Isla de Ometepe Transportation Tips by MalenaN Top 5 Page for this destination

Getting around with bus

July 2009 only the southern road between Moyogalpa and Altagracia was paved, all other roads on Isla de Ometepe were rough dirt roads.

Between Moyogalpa and Altagracia the buses run every hour and the ride takes one hour (along the southern paved road). To other destinations buses are less frequent. There are more buses to Merida and Balgüe from Altagracia than from Moyogalpa, so if there are no direct bus you can go off in Las Esquinas and wait for a connection there.

The day I had been checking out El Porvenir and was going back to Playa Venecia I started to walk along the road. Shortly after Santa Cruz a minibus passed me and this might have been a public transportation, but I don’t know. Anyway I walk for almost 1.5 hours until another bus came.

Playa Venecia - Altagracia was 10 cordobas.
Altagracia - El Porvenir was 10 cordobas.
El Porvenir - Moyogalpa was 20 cordobas (1 dollar).

Mode: AROUND

Type: Bus

From Isla de Ometepe to Granada

There are a few direct buses every day departing from Merida going to Moyogalpa. I took the bus passing El Porvenir just after 9am. A woman waiting for the same bus as I told me that the lancha/ferry in Moyogalpa usually waited if the bus was late. From El Porvenir to Moyogalpa it took 2 hours and it was 20 cordobas (July 2009). In Moyogalpa the bus stopped just by the ferry terminal.

The lancha (small boat) left on time 11.30 for San Jorge on the mainland. The boat journey took 1 hour and the ticket was 30 cordobas (1.50 dollars). From San Jorge I shared taxi with two other persons and we paid 20 cordobas each to go to the bus terminal in Rivas. The taxi would have been 20 cordobas each even if we had been two passengers.

In Rivas I waited more than half an hour for the bus to Granada. The terminal is busy and you will find lots of food, snacks and drinks to buy and people to watch while you are waiting. The bus to Granada was one of those repainted old American school buses, so common in Nicaragua. To Granada it took 1.5 hours and the ticket was 24 cordobas. In Granada the bus stopped one block south of Mercado Muncipal.

Twice a week there is a ferry going to Granada from Altagracia. It takes 4 hours.

Mode: TO

Type: Bus

To Isla de Ometepe from San Juan del Sur

Buses leave San Juan del Sur about every half an hour for Rivas. The bus ride takes 45 minutes and cost 15 cordobas (July 2009). At the bus station in Rivas I asked for a bus to San Jorge, from where the ferries leave for Isla de Ometepe, and was told that there are minibuses passing on the street. Before I had time to cross the street a taxi driver told me he could take me to the port for 40 cordobas.

I took the taxi from Rivas to San Jorge and as I went into the car a friend of the taxi driver also went into the car. As the taxi left the station two men shouted ”take care”. Soon after the friend of the taxi driver took out a big tool. Having read in the newspaper only the previous day about fake taxi drivers robbing their customers in another Nicaraguan city I felt that this might be very bad, so when the car turned in a direction I thought was wrong I said that this is not good. The taxi driver assured me it was the right way and soon after his friend left. Arriving at the port of San Jorge I told the taxi drivers what I had read about taxis in Nicaragua and he just laughed and said that this is not Managua.

From San Jorge to Isla de Ometepe there are several boats per day. The ferry (bigger boat) only leaves twice a day, but the lancha (smaller boat) leaves more often. At the port I paid the admission of 10 cordobas (July 2009) and then sat down in the waiting hall for a while. The lancha was a little late arriving from Isla de Ometepe so we didn’t depart on time. When it was time to board the boat everyone tried to get on at once so for some time it was a bit chaotic. But soon everyone had taken a seat and we left. The tickets were sold on board and it was 30 cordobas. The boat ride took one hour. It was a bit wavy but not rough.

The boat stops in Moyogalpa, a small town on the western side of Isla de Ometepe. Here I arranged for a hike to Volcán Concepión and went to the supermarket to buy water and snacks. Then I bought an ice cream at Eskimos and sat down at the pavement waiting for the next bus. While I was waiting a pickup from Hotel Finca Playa Venecia (where I was going) stopped and said I could go with them, they were only picking up a couple of tourists arriving with the next lancha, which were arriving soon.

Mode: TO

Type: Ship/Boat