Comparing San Juan del Sur vs Northern Beaches of Nicaragua 🇳🇮

So many people come to Nicaragua thinking that San Juan del Sur (aka SJDS) is their only beach option. But this is just one beach of many and very different than the more common options in Nicaragua. Poneloya, Las Peñitas, Gigante, Transito, Salinas Grandes, Corinto and on and on are options all over the country.
#nicaragua #sanjuandelsur #beach #playa #beaches #sanjuandelsurnicaragua #travel
11 November 2022
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🇳🇮

[@farshadsh3454]

Dude cut it short!!! First 5 min has nothing to do with the title!

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

It's a vlog.

[@Spiritualtalkspodcast]

Yeah, I told him the same thing I have a KZbin channel people don’t like this it slows down the energy of the video

[@dantpeters8027]

Although I like the titles, you se to knowledgeable but I find you ramble on and make watching your videos unbearable. Economy of words is your friend

[@rona8663]

Another great and interesting video. This video spoke to me completely and I’m so glad you opened my eyes to the many good options outside San Juan del Sur. Keep up the great advise and I can personally attest to the great job you do in helping people avoid overpaying for real estate and virtually everything else in Nica.

[@bernardsebranek1963]

I was hoping to hear your opinion on the nearly 30 beaches surrounding San Juan del Sur..... I've been to all of them, each more than once. La Flor, Coco, Marsella, Majagual are my favorites. Beach in the city of San Juan del Sur, don't like. Obviously everything is relative. We all have different things we look for when moving anywhere new. Myself, I would never live in a large city in Nicaragua. Leon, Managua, Granada, Masaya would not be for me. The Pacific beaches in the south are by far the best beaches in Nicaragua.

[@giovanniugarte2949]

We appreciate your effort to show Nicaragua from al possible angles, but mostly because it is not aimed mainly as a source of income. Nicaragua welcomes you. FSLN

[@arislopes1924]

Just like you said both beach regions are very different both culturally and geographically, with the Emerald coast in Rivas being the spitting imagine of Costa Rica Guanacaste Area with tourists and all. This area of Central American has a unique geography and is different from all other coastal regions in Central America because it’s on the lake Nicaragua basin. The northern beaches have less tourist and are less rugged and more straight with not a lot of bays, coves & rock formations like the south. Some also have dark colored volcanic sand, these beaches are really similar to the pacific beaches you find in El Salvador & Guatemala and all the way up to Mexico. You can actually see the Divide where these 2 coastal areas split in Carazo as the terrain begins to get hilly and the coast gets rocky as you get closer to the Rivas isthmus.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

great description. yes those black sand beaches up north are my favorite.

[@scottanderson968]

Hey Scott Thanks for the videos. I am a surfer who is going to retire in Nicaragua most likely. I don’t want to have to live in sjds but I want to be at the best surf areas around popoyo. What is your recommendation for a place away from sjds but in the surfing Mecca?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

SJDS isn't in the main surf area. The surf "meccas" are Popoyo and Transito. SJDS doesn't even have surf at all, lol. It's a bay.

[@lisag.2902]

would have been better if you showed us pictures of each city instead of standing there and just talking about each city. hard to know anything

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

I know, I'm working on building up footage of things to use.

[@drock3133]

Is there a way I can get in touch with you? My wife and I and our daughter our moving down there the end of October this year. We are looking between Leon and las Peñitas.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

thats a very small area to look in! sure. email me. the email is in the show description. if youtube lets me put it, its [e-mail]. that's the name of my podcast. :)

[@robertsteinberger5667]

i would like to know more about the beaches north of poneloya

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

For sure, I really want to get up to them and do a tour. I've been to nearly all but it would be great to go back and film extensively for sure. And check out restaurants and stuff.

[@jeffsea6490]

Thanks for sharing valuable content Scott 👍

[@spaceexploration4169]

I like the beaches where not to many people.

