Nicaragua is north of Costa Rica, in the heart of Central America. It’s a rich terrain of lakes, volcanoes, and pristine beaches. Nicaragua’s popularity has steadily increased since the late 1990’s, attracting tourists and surfers to its uncrowded breaks and consistently good surf.
Nicaragua is often, maybe too often, put into head to head competition with Costa Rica. Nicaragua may not compare in terms of wave size and quality, but it can surely stand on its own as an amazing surf destination. There are hundreds of miles of beautiful coastline with mostly beach and reef breaks. Popoyo, a long powerful reef break, is the spot that put Nicaragua on the map. Other popular, easily accessible spots are, Playa Madera, Astillero, and Playa Hermosa. A downside to the lack of development is that there are a lot of breaks that are only accessible by boat or by 4x4 vehicle.
The Nicaraguan coast faces southwest and gets hit straight on by incoming south to southwest swells and South Pacific storms. Surf is best March to November, which is the rainy season. Another unique feature that helps the surf is the consistent offshore winds. Wind from the Caribbean Sea sweeps over Lake Managua out to the southwest coast into the Pacific virtually every day. Sometimes it blows too hard, but in Nicaragua, there will be surfable waves, every day guaranteed.