las isletas

We decided to visit the Isletas after a strong recommendation of another traveller and I'm glad we did! We walked towards the waterfront (much cheaper then going through the tour company's) where we found a guy who bargainned with us for a 2 hour tour. I loved it! The beginning was my favourite part, small islands completed abandonned and wild. After that, they got bigger and more and more fancy houses on islands appeared till that was all that surronded us. Still then, the birds and locals fishing in the water made my day. Monkey island is tiny and the monkeys are very used to visitors, but it still remained a pretty cool experience. Not as wild as I thought it would be, but still lovely.

I went on a tour of Las Isletas with my girlfriend and another couple late one weekday in Granada. We took off in a tiny boat with a fun, interactive guide named Manuel, who happily described all the plants and wildlife we passed, from herons and insects to a gorgeous flower that looks like a little burst of fireworks. He explained that the islands range from small to large, with the larger ones supporting entire little fishing communities that rarely interact with mainland Nicaraguans. One of the larger islands also sports an impressive mansion owned by the family that produces Cerveza Victoria, a popular local beer.The highlight of the boat tour is hands-down the visit to "monkey island", a smaller island with a community of Capuchin monkeys that will happily reach into the boat to grab food from tourists. The locals are OK with this because it is the monkeys' primary source of food - they can't swim, and were allegedly brought to the island by pirates, several centuries ago.Our tour concluded on another small island with a bar/restaurant and a well-maintained freshwater swimming pool. We grabbed some beers here and hung out for another hour before Manuel and our driver took us to briefly see some colonial Spanish ruins, and then back to the mainland at sunset.A tour that is well-worth the money, especially if you love monkeys! Try to shop around for a good guide, that also makes a big difference.

If you have not explored any wetlands in Nicaragua, this is probably a good trip with a fair amount of birdlife and howler monkeys, good views and interesting different developments on the islands. However, it pales into insignificance compared with tours in the area around San Carlos.We chose not to visit Monkey Island having been advised by our hotel that the monkeys had been put there simply for the tourists and that they are not in good health and display unnatural behaviour.

Tour into NicaraguaWe spent a week vacation at the RIU Palace Hotel in Costa Rica. On 12/11/2014 we took a one-day tour to Granada in Nicaragua, offered by "Swiss Travel" Tour Operator. For me this was a fascinating excursion into a new country. The coach picked us up at 6am and drove first to the office of “Swiss Travel” in Liberia where people from other Pacific Coast hotels joined the tour. Till the border, on the Pan-American Highway, it took nearly two hours. The formalities to exit Costa Rica and those for entry into Nicaragua lasted a full hour. This gave time to visit duty free shops, with very low prices, on the Nicaragua side. Then the bus drove close on the large Lake Nicaragua. We could see the island Ometepe with the volcanos Conception and Maderas. Actually I had already seen and photographed them from the plane when descending to Liberia airport some days before. Unfortunately the driver never stopped till we reached the town of Granada. (The coach had a toilet for use in emergency, but many become thirsty. We forgot to take water with us). The landscape with agriculture and forests which we passed in this Southern part of Nicaragua is similar to that of Guanacaste. There are large impressive cattle ranches with white Cebu, sugar cane plantations and fruit tree farms. According to our Nicaraguan tour guide, the properties have been privatized, but are now in possession of people close to the President Daniel Ortega. He said that Ortega and his Sandinistas party have changed from socialist to capitalist ideology and real estate properties can be sold also to foreigners. After a much awaited halt in the outskirts of Granada, we came to the marina of Port Asese on Lake Nicaragua. There we got a real lovely boat tour in the Granada islands, called "Isletas". These small islands have luxurious, beautiful vegetation with many birds around. Most islands have houses, some have restaurants and several others have luxurious hidden villas of rich people. Over the lake and from between islands we got beautiful views of volcanos. After lunch we visited the center of Granada, the oldest colonial town in Nicaragua. The buildings have preserved a fine Spanish colonial architecture; they have not been destroyed during the revolutionary wars in the 1960s and 70s. Since 1990 many houses have been renovated and a number purchased by Europeans and Americans as retirement or holiday homes. There are several old churches in Granada worth to a visit. We go only into the beige cathedral. Leaving Granada, the tour took us over a steep road to the crater of Masaya Volcano This is active releases smoke and gases. On the way home, we visited the town of Catarina which has many handicraft and flower shops, In Catarina is a Mirador, from which we looked dawn to the lagoon Apoyo and over it to the volcano Conception. Leaving Nicaragua and returning to Costa Rica, the border formalities took a bit less time than in the morning. But from there, it still took two full hours to the RIU Palace Hotel. We arrived there, at 11pm, and we highly appreciated food and drinks in the 24 h open self-service restaurant.It was a long day trip, riding many hours in the coach; but, it was worth it. The impression I got from Nicaragua was far better, than I had before, based on media reports at home and from rather negative comments of tourist guides in Costa Rica. Rudolf Spycher

