Here’s What I Did During My 3 Days on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua

Cecilia Markley
11 minutes ago
8 min read

Nicaragua is called the land of lakes and volcanoes for good reason. Nowhere in the country better demonstrates that than Ometepe Island. Plopped in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, also called Lake Cocibolca – the largest freshwater lake in Central America and one of the largest in the world – the island is formed by two massive volcanoes, Concepción and Maderas, joined by an isthmus in the center.

I visited in November, and it was my favorite place I went in Nicaragua, which was already an incredible country. So, let’s talk about how you get to Ometepe Island, and what you do once you’re there.

Getting to Ometepe Island

To get to Ometepe, you first have to go to the town of Rivas. We were in Granada, so we took public transport to Rivas. From there, you can find a taxi to take you to San Jorge, where the Ometepe ferry port is located. Stay on your toes here, though, because this is where we got scammed.

As any frequent traveler knows, scammers in any country will target those who look confused or bewildered in a new location, and as my boyfriend and I got off the bus in Rivas and hesitated a moment to look around for a taxi to San Jorge, a man seized his opportunity. He quickly grabbed our bags and carted them to a nearby car. He told my boyfriend he could take us in his taxi to San Jorge for $30 (around C$1,100). Keep in mind, this is a 15-minute drive. He was speaking quickly in Spanish and putting pressure on us to make a decision, and in all the confusion, I thought he meant C$30, which would have been $0.82.

We agreed and were taken to the port. Upon arrival 15 minutes later, we were asked to pay, and I was not pleased, to say the least. Moral of the story, wait to find a legitimate taxi driver, who, as we learned later, will be wearing a uniform and have a certification.

Once we arrived at the port, we paid an entry fee of $1, and we were scammed yet again when we were rushed out of the taxi immediately into the booth of a tourist company by a man named Hector who sweet-talked us into renting a scooter from him for a full four days at $25 per day.

I knew from my prior research that scooters are highly recommended for navigating the island, as taxis on Ometepe are expensive and it is not easy to walk to most of the destinations. However, as we learned the following day, $15 is a much more reasonable scooter rental price, and they can be rented once on the island at most hostels and on a day-by day basis when needed. We only used the scooter two of our three full days there and therefore could have saved $70 had we done better research in advance.

From here, we paid the C$50 ($1.37) for our tickets to the ferry and enjoyed our hour ride to the Moyogalpa port, watching the sunset over San Jorge as the two volcanoes came closer into view.

Navigating the Island

When we arrived at the port, we found Hector’s scooter rental company, signed our contract and were given our scooter. But with our backpacks, one of us had to ride in a cab to our hostel. So, I rode in the cab with our luggage and my boyfriend followed behind on the scooter the almost one hour to the hostel in the dark. If you go to Ometepe, please do not make the same mistake as we did. Just take a taxi to your accommodation and rent a scooter there on the days you need it.

Despite our scooter misfortunes, I look back on my time on Ometepe so fondly. One of the biggest reasons is how breathtakingly beautiful the island is. Even if we hadn’t participated in the activities we did, riding around the island on the scooter and witnessing the crashing waves of the massive lake, the trees and plant life, and the towering volcanoes always looming over on either side make it worth it.

I recommend spending some time just riding around the island’s main road taking it all in. This road is mostly paved, with intersections and stop signs, and connects the island’s primary towns as well as looping around the volcanoes.

Ometepe has several towns, all along the main road. The hostel where we stayed was in the quiet town of Santa Cruz, located between the two volcanoes and right near a lovely beach.

Day 1: Charco Verde

We woke up early on our first day and drove around the island exploring. We then headed to the ecological reserve Charco Verde on the Concepción side of the island, a 30-minute drive from our hostel, where we paid $5 to enter. The reserve is famous for its butterfly garden, lagoon, beach, flora, and wildlife.

We enjoyed a tranquil visit to the butterfly garden and then walked to the 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) trail that loops around the lagoon. The trail offers a relaxing, easy walk on flat terrain where you can take in the lagoon and surrounding forest. We stopped at the beach and looked out at Maderas Volcano on the opposite end of the island, which we would be hiking in two days.

Day 2: Ojo de Agua

We spent the morning of day two relaxing at our hostel before taking the scooter to Ojo de Agua, situated on the opposite side of Concepción as Charco Verde. Ojo de Agua is a natural pool filled with crystal clear spring water fed from Concepción Volcano. We each paid our $10 entry fee and were given our $5 food vouchers, then we spent the afternoon hanging out at the pool.

As a lover of all things water, Ojo de Agua was tons of fun. It has a diving board and rope swing, a deep and shallow end, and the water is warm enough to be able to enjoy comfortably but can still cool you off from the humid Ometepe air. Ojo de Agua also features hiking trails into the surrounding forest, but we opted to swim and relax before returning to our hostel at sunset.

