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Rivas Department

The department of Rivas is made up of the following municipalities, Belén, Buenos Aires, Cárdenas, San Juan del Sur, San Jorge, Tola, Potosí, on the island of Ometepe, Altagracia and Moyogalpa, and its departmental head, the city of Rivas.

Rivas is the most Touristic department  in Nicaragua:

The department of Rivas offers spectacular destinations, paradisiacal beaches, the impressive island of Ometepe, unspoiled nature and unrepeatable experiences.

Rivas has the virtue of offering its visitors the possibility of choosing between two extremes, offers and services accessible to all pockets, suitable for backpackers and adventurers, and services of high standing that offer luxury and high quality.

Tourism in Rivas 

Rivas can also be adventure, extreme sports, nightlife to the maximum, exchange with tourists from all over the world ... or else, relax, tranquility, get lost on a lonely beach, contact with nature and exchange with rural people Of the area to know and approach their daily life. Rivas is, everything that you decide that it is.

Rivas is bordering to Costa Rica

The department of Rivas is the most southerly of the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua, bordering Costa Rica and one of the departments most visited by tourists, both domestic and foreign. In fact, it owns the post of Peñas Blancas, the most traveled border point in the country.

If you visit the department of Rivas, there are undoubtedly some destinations that you can not miss, the city of Rivas, the small municipality of San Jorge, if you travel to Isla de Ometepe, picturesque and multicultural San Juan del Sur, Or Tola with its stunning beaches.

Surfing in Rivas Department

Rivas has become a key location for the practice of surfing in the country where true lovers of this sport spend long stays.

The same beaches are, during specific times of the year, a spawning place for thousands of turtles that cross the Pacific Ocean to reach them. Natural spectacle without equal.

Rivas city.

As if you were traveling in time, the city of Rivas opens up to you with its imperfect streets, full of people, horse-drawn carriages, fruit stalls, taxi-bikes, species, street vendors, beggars, noise ... heat! Have you ever imagined what life would be like in a medieval city? Take a stroll around the Rivas market and its most commercial area around the bus station.

This city, of about 30,000 inhabitants, is the capital of the department and as such acts as a commercial and administrative center. This condition gives dynamism and colorfulness, but at the same time bustle and condensation.

Apart from its central park Evaristo Carazo, the church of San Pedro, with dimensions of cathedral, of century XIX and its Museum of Anthropology, Rivas does not offer monuments of great importance. You can highlight some mansions, belonging to former presidents of the country. As a curiosity, we will note that this city saw the birth of nine presidents of the Republic.

In the city there are plenty of restaurants, dining rooms and some lodges where you can sleep at good prices. It is a good place to rest and use as a static base to visit the surroundings.

 Telephone numbers of interest in Rivas 

• Mayor's Office: 2563-3418
• Red Cross: 2563-3415
• Hospital: 2563-3615
• National Police: 2563-3311
• Firefighters: 2563-3732

HOW TO GET RIVAS?

Getting to the city of Rivas, located 109 km south of Managua, is very easy. It can be done from the north, by the highway that goes from Managua in direction South and that arrives until Costa Rica, or from the South by the same road and coming from the neighboring country.

It can also be reached by boat from the island of Ometepe and entering the port of San Jorge.

If you wish to arrive by bus from Managua, you should take it from the bus stop of the Roberto Huembes market.

San Jorge

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Although this population played an important role in the history of Nicaragua, today it is a place of passage for tourists and visitors coming and going from Ometepe.

The jetty is the busiest place in the municipality and from there boats and ferries constantly leave for the island of Ometepe, landing in the port of Moyogalpa, a mere 40 minutes away.

Note: If you wish to board a vehicle to Ometepe, the site must be reserved on the boat in advance and can not be made from another boat point in the country.

On the way to the pier of the ferry you pass by the so-called "Cross of Spain".

A discrete monument in the shape of a half-arch that is half covered by trees and is difficult to see, but is mentioned because it recalls an important fact: in 1522, at this point met the Spanish conquistador, Gil Gonzalez Dávila and the chief Nicarao , Which probably gave the country its name. 

As a result of this encounter, more than a thousand indigenous warriors were converted to Catholicism. This event formally constitutes the first act of occupation of Spain in Nicaragua. A few meters