What's on in San Juan del Sur (SJDS), Nicaragua through the year

Busy — Christmas and New Year crowds, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Arribadas at La Flor (1 Jul – 31 Jan), Papagayo offshore winds (1 Dec – 15 Apr (usually)), Christmas and New Year crowds (20 Dec – 2 Jan (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Papagayo offshore winds (1 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Holy Week is when Nicaragua goes to the coast, and this bay is the closest beach town to Managua and the Costa Rican border alike. Rooms triple, the road in backs up, and La Flor gets its one big domestic week. Source ↗

Still on: Papagayo offshore winds (1 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa

• Season

  Southern swell season

  1 Apr – 31 Oct · usuallySurf season

  The consistent swell on this coast arrives with the southern hemisphere winter, so the best surf months are also the wet ones at Maderas and Remanso. The offshore wind that shapes it blows hardest in the dry season instead. Source ↗

Still on: Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr), Papagayo offshore winds (1 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Southern swell season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Southern swell season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Arribadas at La Flor

  1 Jul – 31 JanTurtle nestingBook early

  Olive ridleys come ashore at the La Flor refuge, twenty kilometres south, in mass arribadas that run about six days each and land between July and January. Rangers control access; September and October are the heaviest. Source ↗

Still on: Southern swell season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Southern swell season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Arribadas at La Flor (1 Jul – 31 Jan)

Busy — Fiestas Patrias, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Fiestas Patrias

  14–15 SepNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  14 and 15 September are public holidays: school marching bands parade in every town, offices and banks close, and domestic travellers head for the lakes and the coast. Source ↗

Still on: Southern swell season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Arribadas at La Flor (1 Jul – 31 Jan)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Southern swell season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Arribadas at La Flor (1 Jul – 31 Jan)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Arribadas at La Flor (1 Jul – 31 Jan)

Peak crowds — La Griteria, Christmas and New Year crowds

• Season

  Papagayo offshore winds

  1 Dec – 15 Apr · usuallyWind season

  Wind funnelling across Lake Nicaragua blows hard offshore through the dry season, grooming the waves into clean, hollow shapes. The same wind cools the water, makes boat trips bumpy and can blow sand along the beach all afternoon. Source ↗

• Festival

  La Griteria

  7–8 DecReligious feastCrowded

  Nicaragua's night of the Immaculate Conception: households build altars to the Virgin and hand out sweets to anyone who shouts the ritual question at the door. Firecrackers go on well past midnight around the bay. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year crowds

  20 Dec – 2 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  After Semana Santa the busiest weeks of the year, when Nicaraguan families and returning expats fill the town. Book rooms ahead; the rest of the year a walk-in usually works. Source ↗

Still on: Arribadas at La Flor (1 Jul – 31 Jan)