If you’re staying in Guanacaste in Costa Rica, I highly recommend visiting Nicaragua. Nicaragua is really easy to get to and you can cross two countries in one trip off your list!
One of the easiest ways to do that is to take a Nicaragua tour from Costa Rica. Many of the beach towns aren’t very far from the border and if you are short on time or prefer to go with a guide, this is an excellent option. The tour company takes care of all the border fees, immigration and transportation and takes guests to at least 5 different attractions.
Nicaragua Tour from Costa Rica
The Nicaragua one day tour from Guanacaste is a full day activity starting from about 5 AM to 10PM. Be prepared for a very busy day!
The places the tour takes you to are:
- Lake Nicaragua (take pictures of the Ometepe volcano)
- Laguna de Apoyo
- Masaya Volcano National Park
- Masaya Market
- Granada
You take a boat ride in Granada around Lake Nicaragua, go souvenir shopping at Masaya market and go up to an active volcano. You see a lot of different places in Nicaragua so you definitely get your moneys worth.
Day trip to Nicaragua from Costa Rica
We got picked up at 5:30 AM very close to our condo in Playas del Coco. Our second time at the tour we got picked up at Tamarindo at 4:45 AM.
Nicaragua one day tour pick up locations
Tour companies can pick up in:
- Liberia
- Las Salinas Bay (Dreams)
- Tamarindo/Conchal/Flamingo/Portrero
- Playas del Coco/Ocotal/Hermosa/Panama
- JW Marriott
- Riu Guanacaste
Breakfast and off to the border
After pick up, they take you to breakfast which is at a beautiful spot near the border in La Cruz. You get a lovely view of Bahia Salinas.
After breakfast, it was time to cross the border. You have to get out to do the Costa Rica exit yourselves but the guide does the Nicaragua entry. You get a little bit of time to go duty free shopping and I recommend getting the Nicaragua rum, Flor de Cana because it’s way cheaper at the duty free store and it is excellent.
Border crossings are really easy when you’re on a tour since the guide does half of it for you.
Nicaragua one day tour: Lake Nicaragua photo stop
After we got our passports back with our Nicaragua stamp, we left the border and headed to our next destination, Santa Catarina. Along the way, our guide stopped a couple times so we could take pictures of Lake Nicaragua and the volcanoes.
Catarina town and Laguna de Apoyo
Next stop was to Catarina.
At Catarina, a very small town in Masaya, there is a great viewpoint of Laguna de Apoyo. This volcanic lake is a nature reserve in an extinct volcano and it is just beautiful! It’s one of our favorite places in Nicaragua.
We stayed for about 20 minutes and then headed off to Masaya Volcano.
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Masaya Volcano National Park
Our next stop was Masaya Volcano. Unfortunately it was a pretty rainy and cloudy day so we couldn’t see the crater, but this active volcano is famous for being one of the few in the world and the only one in the western hemisphere where you can actually drive up to the center.
We got out and spent about 45 minutes walking around and taking pictures.
Along the way there, our guide told us some history and background about this volcano and the national park which was really interesting. The Mayans who used to live in this area would sacrifice beautiful women at the cross whenever the volcano erupted or rumbled.
To this day, this active volcano continuously spews sulfur dioxide gas (so you might hear your tour guide cracking a few jokes about how you shouldn’t breathe in the air). Right now, as of December 2016, there is lava flowing at the volcano!
If you walk towards the entrance of the parking lot, you can get some beautiful views of Nicaragua below.
Masaya Market
Our next stop was the Masaya market, one of the most famous souvenirs stores in Central America. We first had lunch which we got to choose from a variety of dishes.
Nicaragua has excellent beef so if you like meat, order the churrasco or filet mignon. We had the churrasco and it was delicious. The mixed kebab also looked awesome! For vegetarians, the fish is really good. I had it with pico de gallo on a stone plate, yum!
After lunch we had about 20 minutes to browse the Masaya market. If you want souvenirs, this is the best place to buy them.
Souvenirs in Nicaragua are cheaper than Costa Rica and their leather items are top notch quality. You can find everything from leather bags and purses, shoes and belts for a good price.
You can also get cheap shirts for $5, hammocks, cigars and other knick knacks. Remember to bargain! They’ll always start high but you can negotiate down a lot. I highly recommend doing souvenir shopping here since it is so much cheaper than Costa Rica.
You can use dollars at the market but they do give your change back in cordobas so you will need to ask if you want your change in USD.
Boat ride in Lake Nicaragua
After Masaya, we headed to Grenada. First we passed through the city to take a boat ride on Lake Nicaragua which was my favorite part of the tour (besides lunch :P). We climbed into a boat and went off into the lake to see the thousands of little islands.