[@markminister2599]

Great podcast. Is there a Spanish school North of Pie de Gigante ? Has the new road next to the beach destroyed the beach towns?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

The new road has gone like.... half a mile so far. lol. It's many years away from passing by any of the beaches. No one is connected by it yet. We won't know its impacts for a decade.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Just north of Gigante? Like, within walking distance? What exact area are you looking for?

[@SPFhealthy]

I usually tell people San Juan del Sur is a vacation destination and everything else in this country is Nicaragua. haha

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

I call the effect "the Two Nicaraguas" kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJycgq17r9KUe5I

[@jillianfreyman6325]

That was excellent! Thanks for that. My mind is made up. SJDS is not for me. I appreciate your help.

[@Rainlover1984]

Is there one place in Nicaragua that has evenly cool temperatures and gets a lot of rain? My number one reason for relocating is because of weather extremes in the USA. What one place in Nicaragua gives me both of the above mentioned, if any? Warm, wet but not extreme heat or extreme cold...🥶

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Basically.... no. Jinotega is the closed that you can get in a small city. Matagalpa the closest in a large one. They are both way cooler and rainier than down here, but "cool and rainy" they are not. Even, cool, rainy weather - which is my favourite too - is Guatemala.

[@Rainlover1984]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlog thanks Scott. I have been looking for a place to retire with my wife and four children within the next 2 to 3 years. It's looking more like Panama Costa Rica and now possibly Guatemala. lol thanks!!

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

@Rainlover1984 CR is nice but outrageously expensive. Panama i lived in and is the other super hot country. Guatemala, Salvador and Honduras are the only ones really offering many options with your weather desires and most of their stuff like that is in Guatemala.

[@Rainlover1984]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlog we are from Northwest Arkansas and the weather extremes are really bad. Our temperatures last week got into around -20. Too damn cold! I love the warm rain and the mountains but I don't want to be so isolated that my children between the ages of two years old and 12 years old will get no education and be overly isolated. Trying to locate the balance. U r soooooo help Scott!!

[@1971Maximous]

Huh To much dancing Scott. 🎉

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

No such thing!!

[@bpw3465]

Thanks for the post. I am really looking forward to your new service offerings. If I can afford the help, I will be a client early 2023😃

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

We are working on putting together rates that make sense. It's actually a rather costly service to offer because we need a mix of expat and local resources, have to be able to do things in English, have to have locals that pass as locals, have locals on salary to handle it (if they are unemployed that poses other problems), and it takes many times the work to set it all up than the time to do things per person. There's a reason why this isn't generally offered, it's hard to do and the real estate agents have all kinds of ways to make money when you don't see it happening and you pay months or years later, so they have the advantage of seeming cheap and being very hard to figure out where they made their money (generally from increasing the monthly rent rates.) We're working on a range of service ideas, but the most basic is a simple day rate of hunting for houses, apartments and so forth. Basically $100/day plus any travel or necessary expenses to do research. For people looking to rent, one to two days would normally be plenty. Get a few options with pictures and so forth, real prices, and then have someone negotiate the final deal locally. More extensive research packages that could include giving tours and so forth (like around the country, exploring different cities) would be an offering in the future.

[@MrRyan83]

Hi Scott, we will buy buying and developing in Remanso. Checking if you have experience in construction to be able to check build quality/progress checks?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

I do not, I'm afraid. I'm not a construction kind of guy. IT, computers, software... that's my jam. Physical construction? I'm useless.

[@abidnessman]

Do you wear mostly cotton or blend tees when out?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Blends, But not intentionally. I don't look at all and just wear whatever I find.

[@GinaFonseca-bd8jz]

Incredible insight! Wow. Thank you.

[@rolandodiaz6992]

There is a strong movement to change the laws of Nicaragua about Immigration, it is to become like Singapore.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Oh gosh I hope not :( That would be a disaster.

[@BillBlyleven]

Awww Poor Pochomil - Always left out of the mix - I actually love Pochomil/Masachapa but it is a bit too rustic for most (Read in - drownings, drunks, free-roaming Pigs, cows and chickens on the beach and in the town, and Bar fights spilling out the beach :-) You do mention "on the beach" a few times but I don't think you have mentioned the Coastal ownership Laws and the 5km from the border law. - Maybe a future episode? Many have been duped into buying land that they can build on or even worse are not even technically allowed to own.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Pochomil is actually where we bought our first spot that fell through (or they graciously let us escape.)