We visited Lake Nicaragua on December 2nd with pluspapagayo.com tours. The boat trip through the Granada Islands was wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Monkey island was great and we fed the monkeys by hand. Great pics. Experiencing the local people, villages and culture of Nicaragua was a truly mind expanding venture. We'd do it again.

You hear Nicaragua is cheap, but I guess some stuff, as is to expected are not as cheap. I liked the tour of the isletas, but to be honest, paying USD$25.00 for this 2 hours tour did not make it for me. More like 10 dollars for one hour and half, or just one hour, would have been just enough

This is a good tranquilo activity for any age. You'll see some wildlife and fancy island homes. Depending on your guide you'll also get some historical background.

If you're in the mood for a lazy outing and have a good guide you'll enjoy this. The "little Islands" are the result of a long ago lava flow from the nearby Mombacho Volcano. The area has a long history and quite a variety of residents from the rich to the poor. On our trip the monkeys were bashful but the day before us, one of the guests in our hotel was unhurt but rather frightened by a froward monkey who came aboard their boat. Be aware of this before booking your tour. Your guide should tell you how to behave before your boat approaches the Island that has the monkeys which is actually a monkey rescue organization. We went late in the afternoon which was lovely and quiet (and not so hot). You can walk to the docks (about a mile and a half) along the lake. At and near the docks are a collection of open air restaurants that become discos at night. We were told that being in the disco zone is safe but in no uncertain terms, we were told by several people NOT to walk home from the lake after dark, even in groups.You can go down and arrange your own trip with the boatmen but you'll be shooting dice when it comes to the guide. If you worry about the monkeys or getting a good information tour use one of the licensed, certified guides like Tierra Tours or Favio Express. More money, (the boat will be the same) but more reliable results. We didn't try it but there are also kayak tours and rental kayaks at the docks.

I really loved my experience with this tour, although I should say that if you are with a group, it will be cheaper for you. As I was alone, I paid 20$ for the trip and 7$ for the meal at one of the stops. I did the tour with Eric Tours and felt as if I was a VIP person. The guide, Albert, was very knowledgeable, patient with my questions and the boatman (shamefully, I did not ask his name) stopped every time I wanted to take a picture or he noticed something before me. On this trip I saw lots of wonderful birds. the islands, though, most probably do not number for 365, but you will enjoy the fortress (which you stop at and can have some good pics), the architecture of some rich houses on private islands. The monkey island was kind of fun, but I felt sorry for the obese monkeys that are used to cookies. As for the restaurant, we stopped at el Pirata and I would not say that it was the best meal, but fish was quite nice. though, if I knew what it would be, I would probably not go for a meal there. The good thing is that you can swim in the pool while they are making your meal.Overall, the tour was very relaxing, informative and enjoyable. I would highly recommend doing it.

