Six weeks Nicaragua

[agreentree]

I'm heading to nicaragau in a few weeks - I plan to spend 3 weeks in Granada and 3 weeks in Somoto - then I head off to Havana for another six weeks. Any ideas/advice on:

- Day trips or short multi day excursions from Granda or Somoto (I would like to find a nice swimming beach but other than that I'm open to ideas)
- Getting from Granada to Somoto (planning to go up to Managua and hop a bus from there)
- Booking a flight from Nica to Havana (Any travel agency recomendations ideas about cost for a one way ticket etc.)
- Being a solo female traveler


Thanks!

[erik nelson]

From Granada, San Juan del Sur is the obvious "nice swimming beach", and it can be done as a day trip via Rivas, though a rather long one. 
You'd probably enjoy the walk along the lake at Granada.  It's a well maintained and very pleasant park.  Unfortunately you reach the lake by hiking through a sinister part of the city.  Near the dock there's a powerful aroma of raw sewage, but a kilometer away the water is not as bad; I've swum there, and others have too, and survived.  There are a signs warning of areas where it's unsafe to swim.  In my experience Lake Cocibolca is choppy at best. The "beach" is a few meters strewn sometimes calf-deep with plastic bottles and other debris.
Another logical short trip is Moyogalpa, a pretty town on Ometepec.  It is physically possible to do it as a day trip but more enjoyable if you overnight there. 
For all this you can get the logistics in your Moon Nicaragua.

[Megan]

I think the best swimming close to Granada is the Laguna de Apoyo. Fabulous clear and clean water and just a 15 min drive from town. (but you feel like you are miles away). I would make Ometepe (nice swimming) and San Juan del Sur overnight trips. There is also decent swimming at the Carazo coast beaches and its closer to Granada.

Other great day trips from Granada:
Mombacho volcano
Masaya Volcano
visits to 'white towns' -- Catarina, San Juan del Oriente, etc
Masaya markets
excursions by boat on Lake Nicaragua (sailing, kayaking, or motoring to and among the hundreds of little islands)

Have fun!

[kevins]

I agree with all of Megan's suggestions.

From Somoto, you definitely should visit the Somoto Canyon, just a few minutes out of town. I'm not sure what else would constitute a day trip from there, but Esteli and Miraflor should be within range. Grab the Moon book and see what else looks interesting.