Ometepe

We heard mixed reviews about ometepe, but clearly, we had to find out for ourselves. We were given a ride to Rivas from our host Chelly, who absolutely hates Ometepe. We figured though, after hearing his reasonings (not wanting to go in the fist place, motorbike breaking down, getting lost, getting his surf boards broken, etc.) that he just had a bad experience.

Anyhow, from San Juan you can grab a bus right outside the market at almost any time of day (just ask for Rivas) and once you are in Rivas it is about a 5 min taxi to Ometepe. There is only one ATM in Ometepe and it is very far from the touristy areas (though very close to the ferry) so I would suggest hitting a bank before you leave the mainland.

      Pink chickens? Only in Ometepe...

We teamed up with some travelers we met on the bus and were able to score at taxi to the middle of the island (right between the volcanos) for $5 a person, but on your own it will be about $20-30 a person. It is about an hour taxi ride. We read on trip advisor that little Morgans was the hot spot hostel so we headed there.

          At least the view was nice!

To our disappointment though, Little Morgans was hot, smelly , and covered in bugs and when we tried to go down to the river to cool off it was too rocky to swim. So we were pretty disappointed plus it was a pretty far walk to get to anywhere but the hostel. There looked like there were some nice hotels before little Morgans though, that we're on the beach of the lake and out of the hot buggy jungle.

     And this little guys visited our room.

To cool down we we to Ojo De Agua, a cold springs a ways down the road. On island you can rent bikes or motorbikes to get around, but finding taxis is quite tricky. There is also a chicken bus that passes from time to time. Ojo de Agua was definietly a highlight of Ometepe. The clear blue water is just the right temperature and you can grab a rum coconut or food right by the pools.

                      Ojo de Agua

We only spent one night in Ometepe, we decided we felt the same as our friend Chelly and decided to move on quickly. There are many other activities there such as hiking the volcanos, various swimming holes, and waterfall tours, but they are all expensive and on our budget we decided it was not worth it.

    There are many wild horses roaming.

To leave the island you must also take a ferry. There are 3 ferrys, one back to Rivas ( if you stopped in Ometepe first go here to head to San Juan del sur) one to Grenada, and one to San Carlos which is the one we took. The ferry to San Carlos is 9-12 hours, and always overnight. Most people sit in the cabin where there are benches or the deck on lounge chairs. But the best way to go is by hammock. We carry our own hammocks so it was a no brainer to get swayed I sleep by the waves atop an overnight ferry!

Tie your hammock the the side of the boat, lay back and fall asleep. It really is that easy, definietly bring a sweatshirt and for some night even a raincoat. We awoke at the port of San Carlos at 6 am untied our beds and went to find immigration so that we could take the hour long ferry to Costa Rica. After a series of asking around, we found immigration and got our stamps. We still had a few hours to kill so we grabbed breakfast across from the market (gallo pinto, huevos, plantains, and coffee all for $2.50 a person) to kill time with a fellow traveler.

 

Once on the ferry it is a very easy little tip across the border. From the boat you have a great view of the jungle plus howler monkeys, lizards, turtles, birds, livestock etc. it is a short trip and you arrive in the Costa Rican city Los Chiles, where you go through all the immigration quite painlessly. 

From there though, it is a 5 hour bus to San Jose. Our wise traveller friend Zach took the shorter 2.5 hour bus to go see volcano Arenal (the most active in costa rica) which we later wished we had done. The plan was to rent a car in San Jose, which really would have been a great way to see as much of Costa Rica as possible. But that plan fell through when we both realized we had only brought debit cards and needed credit cards for the deposit.

So the adventure from Ometepe was a very long one to say the least. I would highly suggest stopping at Arenal and just heading down the west coast if you plan to leave Ometepe via San Carlos.