Day 3: Maderas Volcano

On our final full day on Ometepe, we decided to tackle what is considered to be the less difficult of the island’s two volcanoes, Maderas. Unlike Concepción, a guide is not required to hike Maderas, but we opted to go with one. The owner of our hostel, Maria, a sweet elderly woman, found us a guide, whom we paid $15 each plus tip. He was 20 years old, spoke only Spanish, and had never done a guided tour, but his family owned a farm on the volcano, which he hiked for the first time as a child and told us he has hiked many times since.

The entry fee for Maderas is usually $5, but our guide took us in through his family’s farm, so we didn’t pay the entry fee and instead added that to his tip as he gave us a wonderful experience. The hike to the lake in the center of the inactive volcano and back typically takes seven to eight hours, but took us 10, plus the walk to and from our hostel.

We awoke at 5 a.m. and ate a hearty breakfast prepared by Maria. We brought just one 30-liter backpack between the two of us containing snacks and water, as well as extra layers of clothing as we were informed it can get rainy and chilly as you reach the top. Our guide arrived promptly at 6 a.m. and we began.

An Ascent Like No Other

We walked about 25 minutes from our hostel to the entrance to his family farm. The first hour or so was a moderate uphill climb through farmland, where we stopped occasionally as he told us about life growing up and showed us the banana, coffee, avocado, lime and coconut trees, even knocking down some coconuts and limes for us to snack on. We passed by his friends and fellow farmworkers, saw cattle and dogs, and stopped to drink from a tap fed by water from the volcano.

After the farmland, we entered lush rainforest. At this point, I was so happy I had opted to bring hiking poles. The ground was so muddy and slippery, and I fell what seemed like dozens of times. I lagged behind the guide and my boyfriend as the terrain got wetter and muddier, stopping every few minutes to catch my breath. Our sweet guide maintained his patience despite very obviously being in much better shape than both of us.

Several hours later, we reached a clearing where we could look out over the island. To our disappointment, all that was visible as far as the eye could see was fog. Our guide explained that visibility depends on the time of day, with fog typically clearing in the afternoon, whether or not it is the rainy season, which we were just nearing the end of, and luck.

The mud and fog made the hike harder and view anticlimactic, but the lushness of the vegetation made up for it. The rich green leaves, moss and gigantic trees surrounded us at every turn.

The final hour was absolutely brutal. I was exhausted, my head hurt, and I was ready to be at the lake. Our guide kept telling us we were nearly there, but time dragged on. We reached the highest point, and again, to our disappointment, thick fog prevented us from viewing the island.

Reaching the Crater Lake

We began our descent into the crater lake, and at this point my boyfriend finally had to swallow his pride and accept my offer for one of my hiking poles. It was nearly straight downhill of exclusively mud. At times we opted to slide, as it was quicker and easier this way.

We arrived at the lagoon at 12 p.m., six whole hours after departing the hostel, coated in mud from head to toe. It was incredibly foggy, so we couldn’t see the lake that well, but the peaceful ambiance and knowledge we had made it was gratifying. We enjoyed our lunch and the serenity and departed at 1 p.m. in order to make it back before dark.

Descending the Volcano

The beginning of the return to the ground involves scaling back up the crater lake, which is maybe he hardest part of the whole hike. Once past that first 20 minutes, which requires digging your hands and poles into mud to climb up the crater’s slopes, it is straight downhill most of the way back.

Three hours later, as we neared our guide’s farm, the fog lifted and we were pleasantly surprised by a clear view of the whole island and Concepción. As a final treat before the end, we were greeted by monkeys in the trees, almost as if they were congratulating us on our accomplishment. We bid our guide farewell when he reached his family’s home and walked along the street back to our hostel as the sky turned black.

Recovering and Return to the Mainland

Upon arriving at our hostel, we were greeted by Maria, who asked how it went. After chatting with her, I made my way to the room, peeled off my muddy clothes and threw myself into the icy shower, watching the tile floor turn brown as the dirt washed down the drain. I crawled into bed and promptly fell asleep.

We awoke the following day feeling tired and sore, but placated by the memories we had made the past three days. We returned our scooter and took a ferry back to San Jorge. Upon our return, we were prepared to be swarmed by scammers, but to our delight, we were only approached by certified taxi drivers, and we paid just $5 for the taxi ride back to Rivas. From there we continued on our way to the beach town of San Juan del Sur.

There are even more activities you can fill your time with on Ometepe, like hikes of the San Ramon Waterfall or Concepción Volcano. But I was thrilled with what I did during my three days there. If you find yourself in Nicaragua, be sure to hop on the ferry and spend some time on Ometepe Island.