There are several choices of where to stay in Ometepe: hotels and hostels in town, Eco-farms in the jungle, simple cabanas, fancier hotels with restaurants along the beach of Santo Domingo, and accommodations with local Nicas at their homes.
The friend, Jon, who was visiting us from his home in the Rocky Mountains wanted a beachfront location. We visited the lovely Hotel Paraiso in Santo Domingo and enjoyed a cup of coffee at their open-air restaurant overlooking the lake but chose to stay someplace simpler and less expensive.
We found our lodging online, via AirBnB. It’s called Isla Bonita and is located on the west side of Ometepe’s lower orb, just north of the village of Mérida, in a neighborhood called El Peru. It’s the focal area of the island for kayak trips since the river which is great for kayaking is just to its north.
We originally thought we were renting a North American version of a two-bedroom house. Instead, it was two separate bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, and an open-air porch and cooking area, all under a shared roof.
Lesbia is the lovely host. She and her husband, with their baby, own the property and have their own home and separate kitchen building next door. She was a wonderful host and ended up cooking us a fish soup dinner and a gallo pinto egg breakfast while we were there so that we didn’t have to leave the property.
For our other meals we drove to the nearby Caballitos del Mar in Mérida, which has cabanas and a restaurant and nice kayaks. The owner, a Spaniard married to a Nica, phoned his cook to come cook on our behalf.
Lesbia also has sit-on-top kayaks for use, but since it was cold and rainy while we were there we passed. But we did take a dip in the lake on our final sunny morning, which was nice.
Isla Bonita was a nice, clean, dry place to stay, and despite our short time staying there we grew very fond of Lesbia and look forward to seeing her again.
Cost: $25 US per night for 1st person plus $10 per additional person per night (so, $45 per night since there were 3 of us). Food was additional. Kayak use would’ve been free. Take a cooler with you since there’s no refrigerator.
