Nicaragua Full Day Tour from Costa Rica

I give our guide, Miguel, 6 stars. Also 6 stars for Angel at the chocolate factory. The reason I am not giving 5 stars overall is that the description of the tour is a bit misleading. You see 2 monkeys on the island on Lake Nicaragua and no other wildlife, just small islands with houses on them. Some of the histories were interesting, but not what we were expecting. As an aside, I left my camera behind and the company and its employees went to great lengths to get it back to me. It was delivered right to my hands. The above review is based on the tour alone or they would get 7 stars out of 5.

Wow, we had the best time! The communication setting up our trip was outstanding - guiding us through details and questions. Our driver to the boarder, Danny, was on time , and very friendly. The hand off is the boarder was smooth. Our driver , Alberto, and our guide, Claudio, were awesome. Claudio’s knowledge and pride in Nicaraguan and its people made it even more special. They were proud of being able to show us this beautiful county and our entire family loved all of the experiences. When we left we felt like we were leaving friends. I highly recommend this adventure!

It was overall a great day trip. It does not say how you cross the border so be prepared to be dropped off on the Costa Rica side and then walk over alone (no guide but with whoever is in your van). Pass through Costa Rica customs and then walk about 10 minutes to the Nicaragua side. People are helpful and direct you but was definitely an interesting experience. Our guide for the tour met us at the immigration centre. Be prepared to wait as the lines are long to pass through immigration. You then do the same on the way back. It was a very long day but did squeeze in a lot. Lots of driving. I thought breakfast was on us but was pleasantly surprised to have a nice sit down authentic Nicaraguan breakfast at a cute little restaurant by the water. In Granada our guide Miguel sold us on horse carriage ride as he said we would be able to see the town easier as there isn’t enough time to walk around by foot. If you like walking don’t do the horse ride as it was hard to really see and take pictures of things. I would have much rather walked and it’s doable to get to the 2 places we stopped in on (cigar factory, chocolate tour) and then for lunch. Drive back was very long and it was late so they dod m not stop for snacks. We got back to resort after 10 so all food was closed and of course was starving so prepare lots of snacks for the ride home in case.

We had a great tour guide – Elmer was very knowledgeable and was willing to work with us. The only thing I would recommend is having a English-speaking driver transport from the hotel because we were basically left at the border without any direction and had to figure out how to get to the other side with zero direction. I also left my sunglasses in the car and I’m hoping there is a way to ship them back.

Smooth coordination on all accounts. Harrison and Miguel were great. Every activity was great. Just wish options to chose more authentic style of Nica food was available. Other than that totally worth it.

I’m really glad I found this trip and took advantage. I met some really great people in our group, and it felt amazing being able to actually go and see Nicaragua. Our tour guide in Nicaragua did a great job. The thing I see necessary improvement on is that our driver taking us from Costa Rica to the border seemed to not know any English and therefore could not communicate. Aside from that he never made any attempt to even introduce himself to us or give our group any amount of direction of what to do from the point of being dropped off or where to go. He never tried talking to us at all. He literally dropped us off and left. This all came across to our group as very rude. A different group’s guide had to intervene and guide us across the border or we would have just all been lost not knowing where to go in a foreign country, while attempting to cross into a communist country. On the way back after picking us up a couple from our group were being dropped off in Huacas waiting to be picked up to go back to their hotel. Our driver seemed to not even want to wait for them to be picked up safely and wasn’t even leaving his driver seat to open the side door for anyone to get out of the van. He seemed to not care while overall annoyed and this definitely made a negative lasting impression on all of us. Maybe this is his first job? Definitely a lot of room for growth there. With the amount of money paid by each person this shouldn’t be something we have to put in our review. He definitely didn’t leave a good impression for Native’s Way if this is how they operate.

We were picked up at 530am at the hotel. We were then taken to breakfast at a big cafeteria near the airport. From there, we merged with a larger group of about 20 people for the tour. Just getting to the border was about 1.5 hours. Crossing the border is a painful process of 1 hour but nothing the tour company can do. It is then another long ride to our first stop on the lake for the boat ride. We went to Granada. The highlight I thought was to the top of the volcano. We ended up back at our hotel at 930pm. It is a very long day but I think it was worth it.

Amazing food delicious friendly people on time. The places visited were amazing. The experience was great!

A wonderful opportunity where we felt safe and comfortable getting to explore the beauty of Nicaragua. Be prepared this tour is long and can be longer than advertised. For example, it is advertised for 15 hours (it was ~18), says it will start at 4:30, our pickup was at 4 am with instructions to be waiting at 3:55am. The main frustration was for a 4 am pickup, yes they provided Breakfast (which was delicious) and lunch, but on the way back we did not get back till after 9 and there was no opportunity to drive through or grab something for dinner. We had mentioned it to our driver (he was lovely), as we had dropped a passenger off in Liberia, and there was McDonalds, Starbucks, etc., so was a bit frustrating as there isn’t much opportunity to even grab snacks or anything. So, come prepared with snacks/protein bars/water. The border crossing was the only spot where we walked between that we felt slightly uncomfortable, but the guides on both sides were amazing in explaining all the details. Fantastic guides, tour and drivers. We particularly liked how the tour kept moving, sometimes group tours can feel like they drag out. Grenada was absolutely beautiful, and we enjoyed the chocolate demonstration! Just a reminder that the farther down the coast you stay, for example at the JW Marriott, you could be the first pickup and last drop off, making for an extended day. Overa, a good tour, where we felt safe and enjoyed exploring a new country with good guides/drivers!

Great trip, everything went just as described (except for Pan American Hwy road construction which wasn’t in their control). This was a long day but we would do it again for sure. The drivers and tour guides were great, trip was well orchestrated, and they deliverd just as stated. Super beautiful country and attractions.