May 24, 2022
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I guarantee you this is the best way to get from El Salvador to Nicaragua. This is the way I took and after speaking with many people who took the bus or a series of buses, they all wished they’d known about the boat option.
There’s no land border between El Salvador and Nicaragua – you have to cross through Honduras. Central American border crossings aren’t always super speedy so the less of them the better. Especially with pandemic restrictions, if you can avoid crossing a border, you’ll save yourself some trouble.
The boat is a small-scale operation and usually only runs once a week on Fridays. It has space for maybe 15-20 people, but I imagine as word spreads about this option, he might add a 2nd run each week.
His name is Mario, and he is super helpful with organizing everything and responding to any questions you might have. I hope he doesn’t mind but here’s his number where he can be contacted via WhatsApp: +503 7282 4362. He’s the guy who organizes everything and drives the boat. I’m not sure if he speaks English or not. Best to know a bit of Spanish for communicating.
You have a few options with the boat service. The basic option is to take the boat from La Union, El Salvador to Potosí, Nicaragua. At the time I went it cost $50 and takes maybe 2.5 hours. It’s not hard to get yourself to La Union, there are buses that go there quite frequently from San Salvador and San Miguel. The boat leaves early in the morning so you’ll want to arrive the night before. I stayed at Hospedaje Santa Marta. Fine place for a night and reasonably priced. I don’t remember the exact cost but maybe $15 for a private room.
One thing to keep in mind is that you’re gonna want to bring cash. I don’t think there’s an ATM in Potosí and at the entry point you’ll have to pay $13 to enter Nicaragua. Chances are you’ll make your way to León from here, you’ll need a few bucks to pay for the two buses to get there. It’s not much, maybe $3-4 total.
To get to León, you’ll catch a bus first to Chinandega and then transfer to another one to León. People are very friendly. I don’t think I could adequately describe exactly where to catch the bus in Potosí so just ask a couple people where to find it and they’ll tell you where to wait. I think I had about 90 minutes to kill after crossing the border.
Alternatively, you could pay for a shuttle from Potosí to León for I believe an extra $20 or so if you want an easier, hassle-free ride with Mario’s connections in Nicaragua.
Mario also offers a shuttle service from El Tunco to La Union on the El Salvador side. Probably another $20 or so for that shuttle but contact Mario for the exact prices.
Borders in Central America can be tricky to navigate. Sometimes they wave you through, hardly looking at any of your papers, and sometimes they scrutinize every letter of your documents finding any excuse they can to deny you entry – like my nemesis David in Panama.
Entering Nicaragua by boat was perhaps the easiest time I’ve had crossing a border. There were maybe 8 of us on the boat, and none of us had any issues. The customs officials that stamped us out of El Salvador on an island about halfway through our journey asked us for a group picture. Odd behaviour from border guards but totally welcome.
The lads at the “port” of entry to Nicaragua were as gentle and kind as could be. I had nothing to worry about – I had all my ducks in a row. Another traveler though, had a few worries about getting into Nicaragua.
She had a fake Covid test and had overstayed her 90-day visa in the 4-country agreement (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua). The Covid test was a nonissue, the officials hardly looked at any of our tests. As for the overstay conundrum, the guards told her she had 5 days to get to Costa Rica, and then she could re-enter Nicaragua.
Not a bad deal. But wait, there’s more. About 20 minutes later as we were all hanging around waiting for them to stamp our passports, they came back to her with some more news.
“Hey, we are just giving you an extra 90 days, don’t worry about leaving,” the official told the nervous French backpacker with his nearly toothless smile.
I’ve spoken with people that did the land border crossing and I tell you; this would never happen there. First, her test would’ve been properly scrutinized, and they may have fined her for overstaying her welcome. The sea crossing is much more relaxed and easier to navigate.
The boat returns to El Salvador with a new group of travelers heading the other way, Seriously, if you’re trying to transit between El Salvador and Nicaragua, the boat with Mario is the way to go.
Safe travels!
If you have any questions or want to get more travel ideas, you can find me on Instagram.
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