A video from Las Penitas and Poneloya
Las penitas has long been a popular destination for locals and expats lucky enough to find this hidden gem located 12 miles or 18 km from the city of Leon on Nicaraguas west coast. Despite offering world-class surfing opportunities Nicaragua is still very much of a white spot on the map for the surfing community who flock to crowded beaches along the U.S. and Mexican pacific coast but forget to explore the fantastic surfing further south.
Las Penitas is suitable for surfers of all levels of expertise, but the undertow can be fearsome so signing up for at least a few local surfing classes is recommended if your are a beginner. The beach has a surfing school ready to help beginners and more advanced surfers a like and it is located on the beach between the popular hotels Playa Roca and Oasis. In addition to offering classes the school rents out surfing boards and body boards, and can also repair a damaged board for you.
The beach of Las Penitas is surfed year round and known for its consistency when it comes to offering great waves. The type is point-break and the normal length varies from 50 to 150 meters. Swells starts working at 1.0-1.5 m and grows up to 3 m+. It is a sand beach with a few hidden rocks below the surface and a few large rock formations going out into the water and it can therefore be a good idea to ask a local about the locations of the rocks or to visit the beach during low tide before starting to surf.
Las Penitas offers a wide variety of affordavle accomondations and is home to a number of Hotels, Hotels and B&Bs. Dorms start at 6 USD/night and private rooms are available from 20 USD/night. There also plenty of options if you want to find cheap food. Near the entrance of Las Penitas is the Bertha restaurant that offers a gigantic sea food platter enough to satisfy 2-3 persons for 250 cordobas, which is less than 13 USD. If you budget is very low you can eat from stands outside peoples houses at night for less than 1 USD. In the local shops you can purchase a bag of bread for less than a dollar and a one-foot granadilla fruit for not much more. If you want a coconut? You can simple pick cocnuts on the beach due to the fact that the owners of the beach house dont harvest their coconuts and simply allow the nuts to fall on the beach.
Nicaragua is located just a two hour flight from Miami, FL and several flights depart to Nicaragua’s capital Managua on a daily basis. Once you arrive in Nicaragua you will have no problem in the customs and you will find the people very friendly. Nicaragua are very eager to promote tourism and want everyone to have a good stay as tourism is a very important source of income for this poor country..
From Managua you take the express bus from UCA (Universidad Centro America) to Leon for 40 cordobas (2 USD) and then catch the 10 cordoba (50 cent) bus to Las Penitas / Poneloya from El Mercandito de Sutiaba. It is also possible to take a taxi from Leon to las penitas ata cost of about 10 USD, a Taxi all the way from the airport in Managua cost about 60 USD. The bus is slow and make a lot of stops along the way but one benefit with the bus is that it has plenty of place for your surfing board (you might be asked to pay 10 cordobas / 50 cent extra to bring to board on the buss.