Playa Madera Nicaragua

The southwest coast of Nicaragua has become one of the hot spots for international travelers, and with good reason. The coast is a mosaic of rugged rocky headlands and pocket beaches. It has a number of nature reserves. It is the prettiest coastline in the country.

After years of traveling through Latin America and the Caribbean I chose to move here to the southwest coast of Nicaragua. I have looked into living in Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina, but it is here that I decided to settle. There are many reasons for this. The major ones involve lifestyle, climate, health and safety, and cost of living. There are many choices of where one can live. Most important for me are natural geography and culture. Nicaragua is blessed with tremendous natural diversity, from the beautiful, sculptured beaches of the southwest Pacific,

 to the northern highlands,

and the tropical Caribbean, it has something for everyone.

 On my first trip here I rented a car for a couple of months and did an extensive tour of the country.    I wanted to get a very good feel of the opportunities and potential of the different parts. Two areas drew my attention and heart; the Pacific southwest coast and the northern highlands.

The highlands are beautiful,

with a wonderfully refreshing climate, but there were not enough other attractions to draw me to the area. I finally decided to move here to the beaches on the southwest coast.

Here are a number of the reasons I chose Playa Madera, just north of San Juan del Sur. The two principle reasons are the people and the natural geography. San Juan del Sur is known around the world for its beautiful beaches and water sports. f you want more infomation you can visit our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VistaPlayaMadera or call Craig at 505-8754-2884.

 It has become a focal point for tourists, retirees, and ex-pats from around the world. This makes it unique in Nicaragua, while San Juan del Sur is an old established Nicaraguan community it has a large population of foreigners. This was important to me in a variety of ways. It expands the potential community of friends and neighbors. While the majority of my friends are Nicaraguans, I also have friends from around the world. There is a sizable European, Canadian, US, Australian, and Latin American population. This makes for an exciting and dynamic community. This is extremely important to the quality of life. There are some beautiful beaches to the north, but they are either very isolated, hours from the nearest city, or gated communities built exclusively for foreigners. Neither of these appealed to me. Here you have the best of both world, spectacular scenery and an old established Nicaragua community with a large population of foreigners. There is also sorts of community activities from organized sports and social events to numerous potential volunteer opportunities.

The second major reason was the natural geography. Here in the southwest corner of Nicaragua the mountains and hills descend right down into the sea. It is a rugged coastline of beaches and rocky headlands. This creates a very dramatic coastline with great diversity.

 Depending on which way the beaches face, and the shape of the rocky headlands one can find beaches with wild and powerful waves; perfect for surfing or boogie-boarding,

while just around the corner, protected by dramatic cliffs and headlands one can find bays with clear and calm water. A perfect place for swimming, diving, or playing with a young family. From some points in Vista Playa Madera one can see five distinct bays which offer something for everyone; from the avid surfer to tranquil beachcomber.

There are many other activities in which one can partake. The fishing is incredible. A friend spends 3 hours a week fishing with rod and reel, or spear gun, and has more fish than he wants for the week. The locals use a hand line with primitive weights and floats and make a living with the fish they catch. Using a decent rod and reel offers one great  opportunity for sport and food.

 The area is great for horseback riding. There are 4-5 different places within a few km one can rent horses. With good connections and friends I ride for free or very cheap, even the tourist spots are very inexpensive. One can chose between beach and forest for your rides. If you are a serious riders, this is the land of horseman. The term for gentleman here literally translate to horseman. There is a wide range of horse from which to chose. One can buy a horse for as little as $130 dollars, and pasture with local friends or your own property.

Then there is walking, hiking birding, gardening and much, much more for outside activities. Visit the volcanoes, kayack in the ocean or lakes, windsurf, or just lay back and enjoy the incredible climate.

The climate is the other part of the puzzle that makes this area so desirable a place to live. San Juan del Sur is less than 700 miles north of the equator. Most of places within this distance are very hot and humid. I have spent much time in Ecuador, Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Caribbean. They are beautiful places full of wonderful beaches, forest and people, yet none are as livable as the beaches of southwest Nicaragua. The secret here are the easterly winds. They blow off the Caribbean, as they cross the isthmus they dry out. This reduces the humidity. Yesterday we had a humidity of 62%. I remember living in Ecuador with 100% humidity. I could take a cool shower, and be in a full sweat by the time I crossed the room to get into bed! It is definitely very uncomfortable to have nights of 32 degrees and high humidity all night. Most can not live comfortably without air conditioning.