[@yositlsilva5101]

Jesus! is not that bad, I've been there many times and I did not see what you describe. Actually Pochomil is the favorite Nicas beach. The escuela/hotel food is amazing.

[@energyparticle]

If you have young children, the best option seems like San Juan Del Sur because of the day school?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

How does it compare to the other schools around the country? The day school in Sutiava has a great reputation and I know people are very happy with it. Just as an example.

[@energyparticle]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlog thank you. Will look into it.

[@energyparticle]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlog are you referring to St Augustine? Thank you

[@mixtereE]

that was quite a mouthful. Some helpful tips in there

[@VagabondJohnBowler]

Scott, I have listened to your many disclaimers on SJDS. I will be arriving in Nicaragua in a couple of weeks and plan on staying BRIEFLY in SJDS but will shortly be in the market for a rental (house or apt) in a beach NEAR SJDS but not in the immediate tourist zone. I speak limited Spanish but enough that I can shop, communicate with tuk-tuk drivers, and order comida. Can you recommend a local beach area with sufficient shopping and dining options with affordable housing options($600 p/mo aprox). Can you suggest a local to look in or are these numbers unrealistic? I plan to stay aprox 3 - 4- mo's.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

No beach in the SJDS zone has shopping/dining options except for SJDS. These beaches are tiny and everything in that zone relies on SJDS. Your price isn't a problem, but wanting something with resources in a resource free zone is the issue. Even Las Peñitas, the second busiest beach in the country we think, has food but not shopping options. SJDS has its negatives, for sure, but being able to do a variety of things right in town is its benefit. It's SO much larger than the next largest beach location.

[@MrEngineerCO]

Impressive summary of what each beach area offers!

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Many thanks!

[@JeriGoble]

I’ve read quite a few comments other places about rough beaches and strong undercurrents around Poneloya and las Peñitas. That it’s better for surfers bc of the bigger waves. Do you know what beaches are better for swimming? More calm waters?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

San Juan del Sur is the only significant bay in Nicaragua. The Pacific is rough and the Nicaragua / Costa Rica / El Salvador waterfront is a surfing zone because it's wild open ocean. Open ocean isn't really good for swimming anywhere. You can do it, of course, and people do all over, but the entire coast even up in California, you only get good swimming in coves or other protected areas.

[@cortacana1556]

Montelimar, week days are better and more calm. Poneloya, Marsella beach, Coco Beach , Playa Hermosa, Masachapa.

[@allisonbradley5603]

Good day! I'm coming to Nicaragua from BC Canada for a few months mid-January. This video really speaks to me. My question is do all these areas speak basic English? I'm learning Spanish but I'm not very good yet. 😂

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

I've not recorded the response yet but I have many videos already edited and scheduled. This is in my notebook to have answered on the video that will be dated October 29th. So be sure to subscribe and watch for that in a few days ;)

[@linda07030]

Hey all! Can anyone help me with the spelling of the places he mentioned at 23:15....planning to rent an airbnb 2nights at of those locations.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

I mention... Leon, Granada, Managua, Matagalpa, Chinandega, Esteli, Jinotega. Each is a major city AND a regional capital of its own namesake departmento. So if you look at a map of departmentos of Nicaragua, you'll see the names. Then in each departmento that I list, its largest city and capital will be the same name as the departmento (in the cases of the ones that I named.). Also add Masaya to the list, but I didn't mention it in the video.

[@patrickknox1036]

A cursory look at AirBnB’s in Leon vs. San Juan del Sur, the prices seem to be pretty much equal. What is the best way for foreigners to find the cheapest weekly rentals (they seem fairly high priced in both places; roughly 30-40 USD per night)

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

That doesn't surprise me. Leon is not a tourist city so AirBnBs here are generally high end luxury accommodations, not something for budget travelers.

