Managua is a gateway more than a destination. Flights land at Augusto C. Sandino international airport, and most travellers from Quebec head west to the Pacific coast without spending a night in the city.
Montelimar, the real destination
Montelimar beach runs three kilometres of pale sand in the department of Managua, facing the Pacific. A single large resort occupies it. The land belonged to the Somoza family, and the family residence now houses the hotel casino, which gives the place a depth you rarely find in a resort built from scratch.
The sea is the Pacific: cooler than the Caribbean, stronger, with a steady swell that surfers like and that calls for care with young children. The sand is darker. The sun sets straight ahead, into the water, every evening.
The city, if you stay
Managua was flattened by an earthquake in 1972 and rebuilt without a real downtown. You move from district to district rather than street to street. The shore of Lake Xolotlan, the old cathedral left in ruins and the Roberto Huembes market fill half a day, no more.
The city mainly serves as a springboard to the volcanoes: Masaya, whose smoking crater you can drive up to, sits less than an hour away. Granada, the colonial town on Lake Nicaragua, is a little over an hour.
When to go
December to April, during the dry season. The rains return from May to November, peaking in October, and Pacific hurricane season runs from mid-May to the end of November.
Before you book
Passport valid at least six months beyond your planned departure from the country, no visa for a stay under ninety days. Before booking, read the Government of Canada advice on travel.gc.ca and see the detail on our country page.
To compare with other Central American Pacific beaches, see El Salvador and Costa Rica. Every sun destination sits in the All-inclusive vacations section.