Here it is very different. The humidity is much lower than normal for much of the tropics. One hears much of the importance of location for real estate; location, location, location, that is all one hears. Here it is even more important that ever. There is tremendous diversity within the country. The Caribbean lowlands are true humid tropical forest with high temperatures and humidity. You have to be a jungle lover to enjoy living there. The northern highlands are wonderful, great climate and beautiful foresst. It just does not offer the range of activities and culture of the southwest coast. Then there is the southwest coast. This area is classified as dry, tropical forest. There are only three months with considerable rains, June, September, and October. The rest of the year it is pretty dry. This affects the humidity, as mentioned above, making it a much more comfortable climate within which to live. This aridity has other great benefits. This is the only part of Nicaragua where malaria is unknown. That is right, there is NO malaria here. I live in the forest here in a home with no screens on my windows. There are many, many less bugs than my former homes in Vancouver and Golden BC Canada. It is ironic that here in the forest, there are less mosquitoes than in town. In town there are numerous sources of stagnant water, old tires, abandon wells, buckets, and old water tanks. These are all potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Dengue, another mosquito borne disease is not found in the forests, only in urban setting where there is breeding grounds and people.

These are the principle reasons I picked this area. It is amazingly livable with a moderate climate. The dry eastern winds blow the hot surface waters out to sea, and cool waters from deep in the Pacific well up to the surface. These waters range from 24 to 27 degrees. These cool waters moderate the temperatures tremendously  Daily highs seldom climb above 30 degrees during the hottest part of the day, which is only for a couple hours in the afternoon. By early evening the temperatures drop to the mid 20's, with lows of 24-26 degrees. We live a early life here. I raise around dawn and work out on the property until noon or 1 pm and then it is siesta and beach time, becoming more active as the temperature drops in the evening. Add water and the climate allows one to grow just about everything. I have grapes, lychee, pomegranites, almonds, passion fruit, papaya, pineapple, all the citrus, and literally dozens of other fruits and vegetable growing on the land. And flowers, flowers, flowers.

Then there is the spectacular scenery. The coast is very dramatic with beautiful views and varied offerings with a backdrop of tropical forests. This is still a very undeveloped coastline.

There are many birds and animals. It is a nightly serenade of gentle rocking waves and animals singing in the forest.

 The natural diversity provides an incredible range of possible activities, from gardening to birding,

surfing and swimming, fishing and horseback riding, to poker nights, beach volleyball, spas and fine dining. The area offers many many amenities and activities. This is unique in Nicaragua, and the combination makes this the best place in Nicaragua to live. Best of all it is under 1 1/2 hours to Granada, and under 3 to Managua where there is even more cultural and commercial opportunities, and then you get to retreat from the hustle and bustle, and noise of the city and kick back and watch the sunsets over the ocean. Or just kicking back and relaxing.

Wonderful Diversity & Beauty of Nicaragua

Nicaragua is increasingly being discovered as a tourist and retirement destination. It is a country of tremendous beauty and diversity. It is composed of three distinct regions; the Pacific coast

Morgan's Rock near San Juan del Sur

 and adjacent lowlands, the central highlands,

The highland mountains near Matagalpa

 and the tropical forests and beaches of the Caribbean.

Corn Island in the Nicaraguan Caribbean

 The Pacific area is known as the land of lakes and volcanoes.

Volcan Concepcion on Ometepe

Laguna Apoya a crater lake near Granada

Playa Madera near San Juan del Sur

The rugged coastline creates a wonderful diversity of beaches and bays, that provide something for everyone from surfers looking for great waves, to families wanting calm waters to swim and play.

x

The Road to Vista Playa Madera.

The Road to Vista Playa Madera.

      Long, long ago I made a decision not to wait until I was 65 to begin filling my bucket list. It seemed crazy to wait until you are 65 to do all the other things you desired to do. I decided then and there I would take my retirement in stages, 20% a year, and begin to follow my dreams and desires. I have been very successful in this. It grew into a type of work where I worked like a wild man, double, triple time three months a year, the rest of the year I enjoyed long periods of free time to travel, volunteer, and telecommute. It has been a great life so far, full of adventure, love and fulfillment. Before coming to Nicaragua I had a sailboat in the Caribbean.

 Heading southwest into the Caribbean from Florida

 I would work four months a year in Canada and then telecommute the rest of the year. I was once sitting on the beach in Cuba reading some technical manuals (and drinking a beer), on an incredible Caribbean beach and a foreign a woman asked me how long I was on vacation. I swept my arms across the blue horizon and exclaimed this is my office, and it was. I spent seven blessed years sailing those incredible waters.Sailing Cuba.

