💰 Trip to Nicaragua Cost: My Budget Breakdown (2024)

💰 Trip Cost	Very Affordable
💵 Typical Budget	$35-$100/day
🍀 My Budget	$59/day
✈️ Trip Total	$1,324
🗓️ Trip Length	15 days

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Is Nicaragua Affordable To Travel To?

Nicaragua is a very affordable destination worldwide and is consistently one of the cheapest countries in Central and South America to visit.

• The country’s tourism industry is underdeveloped, and the cost of living is very low, so prices are competitive for visitors.
• It has incredibly cheap modes of transportation (e.g., chicken buses are a popular budget way to get around).
• Local food is also very cheap, with $3 meals being possible.

For comparison, here’s my daily budget for destinations in Central and South America:

Country	My Budget
🇨🇷 Costa Rica	$235
🇧🇿 Belize	$186
🇵🇪 Peru	$144
🇳🇮 Nicaragua	$59

See all my daily budgets.

About My Trip

To give context to the expenses below, here’s what you need to know about my trip:

• I spent a little over two weeks in Nicaragua, visiting Granada, Ometepe, and San Juan del Sur/Playa Maderas.
• My trip was in October, during the end of the low season, when things are cheaper.
• I traveled with another person, which allowed us to split costs like housing.
• For this trip, I was between being a budget and mid-range budget traveler.
• I finance my trips and don’t receive sponsorship.
• All expenses are per person and in US dollars, converted from the Nicaraguan córdoba.

The exchange rate was $1 USD = C$ 37 at the time of writing.

Planning a trip? Here’s what to know about Nicaragua.

Total Cost

• $1,324
• $883
• $59

A mid-range budget traveler can expect to spend about $90 per day in Nicaragua. This budget generally means:

• Staying at accommodations that cost less than $30 per night
• Eating at $ to $$ restaurants that cost about $40 per day
• Getting around by taxis and shared shuttles
• Booking group tours and classes for top attractions and activities (e.g., surfing)

Budget Breakdown

Here’s a breakdown of my expenses by travel category:

Category	Cost	% of Total	Daily Budget
✈️ Flights	$441	33%	–
🏠 Accommodation	$262	20%	$17
🍛 Food	$265	20%	$18
🚗 Transportation	$146	11%	$10
⭐ Entertainment	$210	16%	$14
Total	$1,324	100%	$59

Flight Cost

• $227 (from the east coast of the US to Nicaragua’s primary international airport)
• $214 (from Nicaragua to Guatemala)

A round-trip flight between the US and Nicaragua costing under $250 is considered cheap, as international flights typically cost over $400.

Accommodation Cost

• $262
• $17

The accommodations I stayed at:

Accommodation	Total Cost	Cost/Night
Granada Airbnb	$48	$12
Ometepe House	$77	$15
Playa Maderals Airbnb	$137	$23

My accommodation budgeting tips:

• The cheapest options start at $8 a night – Shared-room hostels can be as cheap as $8 a night in Nicaragua.
• Pay a bit more for private rooms – You can find decent private rooms and bathrooms for $12-$15 a night if you can split it with someone like I did.
• Forgo hot showers – Nicaragua is the first destination I’ve traveled to where hot showers are rare (you’ll need to pay a premium or stay at upscale hotels for them). I never thought of myself as someone who could forgo hot showers, but Nicaragua is so hot most of the time that I managed to survive 15 days of cold showers.

Food Cost

• $265 (I spent $222 on restaurants and $43 on groceries)
• $18

My most affordable meals:

Meal	Location	Cost
Chicken & plantains	Local Food Stand (Granada)	$2
Nacatamal & quesillo	Raices (Granada)	$3
Typical plate & smoothie	Querubes (Granada)	$4

My most expensive meals:

Meal	Location	Cost
Chicken plate & smoothie	Playa Mango (Ometepe)	$12
Fish plate & smoothie	Juanitas (Playa Maderas)	$17
Burger & smoothie	Hush (Playa Maderas)	$17

My food budgeting tips:

• Eat at sodas, comedors, and local food stands – You can get a full meal with a fruit smoothie for $3 or less if you eat at local places called sodas or comedors.
• Eat a lot of gallo pinto – A typical Nicaraguan meal consists of gallo pinto (the national dish), a protein (usually beef or pork), plantain, and some salad. These plates are some of the cheapest meals you’ll find.
• Book accommodations with breakfast – Some accommodations have homemade breakfast included or charge a low price for them (two of my three accommodations offered these; the third one provided free coffee).

