Costa Rica to Nicaragua: Journey to My Country #53/197

I’m going to break the suspense right now and tell you that Nicaragua was probably my favorite country in Central America. And considering the absolute disaster that my time in Costa Rica had been, it is kind of funny how I somehow knew I was going to love Nicaragua almost as soon as I crossed the border.

I had a hard time in Costa Rica and no, I’m not judging an entire country based on spending barely more than a day there. It simply was not for me, and by the time we left I was more than ready to get out. My friend and I were traveling through all eight countries of Central America in three weeks by land, so luckily there was always another country waiting for us.

Leaving Costa Rica

Our journey from Costa Rica to Nicaragua started in Puerto Viejo. After only one night there, we decided to leave — THANK YOU — and took a bus to San José.

We assumed getting from San José to Nicaragua would be easy and that we could simply arrive and jump on another bus. Apparently not. We ended up having to spend the night in San José before taking a 5am bus the following morning.

San José was never part of our plan and, at this point, my main thought was basically someone please get me out of Costa Rica. The area around the bus station also felt quite sketchy, so we really did not want to go wandering around looking for accommodation.

Eventually we found a local hotel literally inside the bus station. The people working there told us it was the safest place for us to stay and that we would be fine, which was enough for me.

The room was not cheap — like everything else in Costa Rica — and it was basically a tiny cubicle with a bed, but I genuinely did not care. It gave us somewhere safe to sleep until the bus left, and at 5am all we had to do was walk out with our backpacks and the bus was right there in front of us.

Very convenient place to spend the night, to be fair.

At some point during the night I started hearing strange noises outside and getting slightly uneasy. Naturally, my friend decided this was the perfect moment to ask me, “What would you do if there was a shooting?”

I mean… very helpful.

Taking the Bus From San José to Nicaragua

We took a bus from San José to Rivas, Nicaragua, which took around eight hours and .

Again: Costa Rica ain’t cheap.

The journey itself was actually really nice. I don’t know if it was simply the relief of finally leaving Costa Rica or the excitement of being on another bus heading toward country #53, but I loved it.

Eventually the bus dropped us at the Costa Rica–Nicaragua border, where everyone had to get out and go through immigration.

Crossing the Costa Rica–Nicaragua Border

The border crossing itself was pretty easy, although obviously we once again managed to make immigration slightly more complicated than necessary.

They asked where we were staying in Nicaragua.

We had nothing booked.

They asked where we were going.

We sort of knew.

There was also no internet at the border, so we couldn’t exactly pull out our phones and quickly book somewhere just to give immigration an address. The woman was NOT happy about this whole situation, but eventually she let us through.

Then I may have delayed the bus slightly because I decided I needed to pee. Only one toilet cubicle was working and there were probably around 20 women waiting in line, so I had no choice but to stand there while everyone else was apparently ready to leave.

The driver eventually came looking for me.

Me, once again, doing my absolute best to prove what an incredibly organized traveler I am.

Something else worth knowing if you are traveling through Central America by land is that we were asked to pay money at basically every border crossing. Sometimes there was a fee to leave a country, sometimes to enter, and sometimes both. At a few borders they would only accept US dollars, which became slightly inconvenient when we had absolutely no US dollars.

Luckily, border crossings in Central America seem to have their own solution to this problem: men standing around holding enormous piles of cash.

It looks questionable. It works.

You give them whatever currency you have, they give you the dollars you desperately need for immigration, and suddenly your border-crossing problems disappear.

And then finally:

Hello Nicaragua. Country #53/197.

Arriving in Nicaragua

The moment the bus dropped us in Rivas, there were already drivers waiting around trying to negotiate prices to take people to the port.

We found one really nice driver, and I still have a video of him turning around and saying, “Bienvenido a Nicaragua.”

I don’t even know how to explain it properly, but I was already happier. I had barely entered the country and somehow I just liked it. There was this huge feeling of relief after Costa Rica, and Nicaragua immediately felt completely different to me.

Before going to the port, we needed cash, so we asked the driver if he could stop somewhere with an ATM. My friend went inside while I stayed in the car with the driver and our backpacks.

And then my friend disappeared for what felt like forever.

Eventually I had to go inside and see what the hell was happening because we were having problems withdrawing money. Meanwhile this poor driver sat there waiting for us without complaining, without rushing us and, importantly, without disappearing into Nicaragua with all of our backpacks.

Eventually we managed to get cash and continued to the port.

Nicaragua Was Already Winning Me Over

Once we arrived, figuring out the ferry tickets was easy, but we had some time to kill before departure.

So naturally: food.

And can you guess what we ate?

Meat, rice and beans.

At this point that meal had basically followed us across Central America, but Nicaragua immediately won us over for one very important reason: the prices.

In Panama and Costa Rica, we had often been paying around $5 or more for the same kind of plate. In Nicaragua, we got basically the same meal plus a drink for less than half of that.

My friend and I looked at each other and basically agreed immediately:

Yep.

This was the country for us.

Ferry From Rivas to Ometepe

After waiting around at the port, we boarded the ferry to Ometepe Island, which would be our first proper stop in Nicaragua.

And Ometepe would eventually become one of my favorite places from the entire Central America trip.

The ferry was a local ferry and cost us just $1. After Costa Rica, I think every price in Nicaragua was making me emotional at this point.

I am usually scared of boats, which is slightly inconvenient considering how often traveling seems to involve getting on one. Just days earlier I had been holding onto my friend for dear life on the boat from Bocas del Toro because I genuinely thought I was going to die.

But this ferry?

Totally fine.

I actually loved the ride.

We were finally in Nicaragua, on our way across the water toward Ometepe, country #53 had officially started, and for the first time since leaving Panama I remember feeling genuinely excited again.

And I had absolutely no idea yet how much I was going to love this country.

Read My Nicaragua Guides

Ometepe Island: The Nicaragua Stop I Immediately Fell in Love With

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