[@markminister2599]

I am familiar with San Juan Del Sur and Pie De Gigante. Are there a lot of beautiful beach towns say an hour north of Pie Gigante. Any Spanish schools in that part of the country.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

North of Gigante is Popoyo. Then the big gap because of the reserve. There is really just that one beach. Then it is hours to get to the Carazo beaches, which are the next beaches where people can be. Not very touristy, but you'll find Spanish schools all over the country. The zone you are talking about, SJDS and Gigante is the "empty zone" with very few people. Rivas is the empty south. Once you get north of that, you get to populated Nicaragua with lots of people. So schools are resources are abundant. But it isn't very touristy. Up here in Leon, the big cities have seen many schools close because there are no students. But there are schools to learn Spanish pretty much everywhere. I'd say far, far more up north than down south, just because nearly the entire population, something like 90%+ live north of Gigante.

[@markminister2599]

Great information. Thank you.

[@crruan1142]

So, basically, SJ del S is a GA plantation sold as a FL retirement enclave with everything, including the garish flamingos and overpriced lifestyle, that comes rolled over, right⁉️ I'm sure William Walker had exactly this place in mind as the future Capital of his neverland 🤣😅

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

That's a very specific, but accurate, cultural reference, lol.

[@robinhooper7702]

I'm subbed in an R&D kind of way. I have one question and only one. Where/what region does kelp grow? re: Mother natures' fuel we have not yet realized...

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Not in the tropics. Nicaragua is about as far from where you can grow kelp (while still having ocean water) as you can get. Kelp won't grow where it is this warm.

[@ryanmueller4419]

Are affordable property prices still a possibility in Guasacate or Astillero, considering their cultural proximity to SJDS? Despite being less developed, online listings, albeit cautioned against, still reflect prices comparable to those in the United States for land and houses. What's your take on this?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Given that SJDS is still super cheap and totally obliterated by the lack of tourism, being close to it won't really raise prices. There's nowhere in Nicaragua with high prices, SJDS is no exception. SJDS is the hardest hit community in the country from drop in tourism. As always the online prices are entirely fabricated. They, in no way, reflect anything of actual prices. If you look online, you'd believe that people were actually buying property here. That is not the case.

[@ryanmueller4419]

It's concerning that even local for sale signs, even outside of nearby enclaves like Iguana and Rancho Santana, reflect higher "gringo" prices. What factors do you think contribute to this trend, especially in areas directly impacted by the drop in tourism?

[@yositlsilva5101]

For Nicaraguan people SJDS water is too cold. There are so many other beaches with warmer water, that we prefer over SJ.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Right? It gets that odd current and it is so much colder than you'd guess!

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Personally I don't swim so I like the calm bay and sunset views and like that is slightly cools the air. But if you are going into the water, it's surprisingly cold.

[@divasamai2251]

What was the city in the North that has the perfect temperature so there is no AC?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Jinotega is the coolest. Matagalpa and Esteli are pretty good too.

[@gigrockband]

You’re intelligent and articulate. Terrific video. Thx.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Wow, thank you!

[@nywaves]

Are there sex workers in San Juan del sur ?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Yes, and visibly so. It is the only place I know of in the country where you actually have people "walking the street" and visible in public. It's an expat zone and they provide what expats tends to expect. While they "exist" in the rest of the country, it is totally hidden and secret and not at all visible in public. Very different than how it is thought of in North America or Asia.

[@nywaves]

Thanks to much for the answer I am looking for a place and less expensive than going to Jaco I will try this out

[@Tommsi89]

Thats an awesome video. Good information and gives a nice perspective. 🍻

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

You are welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@CandyLV72]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlogI’d love to see an update on this topic, especially considering real estate and expat living

[@carsandtechtime]

Thank you so much for this. Very informative. Planning on taking my family to Nicaragua and this really put things into perspective.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Glad it was helpful! Are you coming for vacation or considering something bigger?

