Planning a day trip or stay at Laguna de Apoyo? Our guide’s got you covered!

In the space where there was once a million tiny fires, there are now only gently ripples upon the water.

In Nicaragua, this land of volcanoes and lakes, it’s inevitable that there is a place where the two elements combined and evolved to create something remarkable. A deep lake within a caldera, borne of an explosion millennia ago, the shores of Laguna de Apoyo lead not to ash or rock, but to steep slopes covered in tropical trees and wildlife, a smattering of beach clubs and guesthouses, and a few rural communities.

Only a half-hour or so from the heat of Granada, the bustling colonial city, this is a volcano where you come to escape the heat, to cool down and plunge headfirst into the depths of a crater.

In this post, we’ve outlined why you absolutely need to visit Laguna de Apoyo when you’re in Nicaragua, alongside tips on how to make the most of your time at the stunning lake within a volcano. If trying to decide between a day trip from Granada or staying for a few days, we’ve also shared perspectives from our experience to help you decide, alongside a curated selection of the best accommodation picks on the crater shore.

For an overview on how to get to / from the lake independently or with a tour, read this routes post!

Laguna de Apoyo

// Largest crater lake in Nicaragua
// Fantastic day trip from Granada, but consider spending the night
// 6 kms diameter, 75 metres above sea level, 100 metres deep!
// Several ‘beach clubs’ offer day pass entry
// Can swim, kayak, hike, dive and SUP

Why You Should Visit Laguna de Apoyo

There are a handful of other crater lakes in Nicaragua, but Apoyo is by far the largest, with the best set up for travellers.

Firstly, it’s one of few volcanoes in the country where there’s no mandatory hiking involved to get in / out and, on top of its proximity to Granada and Masaya, it’s very accessible with roads down to the shores of the lake.

This is foremost a recreation and relaxation destination, with a variety of beach clubs dotted along the western rim offering decent accommodation, with restaurants & bars, deckchairs, hammocks, and complimentary access to kayaks, rubber rings, and floating wooden pontoons. You can swim freely in the lake, whilst there’s even the chance to go diving.

So, it’s best to think of this as somewhere to come for a day to chill out and drink a cold beer, be a little active in between topping up your tan, or stay for a few nights in a gorgeous quiet setting by the water. Some may argue that it's silly to come here if you're just going to the beaches further south (like San Juan Del Sur or Playa Maderas), but this is a totally different place to the salt and the surf on the coast.

Things to Do In Laguna de Apoyo

We’ve shared some of the best things to in Laguna Apoyo before, but most of you arrive for the day won’t be able to do several of them due to time constraints, preference, and the amount of ground to cover. However, if you’re going to stay at the lake a for a night or two, that definitely opens up scope for hiking, diving, and miradors.

Kayaking & SUP | Motorised vessels aren’t permitted on Laguna Apoyo, and kayaking in the traffic-free circular lake is wonderful. Most of the beach clubs offer single and double kayak, whilst some of the resorts have SUP boards. At 6.6kms in diameter, you won’t cover it all and the little waves can make it a bit more taxing on the tricep than you may expect, but it’s something not to be missed.

Hiking | If you arrive with public transport from Granada (find out the various ways to get to Laguna Apoyo in this post), you'll have a pleasant walk of 2 kms along a dusty, descending road into the crater. Alternatively, there’s this 14.2 km out-and-back trail from Diria (see the route on AllTrails), which you could just do one-way and take a bus/taxi out.

There are several other little walking trails into, within, and around the tropical forests of Laguna de Apoyo - like Sendero El Caballito from Catarina and - but your best source of information on them, their worthwhileness, and difficulty level will be your accommodation when you arrive.

Diving | A few weeks after we visited, we learned to dive in the cheapest place in the world to do it - Utila, Honduras - so didn’t do this. From what we’ve read, it isn’t renowned for aquatic life but rather the fact that diving in a crater lake is a pretty unique experience. Volcano Divers is the main company, and you can enquire via their Facebook page (they don’t have a website).

The shores of Laguna de Apoyo are also the surprising location of Freediving Nicaragua, the first freediving school in the country. A half-day introduction course costs $60 USD, with 2-4 day certification courses costing $220-360 USD.

Both companies also lead regular lake clean-up sessions.

Wildlife | Declared a nature reserve in 1991, with enhanced limits on construction introduced in 2010, the tropical dry forests on the crater slopes are home to an abundance of flora and fauna. On our walk down the dusty road to the water’s edge, we saw and heard a couple of howler monkeys, but didn’t scratch the surface.

Beyond your own walks, it may be worth contacting or supporting The Naturalism School, a non-profit in Apoyo promoting conservation education and environmental training to young locals, which also offers trekking tours and volunteer placements. It’s part of the non-profit GAIA which, alongside Estacion Biologica Hostel and Apoyo Spanish School, a lot of good works in the area, and staying or learning with them directly contributes to social projects, scientific research, and conservation works - find out more on their website.