The boat trip was fine, but I was also (and after it happened I heard many more local people who were attacked) attacked by a monkey named Lucy. The monkey jump on our boat (after the boatsman said that "it was a very friendly monkey") and got a hold on my bag. The monkey though everything out of my bag. The monkey became very aggressive that it could not find any food in my bag. It then jumped on my head and pulled a lot of my hairs out and scratched my face (note: I did not pet the monkey or gave it any food or try to attract it in any way). The boatsman didn't do anything in the beginning. After a while he got some water and splashed it on the monkey (nothing happened). Then the boatsman got some sort of bucket and filed it with water and threw it over the monkey. Only then the monkey left the boat (it took maybe 10 minutes to get it of me). My face was scratched and blooded (and my head sore from all the hairs that had been pulled out) and I had to get to the hospital to get shots. If they know it is dangerous they should not bring any more tourist near the monkeys. So you can do the boattrip but don't let any monkeys on your boat.

A taxi driver took us from Parque Central to the Isletas and he dropped off my boyfriend and me with who appeared to be an acquaintance of his for a tour of the Isletas. We bought a beer at one of the stands on the beach and enjoyed it on the boat ride and before I knew it, we were sailing away and I noticed that we were the only people on the boat.It didn’t bother us because we were free to ask David all the questions we wanted (he only spoke Spanish, but my boyfriend and I can speak conversational Spanish) who seemed knowledgeable. However, we noticed a lot of other (similarly sized, big) boats passing by us that were completely packed with what appeared to be locals. So, we were definitely charged a little more to have the boat to ourselves (not something that we asked for) and the boat ride ended up being $20 per person for an hour boat ride. The tour was interesting, our guide was friendly, and we had a great time.

If you are in Granada you must take a boat tour of the isletas in Lake Nicaragua. 365 small islands and all are not far from the mainland. Many of the islands have beautiful houses. You get around in your boat or swim to your neighbors! There are some restaurants on some of these islands. We went to the Pirate Restaurant and had drinks and took a dip in their pool. We also went to visit Pancho and Michael Jackson on monkey island. They are wild spider monkeys but not really that wild. If you want a first class tour contact Manny Rocha, the "go to guy in Granada" for arrangements. He even brought his wife and 2 little girls with us which was most welcome. Also, check out the old fort where the Nicaraguans guarded Granada from pirates.

beautiful wild but fat monkeys hanging on an island... wild? Not really. Our guide said they don't like bananas, because "they prefer cookies and chips". Sad. This is the only reason we rated this tour badly... but its very interesting to know there are 365 islands, made by one single and huge volcanic eruption, and the history of the fort is pretty interesting. We payed US$19 each that included a free beer (or soda).

For a fabulous experience while in Granada , Make sure to take a boat trip on Las Isletas. You will see egrets , pelicans , and even monkeys on "Monkey Island". Our guide , Larry , showed us numerous islands with beautiful homes on them. This is truly a unique experience and you get a small sense of the size of Lake Nicaragua. Hire a boat for 450-750 cordobas , depending on the number of people. Our guide , 'Larry" was very informative. Las Isletas is definitely one of my favorites in Granada. We have done this several times and I loved each one!

Our cruise to las Isletas on Lake Nicaragua was part of a tour to the attractions of Granada, a lovely colonial city on the lakeshore. So many things packed into the hour that it's hard to remember them all! The isletas are small, most of them owner by individuals, from ordinary working folks plying the boat trade, to millionaires from all over the world. We saw 3 types of monkeys (capuchin/cara blanca, howler and spider) - one came right up on the rocks near us looking for food - snowy egrets, a tiger heron, kingfishers, cormorants, and many other birds - and all the time Erick, our completely bilingual guide, answered all our questions about the history of the place, and how things are now.After the tour in the "lancha" we had a delicious lunch in Moments Cafe, a lovely garden restaurant, where one could check out all kinds of artesanias offered by charitable organizations aiding local impoverished families. A tour of the San Francisco Convent, one of the historic colonal buildings, followed this, and we drove about a while to take in the sights of the city.What made this convenient for us is that we were staying in Managua, an hour's drive away - our guide came to the hotel to pick us up, and dropped us off right there in the afternoon after our trip. And Granada has an interesting history of destruction and rebuilding, which he recounted to us on our drive. We were very impressed by the services Viator offers (we took a tour to Masaya with the same guide another day), and we would DEFINITELY use them again - highly recommended! In 2 days we saw so much!!