Colonial San Martin is located in the village area named "San Martin" which is considered part of the general "Popoyo" area of the Emerald Coast, Tola, Nicaragua. On the main road we are 2km north of Guasacate and 7km south of Astillero.
The most common way to arrive is to fly into either the Managua or Costa Esmeralda ("Emerald Coast") airport and then drive here. You can rent a car or we can help you arrange a shuttle to pick you up and bring you to the area.
Colonial San Martin is located only 15km from the new Costa Esmeralda Airport, roughly 40 minute drive to Rivas and a 2 hour drive to Managua. The Costa Esmeralda airport currently has flights to and from Managua as well as San Jose & Liberia in Costa Rica.
Entry to Nicaragua
The citizens of most countries, including the US and Canada, do not need an advanced visa to enter the country. To be safe, it's a good idea to check visa requirements for your country before traveling.
Upon arrival at customs all tourists will be required to pay $10 USD to enter. If you don't have cash on hand, don't worry, you will be given a piece of paper (don't lose it!) and will have to pay the fee upon exit. All tourists are given a 90 day stay that can be extended for a small fee later.
Flying
Costa Esmeralda Airport
If flying from Costa Rica, it's recommended to fly into the Costa Esmeralda airport. It's roughly a 30 minute drive from the airport to the community. The airlines servicing this airport are:
- La Costeña - This airline flies from within Nicaragua. Technically you can fly from Managua to Costa Esmeralda if you wanted to avoid the short drive from Managua.
- Sansa - This airline flies from Costa Rica (San Jose and Liberia airports) into Nicaragua.
Managua
If flying from else where you're best bet is to fly directly into the Managua airport. It's roughly a 2 hour drive from the Managua airport to the community. All major airlines have regular flights in and out of Managua so it's best to search using your favorite tool or airline and book your travel there.
You can view the websites of both airports below:
Driving
Once in the country you can use Waze (recommended) or Google Maps to navigate. Just put in "Hotel Punta Teonoste" and you'll find your way here no problem. The community is roughly 1km before the resort Punta Teonoste so you will arrive at Colonial San Martin before the resort. You can't miss it.
Be aware though that those methods will bring you on the fastest route to the area, which usually means taking some bumpy back roads. The drive is doable with virtually any vehicle but if you're in a sedan, we'd recommend you take the route via Rivas as it's paved roads for the majority of the way and when the dirt road starts, it's mostly very well maintained. Also, if it's rainy season, it's recommended to take the route via Rivas as there can be some water crossings that may not be doable on the back roads.
So if looking to enter via Rivas, just search for "Rivas" in your navigation app and you can easily follow the signs from there to Tola, Popoyo, etc. Also just re-enter your final destination from Rivas (like mentioned above) and it will take you the paved road route.
Bus
For the more adventurous you can also take a bus (commonly referred to as chicken bus) to arrive in Popoyo. The steps vary depending on your starting point but the steps are essentially:
- Get to Rivas Station
- Get the Rivas to Popoyo Bus.
For very detailed information, click here.