Was our guide and we had a memorable trip. Loved the fact he seemed to have lots of time and was very good at spotting and hearing the birds. We saw 34 differnt birds in three hours in the evening.
Our Guide Enrique was excellent! He spoke little English, but his Spanish was careful, slow and easy for beginners to get the bulk of his information. The cruise was slow, we saw turtle hatchlings at the preserve, as well as countless birds and mammals. It was a great intro to the Manglares, a living breathing lung for the coast of this part of Nicaragua.
You can rent a kayak or hire a boat to go through the river. A little way down there is a turtle sanctuary that has a hatchery. On the other side is 22km of un touched beach, which seems like one of the last ones left on earth. If you're lucky you'll see a cayman croc!
I did a tour with a local fisherman in an old boat that looked like it was carved out of a tree. He just threw a motor on the back and took us to see the nature. I was a little bummed I didn't get to see a cayman, but I hear they are pretty popular here and I've spoken to several people who have done the tour and got to see them firsthand. There are many beautiful birds, interesting plants and trees and I even got to see a pretty cool Iguana on my trip.
Baby Turtles :) And Nicaragua's national bird is beautiful ! Frankie is a super cool guide and also speaks some english !
The staff of Hotelito Oasis organised for me a trip with a fisher men, chico, very traditional and fun wooden boat, the guy is very friendly and give good exlpication of the nature and fauna.
Along the ocean side of Juan Venado Island is one of the world's most unspoiled beaches. A great place for long solitary walks with just you, the surf and the pelicans.
We went to the tour with a guy who had a tour boat and he showed us on the map where we would go. He didn't speak english and we speak only a little spanish so we did not fully understand what he said, but it seemed good: we would see turtles, crocodiles etc. BUT the tour lasted for 1hour and they took us only to one place were there were babyturtles on basket on a beach. The beach would have been only approximatly 1km by foot and easily accessible. So they took 30dollars +8 dollars entry to the island from the terrible 1 hour tour, which we could have done by ourselves for free. Do not go!
The crew that took us was arranged by Hotel Olazul. The team was great. They are fisherman by trade but very knowledgeable about the species of trees and their uses and the wild life that lives there. This is more of a bird watchers heaven but you do manage to catch glimpses of Iguanas, turtles and if you are really lucky alligators. Make sure the quote you get includes the cost of the entrance to the reserve as well.
The creek was full of water early in the morning so we took a kayak out to see the birds which was quite successful. No caimans on the stretch of water we covered and most birds were at the hotel end. To see more you need to take a tour.