[@carsandtechtime]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Possibly something bigger. If you have a business email, shoot it on over.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

KZbin doesn't let me post that but it is info at relocate nicaragua dot com. If that doesn't come through, use my ZiffedTraveler instagram.

[@donaldedmondson7939]

Lots of beautiful properties in Nicaragua. However, no one talks about the growing elephant in the room. Nicaragua is going the way of Cuba and Venezuela. Buying a property is easy and cheap. Keeping the property is another thing. I’m now in the fifth year of a lawsuit to restore my ownership of a family property that was stolen by a Nicaraguan using a forged power of attorney. The court system is slow or unresponsive and subject to arbitrary decisions. Think long and hard before buying real estate in Nicaragua. Caveat emptor!

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

You say that as if it isn't a constant topic of conversation. And we talk about how the same things happen in the US, but in one case everyone ignores it and in the other everyone talks about it. What municipality was your property stolen in? Property laws are super tight here, it's one of the reasons we recommend property here rather than in the US or Canada where you never really have rights to the land and the government can take it at any time (and does.) And unlike Nicaragua, the laws are fungible in the US so even the concept of "having rights" isn't a thing. Get me some info, if someone stole land, getting them incarcerated should be an easy thing. I know people who stole things like that, and the people who stole it had a lot of clout and connections... and are still sitting in a jail cell. The law is the law here, it's not like the US. But you can't try to use the law like an American, you have to know the NIca system and that can be really convoluted. But arbitrary is exactly what it should not be. It's super strict. That's what makes it so much better to invest here than in the US.

[@RatTerminator]

U n

[@RatTerminator]

U need a shave!!

[@Spiritualtalkspodcast]

As a fellow KZbinr, bro, you can’t DRAG out five minutes TALKING ABOUT NON-TOPIC CONVERSATION 👀🤷🏽‍♂️ love the quality of the recording device

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Challenge accepted! Oh wait, is that not how you meant that? ;)

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

This episode was shot on an Olympus EM-1 MK2.

[@lanceandshelleypeters-en465]

We came to Nicaragua a few years ago, and although, along with Granada and the Corn Islands, we did briefly visit and enjoy SJDS, we liked other areas much better. Ometepe was our favourite. How does it fit in to the culture and price range, in your opinion. We think we’d most enjoy Jinotega, Matagalpa, Estelí áreas. Although we would miss being nearer to the beach, the temperatures and climate would suit better. The reason we didn’t go north was our poor Spanish abilities. Unfortunately, we haven’t taken enough time to improve that much YET. We hope to come back for longer term in a couple of years. Will we be ok there with less than fluent Spanish?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Ometepe is weird in that it is very isolated, small, and a logistics challenge. Ometepe is generally on the expensive side, but not like SJDS, because there's no market competition and all goods have to be imported on the ferry. Ometepe has a lot of foreigners taking over and that makes it start to lean heaving towards being an extension of SJDS. That's only happening a little right now, but the risk of it is high. I lived here a long time and was never fluent in Spanish. I'm highly functional in Spanish now, but nowhere near fluent and I wouldn't think twice of moving to a remote village high in the mountains alone. I've lived all over the world including places where I speak the language some (Spain, Italy) and ones where I don't speak a thing (Romania) and those where I can't even read the language (Greece, Ukraine) and never had a problem. There are huge advantages to speaking a language for getting more immersed and having more opportunities to do things. But don't let it hold you back. It's not the barrier it feels like and you will learn quickly once you deal with it all day, every day.

[@Sammiejomitchell]

I live north of Jinotega on the lake. It’s beautiful here, but in 4 years I have not met one person that speaks English. I find it difficult. I’ve been trying to learn Spanish for 10 years and still most people don’t bother to try to understand me. I’ve made no new friends, all because of the language barrier.

[@cortacana1556]

@@Sammiejomitchell Lo siento compadre.

[@BrianMoody-ue7yj]

Scott do you have an email address ?

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Yes, but you can't put email addresses on KZbin. They don't appear, they search for them and filter them out. Maybe this will work, you can email me at my name which is obviously scott at relocate nicaragua dot com.