If you’ve ever wanted to have your own private island and build a house on it, this is a premiere place to do so! We saw a sign for a house on an island for $300k.
Granada
After the boat ride, we stopped in Granada which is one of the most important cities in Nicaragua due to its very rich colonial heritage, apparent through its architecture and city design.
You’ll see colonial buildings and churches everywhere and automatically see why so many people love this little city. In fact, many foreigners who move to Nicaragua choose Granada as their new home.
We walked through town towards the main yellow church and visited a hammock making shop along the way.
The second time we did this tour we took a horse carriage ride throughout the town and stopped at a chocolate factory. This was such a fun way to see Granada since they take you to the park, important historical buildings and plus, who doesn’t love a horse ride?
The horse carriage ride now costs $10 per person and is optional. If you don’t want to do it, you can walk around town or go up the yellow church which costs $1 to get a great view of the city.
Back to Costa Rica
After Granada, it was time to head back. Similar to what we did for entering Nicaragua, we filled out a custom form and gave that plus our passport to our tour guide to do our Nicaragua exit. Then we got out to enter Costa Rica and after that finished, they dropped us back home.
So as you can see, this is a very busy day and you get to see a few of Nicaragua’s main tourist destinations. This is a great option if you don’t have a lot of time or just want to get a taste of Nicaragua!
Things to Know About This Nicaragua One Day Tour
- You need to bring your original passport.
- The tour costs $140 (might be a bit more depending on where you get picked up from) paid in USD. Bring it before the tour, there is no time to stop at an ATM and you pay at breakfast if you haven’t pre-paid. There is an ATM on the Nicaraguan side of the border.
- Bring small bills.
- Wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes.
- Bring a camera and a day bag. If you go in rainy season, make sure you have a waterproof cover or your backpack is waterproof.
- The tour provides water, breakfast and lunch but not dinner so bring snacks.
- You don’t need to exchange money at the border since Nicaragua accepts USD but they do not accept Costa Rican colones. You can ask for your change back in USD.
- Bring a print out copy of your flight itinerary out of Costa Rica to present when you’re entering Costa Rica.
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Watch a video of the Nicaragua one day tour!
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Hi Katie! Yes the tour company can pick up from Playa Brasilito. It costs $160 per person and with our discount, you get $10 off. You can book the tour and get the discount here: Nicaragua one day tour discount
Hi,
Great blog! I continue to reference it!
We are going to be in Playa Brasilita near Playa Flamingo tomorrow. Do you know if the one-day Nicaragua tour can pick us up there? Or does it start from Tamarindo? Sounded like it was cheaper if we stay more north. I couldn’t find the tour on the company site.
Thanks for any tips.
Hi James, I have a post of things to do in Guanacaste here for ideas of day trips: Nicaragua one day tour discount
We are staying in Guancaste for 1st week July 2017. Planning a rental car to drive several day trips in Costa Rica and book a one day tour to Nicaragua . Any suggestions for Costa Rica day trips and a tour to book for Nicaragua?
I would like to visit there in June 2017. How is the weather?
June is the beginning of rainy season so it gets more humid and may rain occasionally.
My frriend Rosetta was on a tour of Nicaragua with you yesterday and loved it.We would like to go and visit and stay on one of the islands for a couple of days. Any suggestions ?
Hi Diane, we have never stayed on the islands in Lake Nicaragua before, most of them are private residential homes. You can visit Isla Ometepe though which is super cool!
Hi Kenny, it’s normally $160 from the Tamarindo/Conchal area but Mytanfeet readers get a $10 discount. You can reserve the tour here: Costa Rica car rental discount
My family plan to take a day trip to Nicaragua in July-2017. I would like to how much it cost for 2 adults and 2 children (8 and 11) pickup from Westin Hotel in Guanacaste.
Are there any tours to Nicaragua that have an overnight stay?
I do know of this one operated by Costa Rica Monkey Tours: http://costaricamonkeytours.com/nicaragua-costa-rica-tour/
Hi Sammie,
My cousin and I are trying to plan to trip to Nicaragua, and your post is incredibly helpful since we wanted to visit Costa Rica as well. If we wanted to add on going into Panama City for the day from Costa Rica, is the process similar to that of entering Nicaragua?
Hi Carla, for border crossings yes. Panama is a bit more strict than Nicaragua and they will ask for your ticket out of not just Panama, but Costa RIca as well and you need $400 (I think) to show you have enough money for your travels. Also I should note that Panama City is about an 8 hour drive from the costa Rica/Panama border, so going for a day isn’t possible.
