remarkable views, spanning all the way to Costa Rica! But the best part of a San Juan vacation is embracing the village’s carefree Pacific lifestyle. Sway in a hammock to reggae beats and work on your tan. Buy your dinner fresh-caught from the fishing boats -- or if you’re blessed with the necessary skills, catch it yourself! Stop by La Flor beach, where sea turtles waddle ashore to lay their eggs in late autumn. When to Go: San Juan del Sur holds a fiesta to commemorate its patron saint, San Juan (who else?), on June 22nd. Easter week, or Semana Santa, is another time of exuberant celebration. San Juan’s climate is warm and pleasant all year around, though rain showers are more frequent late in the year. From Managua, a cab to San Juan del Sur should cost about $100 US. If you’re on a budget, catch a public bus to Rivas. From there, you can catch another bus to San Juan del Sur. Buses also head to Rivas from the Costa Rican border at Penas Blancas. Or if the timing is right, you can catch an air-conditioned express buses from Managua direct to San Juan—they leave each day at 4pm. Once you’ve arrived, the best choice of transportation is your feet. Fun Fact: If you stroll up to the lighthouse south of San Juan’s bay, you’ll find the ruins of William Walker’s fort. Walker was an American soldier who reigned as Nicaragua’s president from 1856-1857, but was executed by the Honduran government in 1860.