RANCHO CECILIA From 336€ for 7 nigths

Situation

Services Included

Music system with a CD player and a CD library.

Services Included

• Spots transfers
• Wifi
• Parking

Services non Included

• Airport transfers
• Laundry

Activities

If you want to learn to surf or improve your surfing skills and enjoy daily yoga classes….then a SURF and YOGA RETREAT at Rancho Cecilia could be your perfect vacation ! Check our packages for more infos.

Additional paying activities : Afternoon sail on "Must B Crazy" catamaran from San Juan to Playa Blanco or zip lining at the Flying Frog.

Other Activities

• Yoga
• Fishing
• Horse Riding

Lodging

Rancho Cecilia is a Green, Eco-community nestled in the jungle. We are "off the grid", as we are not hooked to
conventional electricity. Our electrical needs are supplied through our solar panels, wind generator and battery banks, we also have back-up generators and a generator for pumping water from our well to our water tanks. When there is a power outage in the neighborhood, we still have electricity !
Rancho Cecilia is a small rancho, on three jungle acres. We use some of our acreage for small, low impact farming and we enjoy cooking with our fresh crops! We grow our own beans, corn, plantains, papayas, bananas, jalapenos, basil, oregano and culantro (yes, this is in the same family as cilantro) and our rice is locally grown by our friends in our own neighborhood.
We have built with as minimal disruption to the environment as possible. Our closest neighbors, the howler monkeys thank us for this as do the other woodland creatures that still call Rancho Cecilia home.

Meal Plan

All of our units have kitchens/kitchenettes and refrigerators but most of our guests are on vacation and do meals with us up at our house, the “Surf Lodge”. Breakfast is served room service style for the guests in their unit. Dinner is served family style at, The Surf Lodge. 
At our house, aka "The Surf Lodge" Ask for our sample menu of our Surfer Cal-Mex cuisine or Nicaraguan cuisine

Sport Services

Spend time in the water, learning to surf or surfing at Playa Maderas, one of the best places to learn to surf in Nicaragua.
We provide all surfing activities :

- Surf lessons : 26€ for an hour including surfboard rental and transportation from Rancho Cecilia to the beach.

- Surf Clinics : Custom tailored for you and your friends, for a group of 2-8 persons, for beginner, novice and intermediate surfers.

- Boards rentals :
Surf board rentals 10€ per day
Boogie board rental 4,5€ per day

- Surf Trips :
- Surf day at Playa Hermosa 13€ per person for 2-3 people and 11€ per peson for 4 + people
(includes entry fee). South of San Juan del Sur, has a palapa restaurant on the beach and
horseback ridding.
- Surf day via panga (boat) 185€ ½ day ( Includes picnic lunch). Enjoy surfing our surf spots that are accessible by boat. Go North for Manzanillo, Colorado, Panga Drops, Popoyo Or South for Tamarido, Hermosa, Yankee.

Playa Maderas is about a kilometer away but the road does curve around and the last hill into the beach is steep and not much fun to walk after a day in the sun. We provide daily transportation to the beach (between 7:30-4:30).

Packages

SURF SUN & FUN PACKAGE :
Perfect for a tropical beach vacation, a week of surfing for the surfer or a week of learning to surf for the
beginner or novice surfer !

Package includes :
- 6 Nights/ 7 Days
- 2 group airport shuttles from Managua to Rancho Cecilia, and back again (at scheduled shuttle times)
- 6 Nights of accommodations in either a shared Cabana (2-4 people) or as a single or couple in the Casita
- 6 breakfasts and 4 dinners, made with fresh and locally grown ingredients (alcoholic drinks extra)
- Two dinners are left open allowing you to try one of our local restaurants ! Muchie Blues pizza night in the jungle, Maria's restaurant for Nicaraguan cuisine or PBH for homemade pasta night !
- Daily surf trips to Playa Maderas, our local surf break, with 4 surf lessons or 4 surf clinic coaching sessions
Except One surf trip to Playa Hermosa, a nice long sandy beach with fun waves ! (This is where Survivor Nicaragua was filmed!)
- Afternoon sail on "Must B Crazy" catamaran
Or, an exciting cultural and adventurous day trip to colonial city, Granada, including island boat trip to the Isletas to see the monkeys and hiking up Masaya or Mombacho volcano.
- Surf board rental from our rental quiver and rash guard
- Package also includes your choice of 2 additional adventure activities : Horseback riding tour of our local beaches and countryside, Flying Frog zip line canopy tour, Yoga class for balancing the body and soul while relaxing in the jungle Marsella Valley Nature Center, hike the river trail or play Frisbee Disk Golf.