Transportation Cost

• $146
• $10

The transportation I used:

Transportation	Total Cost	Cost/Ride
Taxis	$99	$50
Shared shuttles	$26	$9
Scooter	$17	$9/day
Ferries	$4	$2

My transportation budgeting tips:

• The chicken bus is the cheapest – Chicken buses are repurposed US buses that act as affordable, local transportation around Nicaragua. You can pay as little as $2 for an hour-long ride, but they’re often crowded and slow. I didn’t take one but met several hostel friends who did.
• Shared shuttles balance convenience and budget – Shared shuttles, which usually take 8-12 people, are typically priced at about $15-$25 for a 90-minute ride. The typical tourist roads are well-paved and not too winding (unlike some of the ones in Guatemala and Costa Rica), so shared shuttles are a great option.
• Negotiations are possible – Many of the tourist routes have set prices (e.g., taxis from Granada to Laguna de Apoyo are $25-$30, from San Juan del Sur to Managua are $90-$100, from San Juan del Sur to Playa Maderas are $20-$25). During the low season, it’s possible to negotiate these prices down by $5-$10.
• Ferries are extremely cheap – The hour-long ferry ride to Ometepe Island is less than $2 each way. However, some ferries are more comfortable than others.

Entertainment Cost 

• $210
• $14

The activities/attractions I did:

Experience	Location	Cost
🏄‍♂️ Surfing Lessons (4x)	Playa Maderas	$140
🌋 Volcano Concepción Hike	Ometepe	$33
🛶 Lake Nicaragua Kayak	Granada	$15
💧 Ojos de Agua	Ometepe	$10
🏊‍♀️ Laguna de Apoyo All-Day Pass	Granada	$7
💧 San Ramón Waterfall	Ometepe	$3
🍫 Bate Bate Chocolate Tour	Granada	$2
☀️ Church of the Mercy	Granada	$1

My entertainment budgeting tips:

• Visit natural attractions – Nicaragua is a developing country with a nascent tourism industry, so many of the natural attractions (e.g., volcanoes, beaches, lakes, parks) are free or have a very low entry fee.
• Pack lunch and snacks – Many of the most expensive meals in Nicaragua (e.g., $9 salads or $10 quesadillas) are located at attractions with limited food options (e.g., Ojos de Agua, Laguna de Apoyo, Playa Maderas). You’re allowed to pack your own food for many of these places (I wish I had done it more often).
• Surfing is still very affordable – Surfing is one of the most expensive things to do in Nicaragua. But starting at $35 for 90-minute lessons, it’s still very cheap compared to learning in other places in Central America.

Cost Breakdown by Destination

Below are my trip expense breakdowns for the places I visited during my trip.

Granada

• 4 days
• $196
• $49

Granada has food and accommodation options for every budget. Food prices range from $2 meals at food stalls to $50 meals at upscale restaurants. Accommodations can be as cheap as $10 a night at hostels to $100+ a night at hotels with hot showers, which are rare.

Ometepe

• 6 days
• $241
• $40

Ometepe has a few attractions with entrance fees and required guides, but it also has many free beaches. Getting around the island will have an impact on your budget here. You can take the cheap but slow bus, rent scooters for about $15 a day, or rent ATVs for $45 a day.

San Juan del Sur / Playa Maderas

• 5 days
• $446
• $89

San Juan del Sur is, on average, one of the most expensive popular destinations in Nicaragua. The town caters to tourists and has plenty of nice cafes and bars. Its two main activities, surf lessons and boat rides, start at $30.

Do You Need Cash?

• Nicaragua’s economy heavily relies on cash transactions, so make sure to bring cash.

My tips on using cash:

• USD and Nicaraguan córdoba are widely used, so you can withdraw cash in either currency. Businesses and locals only accept US dollars without tears or significant wrinkles. One of my partially ripped $5 bills was rejected three times.
• Carry $30 to $40 worth of cash per day. I spent $527 ($35 per day) in cash during my trip. Of the 65 payments I made, 72% were done using cash because places were either cash-only or had a 5% upcharge for using a card.
• Tipping is customary in Nicaragua. Many restaurants will automatically add an optional 10% tip to the bill that you will need to proactively decline if you don’t want to pay it.

I found that one of the best ATMs to use in Nicaragua is Bancared. They have no ATM fees for Visa cards. I also used Banpro when I had no other options, and they had a $5+ fee.