Best Things to do on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

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Ometepe is an island in the middle of Nicaragua’s largest lake, Lake Nicaragua. Getting here is a bit challenging but totally worth it. I loved my time here and if you are visiting Nicaragua, I highly recommend some time on Ometepe.

Ometepe is unique in being a massive island in a freshwater lake made up of two volcanos covered in lush jungle. The name Ometepe actually comes from an Aztec language that means two mountains. Volcanos Concepcion and Maderas make up Ometepe island, with Maderas having a crater lake and is inactive. Concepcion, on the other hand, is an active volcano with rumblings happening as recently as 2010. The fertile ground from volcanic ash has allowed beautiful rainforest to thrive here as well as farming such as tobacco and coffee.

My experience in Ometepe was a bit different than other tourists. I was there to complete a three-week primatology field school course. Luckily, as part of this experience, we had a couple of free days to explore what the island of Ometepe had to offer.

How to Get to Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

After flying into Managua, Nicaragua, you likely will need to spend the night before heading out to the island. There are plenty of hotels near the airport that should offer airport transfers. In Managua, I stayed at the Best Western right across from the airport and was very happy with my room there and with how convenient it was.

From Managua, drive to San Jorge to catch an Ometepe ferry. There are multiple ferries from here a day that take about an hour to get to Ometepe. For the ferry, there are two main ferry terminals on Ometepe island, Moyogalpa or San Jose del Sur. I was staying near San Ramon on the island so for me, it made the most sense to take the ferry to San Jose del Sur. From San Jose del Sur to San Ramon, it is about a 2 hour drive. The roads here are quite bumpy so if you are prone to carsickness, make sure to bring any medications for that. You can check ferry schedules here.

If you would rather avoid driving, you can instead take a flight from Managua to Ometepe or take a longer ferry ride from either San Carlos or Granada.

As you can see it can be a bit of an undertaking to get to Ometepe but the journey itself is worth it and the island is very relaxing.

What to Know Before Visiting Ometepe

Is Ometepe Safe?

I always felt safe on Ometepe. Compared to other parts of the country, Ometepe did feel safer to me. Situations are always changing though so make sure to check out your countries recommendations for travel before booking your trip. Canada’s safety recommendations for Nicaragua can be found here.

Health Concerns for Ometepe, Nicaragua

**I’m not a doctor so these are not medical recommendations these are my personal experiences, consult with your own doctor before travel**

Before travel, it is always best to check with your doctor on what vaccines and medications you need while traveling. At the time I traveled, my doctor did not feel it necessary for antimalarials but this will depend on the time of year you travel and where your itinerary will take you to. Other health considerations to discuss with your doctor is being vaccinated for both Hepatitis A and B and using Dukarol. Dukarol is a drinkable vaccine that works to protect you against E. coli and cholera. E. coli is one of the big causes of travelers diarrhea so it’s just one of those things you don’t want. It doesn’t provide lifelong immunity so it is something you may need to repurchase for future trips.

ATMs on Ometepe

Take all your money with you! The only ATMs on Ometepe island are in Moyogalpa. It’s a big island and can take a long time to get between places so make sure you have all the cash you need before arriving on Ometepe. Expect to pay in the local currency at most places. Lots of places will accept American dollars but you won’t get the best rates of exchange.

Accommodation and Food on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

Finca Mystica– If you want to stay around San Ramon, this is the place I would stay. The grounds are beautiful and they have a gorgeous guesthouse. It’s set in the rainforest so you have a chance of hearing howler monkeys and seeing them from the guesthouse. There are some very cheap accommodation options here in the hostel-style shared rooms.

In addition to being a guesthouse, Finca Mystica has a great restaurant. I ate here a few times while in San Ramon. I can highly recommend the pineapple slushie, veggie burger, and brownie. Really everything here is delicious.

The Jungle This is a very affordable hotel on Ometepe near Merida. Breakfast is included and there is a restaurant on site. Gorgeous views of the lake and volcano including rooms with lake views.

This is a great place to visit after hiking the volcano. You can also arrange tours here to the volcano as well as other options on the island like kayaking or horseback riding. The Jungle has great internet access if you want to hang out and catch up on work. They also have excellent food including fresh juices, and delicious plantain chips. They also have an affordable dinner buffet that includes all the classic Nicaraguan foods.

You can find other accommodation options on Ometepe here.

What to do on Ometepe, Nicaragua

I stayed in San Ramon so all of my experiences on Ometepe were around the Maderas Volcano. You can easily spend your time here relaxing on the beach listening to howler monkeys, but there are lots to do here for people that enjoy adventure.