702€ per person double occupancy
630€ per person triple occupancy
555€ per person quadruple occupancy
850€ single occupancy
Plus the required 15% IVA Nicaraguan tourist tax

Cost does NOT include :
- Flights
- Lunches or snacks and 1 dinner
- Additional activities or purchases
- Taxi rides or transportation to town or other beaches
- Massages (at Playa Maderas, a must do after a long surf session!)
- 15% IVA Nicaraguan tourist tax

SURF & YOGA PACKAGE :
6 Nights/ 7 Days packages
702€ per person for the week based on double occupancy
628€ per person based on triple occupancy
887€ for single occupancy

Package includes :
- 2 group transfers from the airport in Managua to Rancho Cecilia (arrival & departure pickups)
- Daily yoga, either at Rancho Cecilia or Playa Maderas
- 4 dinners and 7 breakfasts (alcoholic drinks extra)
- 5 days of surf including lessons or surf coaching & surfboard rental
- Surf trip to Playa Hermosa, long sandy beach south of San Juan del Sur, the beach where Survivor Nicaragua was filmed
- An exciting cultural and adventurous day trip to colonial city, Granada, including a boat trip to the Isletas to see the monkeys and hiking up Masaya or Mombacho volcano.

Cost does NOT include :
- Flights
- Lunches or snacks
- 3 dinners (open for dinners at one of our local restaurants in our Playa Maderas neighborhood ; Muchie Blues pizza night in the jungle, Maria's restaurant for Nicaraguan cuisine or PBH for homemade pasta night ; or in Granada on day trip day)
- Taxi rides or transportation to town or other beaches
- Massages : at Playa Maderas,a must do after a long surf session !
- 15% IVA Nicaraguan tourist tax

ACCOMODATION RATES :
48€ / 62€ per night depending on lenght of stay. Minimum stay 2 nights
- Including daily transportation to Playa Maderas, (between 7:30-4:30), a welcome basket with fresh Nicaraguan coffee, milk, sugar, a 5 gallon bottle of water and daily housekeeping.

Best Period

Nicaragua is hardly ever flat ! Its well-oriented location gets almost every swell. From April to the beginning of November: the best time for the most consistent swells coming from the South and the roaring forties.

From November to March: waves are smaller, but the conditions are offshore, regular and the temperatures are less warm.
WINDS & TIDES
During the winter, from November to April, a powerful N/E wind (« papagayo ») blows almost every day, followed by atmospheric conditions of the Nicaragua Lake generating a regular offshore wind, sweeping away most of the countries of Central America and providing smooth and tubular waves.Tides are medium-sized and change the aspect of the spots like everywhere else.
The water temperature does not go beneath 26°C but wear a top when the offshore wind strongly blows in the morning.A gorgeous marine fauna and flora (turtles…)
Surfing is quite new in Nicaragua and the locals are nice (when you see someone in the water…).

Wind

10 day(s) / year

Weather / Temperature

Air temperature : 30°C (Summer) / 30°C (Winter)

Water temperature : 30°C (Summer) / 20°C (Winter)

Surf Story

If you think that Costa Rica’s atmosphere is sometimes too US, if you are looking for virgin spots and all kind of waves, in a surprising Latino mood, in the heart of Central America, well then come aboard to surf in Nicaragua !
This is a destination where surfing is not that common, a wild nature and kilometres of beachbreaks in the warm waters, no one around only some friendly locals…

History

Nicaragua was first populated by Mayas. Then, the Miskitos and the Sumos arrived from Colombia and settled in the Northeast. Other Amerindian peoples came from Honduras and Salvador. They all lived together until the Spanish landed.
Christopher Columbus gave his name to the Cape of Gracias a Dios, at the border of Honduras. Nicaragua’s conquest was achieved by the Pacific coast. The Spanish Christianized right away the autochthon populations and imposed the Spanish language.
In 1542, the Spanish created seven provinces: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Soconusco, Chiapa and Verapaz.
In the 17th century, Nicaragua was the target of British pirates. The Miskitos began later on a long traditional opposition with the British against the Spanish settled on the Pacific coast.In Nicaragua, the Spanish colonization always remained in the Pacific coast. Nicaragua’s independence was declared in 1821 but came apart in 1823 to create las Provincias Unidas Del Centro America including the States of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador and Costa Rica.Wars broke out between the States if the federation and the opposite factious party. Then, the country was divided in 1839 to form five new independent States.

In order to wheedle the Miskitos, the British went as far as declaring in 1845 one of them as the “King of the Miskitos”.The British had in mind to build a channel connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. They sent slaves and then workers from Jamaica, who spoke Creole.
Then, the Americans arrived, stole at leisure the region promising jobs for the population. German missionaries converted the local populations to Protestantism.From the British presence in Nicaragua, there is still a Creole population with British origins.In 1823, Managua was proclaimed the national capital. William Walker, an American pirate invaded the country leading a mercenary army and declared himself the President of Nicaragua. He restored slavery and issued English as the official language of the whole country. But Walker was ejected in 1857.