Miradors | There’s a variety of viewpoints over the lake from the upper parts of the rim, but it’s difficult to reach more than one if you’re walking or depending on public transport.

Mirador de Catarina (maps) is the the most known and developed tourist bit of Apoyo, with shops, restaurants, vendors, benches, horseback riding, and access to a few trails.

The other is Mirador de Diria (maps), but you’ll appreciate a vista over the lake wherever you walk in and down from - those of you taking a taxi straight to the shore may want to ask your driver to stop off if you want a photo though.

Note that it’s often written that there are hot springs here but, as far as we’re aware, there aren’t (or they’re actually thermal parts in the lake itself) - do let us know in the comments if that’s wrong! The lake is however at a pleasant temperature year-round, and ideal for swimming.

Read Later | 13 Wonderful Things To Do in Granada

How Do Laguna de Apoyo Day Passes Work?

If you’re coming on a day trip from Granada, you have two options to enjoy the lake:

1 / Bring most of what you need and head to one of the free-to-acess areas along the shore (like El Boquete), accessible via the encircling dusty roads or lesser-obvious trails. You bring snacks or choose to eat lunch at the handful of local restaurants or beach clubs, but some may not allow entry if you’re not a guest or pay day-pass entry. Several sections of the shoreline are also private-access only.

2 / Go to one of the several beach clubs that offer day pass entries, including access to all their facilities and use of kayaks, deckchairs, pontoons etc. Food and drink is in addition to this, but a day pass is the best option if you want to have a chilled-out day of swimming, sunbathing, floating, and drinking without having to organise anything.

A third option is of course for people to just arrive to a viewpoint or a restaurant for lunch or a few hours before leaving again, but we think that’s a waste.

On both our visits to the lake (the first all the way back in 2014, the second earlier in 2022), we chose option number one, and bought a day pass - for Laguna Beach Club and Paradiso, respectively.

A day pass is $6-10 USD per person and you pay on arrival (no booking necessary). The cost increases on the weekends as do crowds, whilst a few places now offer free entry but you have to do a minimum spend at the bar/restaurant. All of the beach clubs are also the main accommodation providers on Laguna de Apoyo. Although there’s a similar experience available at each for day-pass entrants, some are more tired, expensive, family-friendly or backpacker-oriented than others, with the food/drink prices making a difference too. Some places also don’t include kayak rental for free.

We’ve shared further details, costs, and recommendations in the ‘Where To Stay’ section below, but we can happily recommend spending the day at Paradiso Hostel after our lovely experience. The entry price was listed as $7 each, but we were only asked for $5 each, and the food/drink wasn’t marked up to a terrible degree at all (far cheaper than at gringo hostels we stayed at elsewhere in Nicaragua).

Note that though the term ‘beach club’ is used, there are only little slivers or patches of beach at the clubs and around the shores of Laguna de Apoyo.

Should You Take a Day Trip or Stay Longer?

There are pros and cons whatever decision you make, and no right or wrong decision either.

The first visit, we had no regrets about just spending the day here but we really regretted not staying the night second time round because the day had been so perfect (we were also several sheets to the wind). We stretched it out for as long as possible to enjoy the sunset and the velvet ripples of the lake under the starlight (a highlight) before getting a taxi back to the city, but it would have been nice to simply grab some dinner there rather than head back.

A big pro of staying here, beyond the ability to do more of the hikes and viewpoints, is the fact you’ll also be able to enjoy the sunrise over the lake in the early morning, go out to kayak when it’s at its most serene, and enjoy breakfast in a dreamy setting.

In short, we wish we had stayed longer but it isn’t essential to have a great experience / memory of Laguna de Apoyo.

A few notes to help you decide:

+ If a $15 USD taxi back is out of the question, then you will have to plan your departure around the final afternoon bus (find out more in this post).

+ If it was a murky / overcast day, we’d have been far less inclined to stay overnight.

+ The standard of accommodation and the setting of Laguna de Apoyo makes it one of the more romantic destinations in Nicaragua, so we’d actually encourage any of you needing a bit of a reset after being on the road for a while to consider staying here for a night or two.

+ Granada is our favourite city in Nicaragua, but if that’s not your thing, you have the option of flipping it and basing yourself by the lake instead and going into the city on a day trip. Alternatively, have less time in Granada in order to give you the night here to chill out and enjoy the sunrise kayak.

+ If you decide on a Laguna de Apoyo day trip, we recommend arriving earlier in the day to make the most of it and grab yourself a good spot before day trippers and tours arrive from 10 am onward.

+ One final factor in your decision is the weekend and holiday season in Nicaragua - Apoyo is understandably a very popular spot for families, couples, and groups of friends to visit, and the crowds and atmosphere on the shore and on the water will be very different when it’s busy. We recommend trying to get your visit in on a weekday, rather than a Saturday (and we’d highly avoid visiting during Semana Santa).