Hi Rachelle, you can take Ticabus from Liberia, they stop by the Burger King in Liberia and you need to be there to wave it down. From Granada, you can take a chicken bus to the border and from the Penas Blancas border, you can take another bus back to LIberia. You can read more about crossing the border here: Crossing the Costa Rica Nicaragua border guide
As for beaches, you can check out these ones we have written about but any beach in Guanacaste is a great option for relaxing:Best beaches in Guanacaste. I would definitely book your hotels before you go because January is high season and it is super busy in Guanacaste.
Thanks for reading!
Hi Sammi. Great post! My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Nicaragua this December. We will be flying in to Liberia Costa Rica, as the flights to that airport were cheaper than flying to Nicaragua directly. I was wondering what do you think the best way to get to Granada would be? I have read that the Ticabus is a good option; however, can you only purchase tickets from San Jose? This tour company you used sounds like a good option for people who want to take a day trip into Nicaragua. However, $140 per person would be a little expensive for us considering we only need a way of getting to Granada (and not a round-trip tour / day trip.) On the other hand, we do like the option of using a shuttle / tour service because from everything we have read, it sounds like that will help expedite the border crossing. Do you have any recommendations on the best way to get from Liberia Costa Rica to Granada Nicaragua? Also, after returning back to Costa Rica from Nicaragua, we will have 5 days to spend in Costa Rica. We want to spend the last few days of our vacation just lounging on the beach…and doing nothing. Any tips for best beaches near Liberia? And hotel recommendations? This will be around Jan 7th 2017. Do you think since it’s near the holidays we should book now or could we just wing it and try and find hotels when we get there?
Sorry so many questions! But thank you so much in advance for all your help on our travel planning!! =)
Hi Ron, we don’t operate the tour, a tour company called Plus Papagayo does and they have buses that can fit around 60 people so they can accommodate large groups. We can help you book a tour with the tour company and we have exclusive discounts for Mytanfeet readers with them. You can read more about it here: Costa Rica car rental discount and please send us an email about the tour if you’d like to book it. Thanks!
How many people are normally on the tour ? There will be 12 of us staying at the RUI Palace in late February. Would it be better to book a private tour or stay with this tour, which by the way, sounds and looks fantastic. Will definately book through you.Thanks.
Hi! We are a party of 6 currently staying in Playas del Coco. We are interested in the one day your of Nicaragua. What day is the tour available and what is the cost? We are here until sept 8th.
Hi Merry! The tour runs every day and from Coco, it is $140 and we have an exclusive discount for Mytanfeet readers. Email us here: https://mytanfeet.com/contact-us/ and we can help you book the tour with the discount 🙂
Hi Barbara, they can pick you up at the hotel. If you’d like to do the tour, we offer an exclusive Mytanfeet discount you can read here:Costa Rica car rental discount and you can contact us 🙂
Hi Sammie,
This is great. We’re going to Costa Rica in October (RAIN!) but we’re staying at the Secrets Resort, I still want to do this for a day. Do I need to go into town to get picked up?
Thanks, nice article. Is there anything to do right at the border since we can’t bring our rental car over?
There are a couple duty free stores and a couple bars. Not much else around.
This is a great blog – -we’re visiting Costa Rica in a few weeks, and learning a lot from it. The big question this article raises is this: can we rent a car at the Nicaragua border, after leaving our car behind at the border? Thanks for any thoughts you have on this.
Hi Maurice, yes there is some Nicaraguan car rental companies at the border.
Loved the review Sammy! Kelli and I are going to Grenada for a house sit in about a month. Excited to do the Lake Tour! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ryan
You’re welcome Ryan, have a great time in Grenada and Nicaragua!
I found myself trying to eat your picture of a churrasco. It might have been one day, but it sounds like it painted a decent picture of the place.
I just looked at the picture again and imagined myself eating it, it was so good haha. The tour definitely lets you see a nice bit of Nicaragua, and enough to make you want to go back!
Thanks for your answer, will definitely take that as an option for us. What a pity we miss us!!
I knoww! You must be excited though! I hope you and your family have a great time. Definitely let me know if you happen to swing by Jaco in Sept or have any other questions Stef!
Hi guys! We stay a week in Tamarindo to get to know the Nicoya Peninsula. Do you think it’s worth to go to Nicaragua for a day? Or is there so much to do on the Peninsula that you would suggest staying there? Thanks! Hope to see you soon! You’re living in Puntarenas province right? Will be there in mid August.
There is definitely lots of things to do in the Tamarindo area for a week but Nicaragua is definitely a great option if you don’t have time to go already and you want to see Nicaragua. My parents were in Coco for a week and the Nicaragua trip fit perfectly with our itinerary.
Aw we will miss you actually. We will be in the US in August!