The United States intervened more and more in the country’s daily life and settled a “Big Stick doctrine” launched by President Theodore Roosevelt.For Amerindians, the history of their country can be summed up as a slow erosion of their autonomy before the Europeans’ domination.
From 1912 (until 1932), Nicaragua fell under a complete dependency towards the United States who militarily occupied the country and enforced the checking of customs and railroads. Nicaraguan nationalist Augusto Cesar Sandino attempted to oppose the American domination stirring up a part of the population. Americans intervened once again. Sandino was assassinated in 1934 while he was negotiating for peace. Anastasio Somoza Garcia coming from the national guard created by the United States declared himself as the President in 1936 and enforced his dictatorship until he was assassinated in 1956.
His sons followed one another. The Somoza clique seized upon the main wealth of the country and promoted the plantation of large foreign companies (American ones).

In 1978, the assassination of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, the leader of the Conservative opposition, launched an insurrection movement led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (in honour of Augusto Sandino) which forced the dictator Somoza to leave the country.
The civil war would have engendered the death of at least 50 000 people. Once in power, the Sandinistas settled an economic program on the socialism spur, particularly by nationalizing, an agrarian reform and seizing the lands of the Somoza tribe.
In spring 1987, Managua’s Sandinista government began an autonomy status with two autonomous regions: the RAAN (Region Autonoma del Atantico Norte) with the Miskitos and the Sumos, and the RAAS (Region Autonoma del Atlantica Sur) with the Mestizos and the Creoles.
It was the first autonomy given to autochthons on the American continent. The important economic crisis of 1988 engendered the defeat of the Sandinista Daniel Ortega. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, widow of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, Conservative candidate backed up by the United States was then elected as the President.

Geography

The Republic of Nicaragua is located in Central America and forms a stretchy belt connecting North America to South America. It divides the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Geographically, Nicaragua is bordered by Honduras in the North, and Costa Rica in the South, the Atlantic Ocean in the East, the Pacific Ocean.Nicaragua, whose total area is 139 682 km², is the largest Republic of Central America. 7% of the total area is composed of the lakes of Managua (Xolotlan) and Nicaragua (Cocobolca), this last one constituting one of the largest reserve of soft water in the world.
The country is divided in 3 main zones :
The Pacific coast, long strip of fertile land going from the border with Costa Rica (South) to the Gulf of Fontesca (facing Salvador). It is bordered in the West by the ocean and in the East by a volcanoes chain. The country has 58 volcanoes of which several are active ones. This plain is sprinkled by lakes and volcanic lagoons.
This is where the major cities are located: Managua (capital), Leon, Granada, Masaya, Chinandega, Corinto (the main harbour) and this is the most populated part of the country.
The mountainous zone: two lakes divide the Pacific coast and the mountains, the Nicaragua (8 200 km²), the Cocibolca (in indigenous language, it means the soft sea) and the Managua (2 000 km²).Mountains are not that high, the Mogoton reaches 2 000 m near the Honduras border. This is a forest area, coffee plantations and bovines-farming.
The major cities of this region are Matagalpa, Jinotega, Esteli, Ocotal, Somoto.
The Caribbean coast represents 51% of the total area of the country. This is also the least populated region. There are hills covered with rainy forests where rivers such as the Rio Coco (part of the Honduras frontier) and the Rio San Juan are flowing. The coastal plain is often swampy.The major city of the Caribbean coast is Bluefields, followed by Puero Cabeza.  The Pacific and Caribbean coasts are separated by two large mountains ranges: the Cordillera Centroamericana and the Cordilleras Segoviana and Yolaina. In the west of the Cordillera Centroamericana, there only is a stretchy strip on the shore where 90% of the population live, with big cities like Managua, Leon and Granada.

Infos

FORMALITIES :   A compulsory visa for a short stay has been suppressed for French nationals who wish to enter Nicaragua. A 5 $US fee must be paid when you arrive in the country and a 32 $US fee when you leave. It is not possible to exchange euros. The passport must be valid at least 6 months and in good conditions (not wrecked, wrinkled pages)

LANGUAGE :    Spanish. In some isolated zones, the indigenous languages are still spoken like Miskito, Garifona, and Sumu.
Nicaragua has about 5 million of inhabitants. More than half of the population is under 16 years old. Very quickly after the colonization, the Spanish blended themselves with Amerindians and the Nicaraguans are the result of this union. The Mestizos represent the largest part of the population.

HEALTH :    No vaccine is mandatory. Prevent yourself from mosquito bites especially during the wet season from mid-May to September. Besides, it is advised to have a treatment against malaria before and while you stay in the country.

TIME DIFFERENCES:    From October to March = GMT – 7 hours.From April to October = GMT – 8 hours.