Read Later | Five Fantastic Day Trips From Granada

Where To Stay in Laguna de Apoyo & Day Pass Clubs

There really is an abundance of accommodation options in Laguna De Apoyo, especially in comparison to our first visit, many of which offer day passes for visitors that just want to use the facilities.

For the purpose of this section, we’ve separated out hotels & hostels that allow day passes from accommodations that keep their beaches and facilities private for their guests. This allows you to quickly decide where you may like to pass a few hours, but offers up alternatives if you’d prefer to spend the night somewhere quieter, and perhaps a little more exclusive.

This may be especially relevant if visiting on the weekend or during public holidays when sheer numbers of day trippers may become a tad overwhelming.

Accommodation with Day Passes Available

Paradiso Hostel | Probably the most popular spot in town for backpackers, Paradiso has an excellent lakeside location, decent-sized beach, large dorms, great staff and a good restaurant. They also do Spanish lessons if you wanted to hang around a while longer. We had a great day here in 2022!

Day passes at $5-7 USD per person.

For overnight reservations, check availability and prices on Booking.com or Hostelworld.

Laguna Beach Club | A popular choice for day trippers (this is where we hung out back in 2014), lakeside Laguna Beach Club has cabana style rooms, a guest kitchen, on-site restaurant and bar, and free use of SUP/kayaks.

Day passes cost $6.90 per person. Click here to check overnight availability and prices.

Hotel SelvAzul | Open-air cabanas, pool overlooking the lake and excellent breakfast, Hotel SelvAzul is an excellent choice for a couple. No kitchen, but a really good quality restaurant and all rooms come with a mountain-view balcony.

Day passes available. Click here to check overnight availability and prices.

Casa Marimba | This boutique-style lakeside lodge was highly recommended to us by a friend. Large, comfortable rooms - some with terraces. Reviews are great, especially concerning the food.

Day passes available. Click here to check overnight availability and prices.

Private Accommodations

Casa del las Aves | A rustic, artisan eco-lodge perched on the shores of the lake and surrounded by tropical gardens. Gorgeous rooms, yoga spaces, hammocks and restaurant offering organic vegan and vegetarian meals. They have several types of room available (this one is probably our favourite), and you can see all listings here.

Pacaya Lodge | If you’re looking for a slightly more upmarket, hotel-like experience (and hoping to avoid crowds of backpackers), Pacaya Lodge is for you! Rooms are beautiful, it has a modern swimming pool area and excellent facilities. Find out more here.

Finca Malinche | Designed and built by an award-winning architect, the five casas of Finca Malinche are weaved into the volcanic rock and tropical forest at the edge of Laguna De Apoyo. The self-contained accommodations are quirky and cute, bu the finca also offers a fantastic communal area with kitchen, landscaped pool, beach access etc. This place is really special! Find out more here.

Casa Bella | A collection of gorgeous little one-bedroom casitas on the shore of the lake. Decor is stylish but quirky, with artisan pieces and original art on the walls. The communal areas are just as fabulous as the casitas, it has private beach access and guests speak very highly of the owner, Bella. Find out more here.

If you’re looking to rent a lakeside house for a large family or group of friends, this waterfront beach home and casa familiar have great reviews.

Another option is to stay in one of the towns at the top of the volcano, like Catarina or Daria, but that’s likely not the best way to experience being at the lake.

Note that The Monkey Hut used to a popular place for backpackers to head (indeed, a number of Granada’s hostels worked directly with them), however the reviews show it went downhill, and appears to have been closed for some time. We’ll keep an eye on it, and update accordingly.

What To Bring To Laguna de Apoyo

For a day trip, just pack suncream, swim stuff, a towel, and anything you'd bring for a normal beach day.

If heading out for an overnight stay from Granada, then we recommend condensing what you need into a small daypack, and leaving your big backpacks in secure storage at your accommodation.

The walk along the road to and from the bus drop-off is fine in flip-flops or sandals, but wear appropriate footwear if planning on walking trails.

There are no ATMs here, so bring plenty cash for your daypass entry, bar tab, and transport to/from Apoyo. At Paradiso, beers were about $1, meals ranged from $5 to $12, and cocktails cost $2 to $4. Most of the beach clubs and accommodations here charge a 4-6% fee for bank card payments.

How To Get to Laguna de Apoyo

In order to reach Laguna De Apoyo, you have the option to visit as part as a tour or with a shuttle service run by hostels and companies in Granada, take a couple of buses or pay a little more for a taxi.

Day passes cost around $14 USD per person and include entry into a particular beach club (at the time of writing, this is usually Paradiso).

For a full overview of transport options and cost to Laguna de Apoyo, and advice on parking if you’ve got a rental car, read this post: How To Get To Laguna de Apoyo.