One of the incredibly beautiful wild, untouched beaches in Cuba

During those decades of work and travel I was drawn ever again to Latin America. It is an enchanted land, full of history, natural wonders, and friendly people. Through the years I have traveled to virtually every country in North, Central, and South America. I knew I wanted to "retire," here - I really envision it as engagement, engagement in new activities and adventure - down here. I just had not decided quite where. I had planned a trip back to Central America when I decided to buy my sail boat, so that trip was postponed. When I finally made it to my last country in Central America I discovered a real gem. It is a natural wonderland.

Playa Madera on the southwest of Nicaragua near San Juan del Sur

The natural diversity is awe inspiring. In a country the size of New York state one can find the dry tropical forests of the rugged Pacific coast, the dry and hot lowlands of the central interior, the cool cloud forests of the northern mountains, and the immense, grand forests of the hot and humid Caribbean lowlands. The land of lakes, spectacular beaches and volcanoes.

 It reminds me of Costa Rica forty years ago. I can walk 30 minutes from home and be on a beach where I have seen less than a dozen people in three years. The climate here on the coast is perfect. You always hear location, location, location for real estate. Here in the tropics that is truer than anywhere else. The diversity of microclimates is tremendous. Here right on the coast the easterly winds blow the warm waters on the surface of the Pacific out to sea and cool waters from deep below come to the surface. These waters average about 27 degrees. These cool waters moderate the temperatures tremendously. It is 6:30 pm today and the temperatures have already dropped to an incredibly comfortable 27 degrees. Daily temperatures range from lows of 22-24 degrees in the night to 29-31 during the hottest part of the day. For a country only 11 degrees north of the equator this is miraculous!

Then you have the humidity and rainfall. This area is classified as dry tropical forest, 80% of the rains come during 3 months of the year: June, September and October, Very little rain falls from November to May. This has a huge impact on the local humidity index, most of the year the humidity rarely climbs out of the 70's. This has a huge impact on the physical comfort. This is much lower than the humidity in NYC or Toronto. One can live comfortably without air conditioning in a well designed house. So cool evenings and warm days all year round. All in a country only only 700 miles north of the equator.

The situation changes drastically as you head east, first the temperatures rise as you get away from the moderating influence of the cool Pacific. It becomes hot, dry and arid for much of the year.

The hot dry interior

If you want to live in the tropics but don't like hot climates then the north central mountains are the place for you. Temperatures rarely climb above the high 20's and nighttime it is around 18 degrees.

The cool, cloud forests of north central Nicaragua

Then as you head farther east toward the Caribbean the humidity climbs rapidly. These are the deep lowland humid forest of the Caribbean lowlands.

Rio San Juan The pirate Henry Morgan prowled these waters.

 Day and night the temperature rarely drops below 30 degrees and the humidity is close to 100%. You definitely feels like you are in the hot tropics there.

A view of the surf from Vista Playa Madera lot

The dry forests of the Pacific coast has a major impact on insects and disease. There are very few bugs here. It is too dry much of the year. I have no screens on my windows, dressed only in shorts at dusk and there is not one mosquito or biting bug. There is probably 1% of the biting bugs of Canada, and NO malaria in the state of Rivas Nicaragua. malaria map of Nicaragua. Again it is all location. Here in the hills, over looking the sea there in no standing water. Pick a location just a couple of miles away, close to a river or estuary, or in urban areas where old tires, buckets and old cisterns prove a breeding ground, and you will have a mosquito problem. Ironically mosquitoes are more an urban problem than here in the dry forests.

A view south from Playa Madera to Morgan's Rock

So, after all my travels, from the farthest reaches of South America to the northern borders of Mexico and The Caribbean I picked Playa Madera as my place to settle down. It is a magic land of rugged rocky headlands and fine sand beaches. Vista Playa Madera is nestled in the forests above this beach.  The area is some times called Cinco Bahias, Five Bays, because there are five separate bays within just a few minutes walk of my home. This makes it an aquatic playground. One beach will face the full Pacific, and the southwest swell, with the whole southern Pacific in which to grow crashes upon the shore

. Another tucked behind the rocky headlands is calm as a lake shore.

Playa Majagual from Morgan's Rock

This diversity of beaches is wonderful. One can surf and boogie board on one beach, swim and play with small children on another. The protected coves are perfect for snorkeling or diving. The strong waves make for a beachcomber delight. Playa Madera is one of the best surfing beaches in Nicaragua. Numerous surfing competitions have been held here over the years.

The popularity of the area makes it fairly unique for a tourist area in the tropics. Most areas suffer from a major boom and bust season, with the popular months being confined to a couple months in the winter. Here the best surfing is April through to October. This doubles or triples the number of months when people come to visit. That makes it a much more desirable area for running a small business, hotel, or B&B.

Playa Madera Surf