San Juan del Norte is a small town and municipality in Rio San Juan department of Nicaragua.
San Juan de Nicaragua is a small port town of 1500 people, on the Caribbean coast of (south-east) Nicaragua. It has a long history as a port town but its glory days are long over. Back in the middle of the 19th century its strategic location at the mouth of the Rio San Juan made it the starting point of one of the only feasible transcontinental crossings of the Americas. Cornelius Vanderbilt invested here and people such as Mark Twain have passed through and written about it. But after the USA built a railroad to California in 1869 the town slowly fell into a slumber it seems to not have awaken from until now. However as the jungle just out of town and the fish in the river might draw an adventurous traveler, the Nicaraguan government decided to do something and recently built a new airport which makes the ride in a small lancha from San Carlos a thing of the past and replaces it with a smooth scenic flight across half the country with views of Ometepe and the river.
- The river
- The Caribbean sea
- Wildlife in the Indio Maiz national reserve
- The cemetery and ruins of old Greytown
San Juan del Norte is popular with fishing tourists.
If you like seafood, you're in luck, almost all restaurants offer at least one variety of camarones or fish. A Caribbean specialty that can be had here as well is rondon. Try it.
- Bar y Restaurante Sabor Tropical, Frente donde fue Hospedaje Británico, +505 84350628.
- Bar y Restaurante Sabor Caribeño, Del Muelle principal 200 metros al este, +505 84205393.
- Bar y Restaurante Brisas del mar, Del Muelle principal 250 metros al este, +505 84994690.
- Restaurante El Tucán, Del Muelle principal 200 metros al este, +505 84195356.
- The Indio Maiz national park.
- Unfortunately going to Costa Rica from here is not a feasible option as there are no border crossing facilities. If you want to go south, you can only do so about 200 km west in San Carlos where you can cross the border legally.
- Bluefields There is a boat that may or may not leave once a week. Unfortunately, they don't have a website, so come with a backup plan if the boat does not go when you want it to.