WEATHER :     Warm and humid tropical climate with two seasons: in summer, it is very dry and hot from November to April and this is the best period (28°C on average during the dry season, 34°C max) and in winter (the wet season) from mid-May to October (25°C). The hurricane period goes from July to October.

DRIVING CONDITIONS :    The main road (Transamerican), crossing the country from North to South can be driven by any kind of vehicles. During the rainy season, a 4X4 is usually necessary. Renting a car is quite expensive. The price of gas is high, about 1 $US the liter.

WATER/ELECTRICITY :    110 V like in the US. Bring an adaptor. For the telephone, buy prepaid phone cards that can be used from any kind of public phone even to call abroad.Natel, the cellular network begins to spread. Calling code for Nicaragua = 505.

CURRENCY :    Cordoba (NIO). About 16.40 NIO = 1 $US. Bring dollars along, always useful…

EXTRA TIPS :     A destination quite safe if you do not tempt the devil like anywhere else! You will be able to bring back several original items from Nicaragua: braided hammocks, rum (delicious), jewelries, Guayaberas (traditional shirts), Masaya’s shoes (all leather, home-made), cigars, potteries with Amerindian decorations. On the Caribbean coasts, music sounds like Reggae and Steel band. The most famous group is Dimension Costena.

Price from

336€ for 7 nigths

Price includes

ACCOMODATION RATES :
48€ / 62€ per night depending on lenght of stay. Minimum stay 2 nights
- Including daily transportation to Playa Maderas, (between 7:30-4:30), a welcome basket with fresh Nicaraguan coffee, milk, sugar, a 5 gallon bottle of water and daily housekeeping.

Rates & Packages

PACKAGE SURF AND SUN	SURF SUN & FUN PACKAGE :
702 € par personne en logement double	702€ per person double occupancy
630 € par personne en logement triple	630€ per person triple occupancy
555 € par personne en logement quadruple	555€ per person quadruple occupancy
850 € en logement single	850€ single occupancy

PACKAGE SURF SUN & FUN :
Parfait pour un séjour Surf d'une semaine de surf pour ceux qui veulent débuter ou surfers intermédiaires.
6 nuits / 7 jours

Le package comprend :
- Transferts aéroport de Managua à Rancho Cecilia, aller-retour.
- 6 nuits d'hébergement dans une cabane dortoir partagé (2-4 personnes) ou en couple seul dans la Casita
- 6 petits-déjeuners et 4 dîners, préparés avec des ingrédients frais et locaux, boissons alcoolisées en sus
- Deux dîners libres pour tester l'un de nos restaurants locaux : Muchie Blues Pizza dans la jungle, un restaurant de cuisine nicaraguayenne Maria ou PBH pour leur spécialités de pâtes.
- Surf trips journaliers à Playa Maderas, notre spot de surf local, avec 4 leçons de surf
- Une excursion surf à Playa Hermosa, belle et longue plage de sable fin avec des vagues faciles et agréables. (C'est là que Survivor Nicaragua a été filmé)
- Une Après-midi voile sur le catamaran "Must B Crazy"
Ou, une excursion d'une journée culturelle dans la ville coloniale de Grenade, comprenant une sortie bateau aux Isletas pour voir les singes et une randonnée jusqu'à Masaya ou au volcan Mombacho.
- Location d'une planche de surf, lycra
- Le package inclut également le choix de 2 activités d'aventure supplémentaires :
Ballade à cheval sur la plage, tyrolienne Flying Frog dans la canopée, cours de yoga, randonnée au bord de la rivière.
Le Package ne comprend pas :
- Les vols
- Les déjeuners et 1 dîner
- Activités ou des achats supplémentaires
- Massage
_____________________________________________________________________________________________6 Nights/7 Days
Package includes :
- 2 group transfers from the airport in Managua to Rancho Cecilia (arrival & departure pickups)
- Daily yoga, either at Rancho Cecilia or Playa Maderas
- 4 dinners and 7 breakfasts (alcoholic drinks extra)
- 5 days of surf including lessons or surf coaching & surfboard rental
- Surf trip to Playa Hermosa, long sandy beach south of San Juan del Sur, the beach where Survivor Nicaragua was filmed
- An exciting cultural and adventurous day trip to colonial city, Granada, including a boat trip to the Isletas to see the monkeys and hiking up Masaya or Mombacho volcano.

Cost does NOT include :
- Flights
- Lunches or snacks
- 3 dinners (open for dinners at one of our local restaurants in our Playa Maderas neighborhood ; Muchie Blues pizza night in the jungle, Maria's restaurant for Nicaraguan cuisine or PBH for homemade pasta night ; or in Granada on day trip day)
- Taxi rides or transportation to town or other beaches
- Massages : at Playa Maderas,a must do after a long surf session !
- 15% IVA Nicaraguan tourist tax

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