Hike to San Ramon Waterfall

San Ramon waterfall is the perfect, tropical rainforest waterfall. From the start of the hike, it is about 3 km and it is all uphill. It took about 3 1/2 hours roundtrip including a break at the waterfall. Make sure to wear a bathing suit and bring a towel and lots of water. There is nowhere to change at the waterfall. You can swim but the water is quite cold, even on a warm day.

Along the hike, you will have the opportunity to spot some of the wildlife that calls Ometepe home. I was lucky enough to spot some howler monkeys, lots of blue morphos butterflies, dung beetles, and leaf cutter ants. If you are lucky, you may also spot some capuchin monkeys though they tend to be a bit shyer than the howler monkeys here.

The hike also gives you great views out across the lake towards Costa Rica.

Hike Maderas Volcano

Hiking up Maderas volcano is a huge undertaking. You need to be very physically fit and pack tons of water. It’s hot, it’s up steep trails, and when you get to the top it may be too foggy to see the lake at the top of the volcano. Despite all this, it’s one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life.

From Merida you can hire guides to lead you up the Maderas Volcano. While I’m sure that it is possible to hike this without a guide, it’s always a bit safer to have a local guide and also helps support the local economy. The first bit of the hike takes you through fields and then a grassland area before you enter the forest.

One of the interesting things at the beginning of the hike is seeing the pipes that carry water down to the town from the waterfall. Because of this freshwater waterfall, people in the town below pay much less for water than from other areas like those around Concepcion volcano. Tourism in the area does mean that hotels end up using more than their share which causes water shortages during the dry months so try to be mindful of your water usage when you visit.

Once you enter the forested part of the hike, it does get even steeper. There were some howler monkeys here as well. The guides that I had brought fruit for everyone to share. One guide brought watermelon, which was delicious, but even better than that was the mango. One of the guides has mango trees and it being mango season, brought fresh, tree-ripened mangos for everyone. While that wouldn’t be a big deal for everyone, Toronto just is not a place we get tree-ripened mangos so it was like finally having a real mango for the first time.

After some time hiking in the rainforest, you enter the cloud forest. What makes cloud forest different from the regular rainforest is that they get tons of rain (yes, even more!), high humidity, and are full of mist and condensation. They also can get quite cold because of the cooler air that is hitting them from the mountain. The trees here can be shorter and covered in moss and vegetation. All these characteristics make cloud forests great places to find high diversity of species. They are fantastic places to find epiphytes (a plant that grows on another plant or tree) like orchids.

Because of how difficult it is to hike and the challenges with camping in the rainforest, not all species on Maderas volcano have even been inventoried yet. It’s one of those places that is so close to people, yet there are still unknowns about it.

The cloud forest area also had some challenging hiking because it got a bit muddier and there were some steep parts of the trail that you almost needed to climb up. Even though it was hot weather at the bottom of the hike, at the top of the volcano, I needed a sweater. Unfortunately on the day I hiked, clouds obscured the view of the volcano’s crater lake.

Even though the hike up the volcano was challenging, I found the hike down almost worse. It was extremely slippery and given that I was already tired from the climb up, just harder to maintain stability. The way down did offer some really great views though as some clouds had cleared and you could see out to the other volcano on Ometepe and to some of the beaches.

Overall, hiking to the top of the Maderas Volcano took 9.5 hours roundtrip, but I highly recommend it if you love rainforests.

Find the Petroglyphs on Ometepe

I walked along the road and asked strangers for directions to the petroglyphs, you may want to rent a four-wheeler or horse for this as it ended up being quite a long walk from San Ramon.

While I thought the petroglyphs were nearby, this really turned into one of those never-ending quests. After walking for an hour and a half without success, finally, it was time to ask for directions at a village. Only to find out that we had overshot the petroglyphs by 2 kilometers. We definitely hadn’t seen any signs indicating this so it seemed kind of impossible but we went back the way we came anyways.

After the paved hill across from the cement house

Directions from a local to the petroglyphs on Ometepe island

At least the walk was interesting, seeing lots of locals and the scenery of the island. Our directions to find the petroglyphs were “after the paved hill and across from the cement house.” It sounds vague but somehow we were able to find it. Finally, we found it and it turned out to be two rocks in someone’s backyard next to some chickens. These weren’t the petroglyphs we were looking for but it did satisfy the point of the walk that day and it was interesting to see that they were literally just on someone’s farm. If you’re looking for petroglyphs on Ometepe, there are multiple locations on the island, check out other locations here.

Visiting Ometepe

Ometepe is the perfect island to visit if you are looking for a little bit of paradise away from it all. Away from the city life of Nicaragua, this island offers up a serene escape in Central America. I loved all the rainforest hiking and wildlife Ometepe had to offer.

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