Summary of Nicaragua Trip

These are my 10 favorite photos from the trip.

I have decided that unless you are surfing at least once a week, you don't need to go on a surf trip for more than 10 days. Seven to eight days is probably best. You body just can't take the punishment if the waves have any size. It would be like running a marathon when you only ran a few miles once a month.

Even with the setbacks of busted ribs and food poisoning, I had an amazing trip. I really feel like I need to do a return trip because the waves were that good and consistent. I had read a lot about the winds blowing off-shore all day and it was completely true. Playa Colorado picks up so much swell from the south/southwest.

Nicaragua was a safe country to travel in and people were friendly and helpful. Everyone kept talking about Nicaragua being like Costa Rica 10 years ago before it was built up with houses and resorts. Seeing the Hacienda Iguana community and amount of empty lots, I can't imagine it with 200 houses build on all the lots available. The line-up will be so crowded and it will turn into Huntington Beach, CA.

If you are planning on traveling to Playa Colorado or nearby beaches (Gigante, Santana, etc) I would suggest communicating with Zach (http://zacksnicaraguatours.com) or Mateo (nicatime.com). They were much cheaper than NSR with airport transfer and boat trips. NSR was extremely helpful but paid twice as much for the airport transfer and 50% more for boat trips. You can reserve the same houses or condos through many agencies (Mateo, Zach, or NSR).

The wildlife was everywhere. I saw howler monkeys, iguanas, sea turtles, hundreds of crabs, tarantulas, pigs, horses, bulls, and fish.

Playa Colorado is a great place to take a wife or girlfriend. There are fun walks up and down the beach and infinity pools at several of the houses, including the Playa Colorado private beach club. All of the other surf travelers in the lineup and at the bar/restaurant were good people. Even the Brazilians, who have a reputation for being agressive in the lineup, were hooting for people in the lineup.

Make sure to bring small bills and I would recommend exchanging for the local currency (cordobas). Everyone takes American dollars, but it was more of a inconvenience to figure out the exchange rate every time.