Nicaragua with non-surfing family

Another important issue with family - time of year. The difference between a rainy season visit and dry season visit is enormous. During the rainy season you will spend much more time in a hotel room staying not only out of the rain, but out of the bugs. Being outside after dark doing anything in the rainy season - like eating dinner in an open air restaurant even while wearing bug repellent - can be a challenge. Especially for those in the party who aren't on the trip for the waves.

After a number of summer visits to CR (our summer, July, August, September..), I couldn't believe what a different experience I had when traveling there during the January-March period. You could hang outside after dark and not get eaten alive. The family appreciated not having to put on bug stuff just for a trip to the mercado.And you weren't trying to work the non-surf activities around the weather. Your family could also be stuck on a very rainy and wet beach -- or in a hotel room -- while you surf.

 

The main peaks = crowded, but it wasn't bad enough to bother me. It wasn't nearly as bad as Popoyo. Was there last April/May and Popoyo was rough, maybe it was just our timing but there was a pack of guys battling, loudly claiming every wave, blowing drops, and rocking Santos FC t-shirts - actually we couldn't get away from these guys the whole trip. Groups like this were at almost every spot, but I guess Colorados was big enough that you could deal with it. One thing that's frustrating is a lot of boats head to Colorados with half a dozen or more people joining the lineup all at once. It's great when you're one of the guys on the boat though. In retrospect our wave count was definitely the highest at Colorados - enjoy it man there's some incredible waves all up and down that part of the coast if you explore a little.

 

Do the boats come all day? In el sal they only showed up in the am's and had the afternoons free to myself. It wasnt spot on prime conditions since the wind would kick, but it was alone and thats what im looking for.

 

They show up all day...beauty of Nica is that relentless offshore, people just keep coming all day. That said, if you get on it at dawn you can get some space, and if you spend enough of the day there, there will be times where the crowd thins out. Anything right around the high tide is usually packed.

As others have said though, you can still get plenty of waves when it's crowded if you sit a little off the main peak.

 

Talk about packed: Maderas would be that. Lotta beginners on the flatter water, and that's fine, but the decent waves are crammed with locals who can rip, as well as Brazilians at certain times of the year.

 

If you don't sit on the main peak you'll easily get your fair share of waves. If it does get too crowded walk back down toward the condos and surf Panga Drops with about 4 or 5 people.....I actually thought that was a pretty fun wave and got a couple decent barrels out there. There's even an odd little right coming off the cliff if you really want to be by yourself. I actually thought El Salvador was quite a bit more localized with some insane bodyboarders but I mainly just surfed El Zonte and Punta Roca. Yes boats come all day but with the constant off shores you can still score and at Iguana Beach it's mainly traveling surfers.