Laguna de Apoyo, Masaya Department, Nicaragua

4.5 (991 reviews) Spent Ranking #1 in Masaya Department Bodies of Water

Cleanest water in Central America

This is a beautiful lagoon nestled in the crater of an old volcano. The water is a beautiful blue colour and the lagoon has some of the cleanest water in Central America. It’s a perfect place to go swimming and relax by the shore. There are a number of restaurants and hotels scattered along the shore of the lake. You can either go to the lagoon as part of a day pass with one of the hotels or there are some spots where you can get to the lagoon yourself. In some parts of the lake the water is nicely warmed by the volcanic soil underneath which is also very pleasant. This is one of our favourite places in Nicaragua and well worth the visit when you’re in the area.
Masaya Department review images

Address

Carretera Masaya Km 38 , La Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua.

Mobile

+505 5847 0711

Website

http://www.gaianicaragua.org/lagunadeapoyo

Current local date and time now

Sunday, May 12, 2024, 4:11

User Ratings

4.5 based on (991 reviews)

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66%

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26%

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Reviews

5CalvinofCroft 5:00 PM May 29, 2022
Our Laguna de Apoyo day tour
We got a Private Taxi from Granada to the look out at Catarina, Magnificent view of Lake Apoyo on a beautiful day. The Crater Lake has blue water surrounded by the lushness of Apoyo Lagoon Reserve. Continued on to Paradiso Hostel & Restaurant for the day-pass. Great beach, dining options/bar area on a manicured property. A chillin vibe with a fun younger crowd. We used their shuttle van option back, Paradiso has shuttle service to their sister property The Oasis Hostel in Granada. Good food & drink on the a semi secluded beach on the thermal springed Lake Apoyo. (reasonably priced day depends on your dining/bar needs ) Maravilloso !!!
4Rowan H 5:00 PM Oct 14, 2022
Do the 14 dollar tour from Granada
Laguna de Apoyo is a 200m deep crater lake located a short distance from Granada on the road to Masaya. Logistically the easiest way to visit this from granada is with the $14USD tour offered by the various tour companies. There is a public chicken bus that travels here (Look for ‘La Laguna’) but these travel from Masaya, not Granada so in order to catch one you actually need to get a chicken bus from Granada to Masaya, then another from Masaya to La Laguna. So its a bit tricky. Its also worth noting that the 14USD tours include a day pass into the Paradiso Hostel which costs $7USD. So you’re effectively paying 7USD for transportation. You do want to go to the Paradiso Hostel as it has a private beach and affords use of some pool tires, a floating platform and some kayaks. You can also purchase decent food and drink at the hostel. There is a section of Laguna De Apoyo that is open to the public but its not the best (see below). On the positives this is a beautiful crater lake to relax by with stunning views. I found the water to be a bit on the warmer side. The section of the lake we were based on was relatively clean however I did kayak to the public section. The public section was covered in floating plastics and garbage which was quite a surprise given that this is promoted as ‘Central America’s cleanest lake’. I felt this would benefit from a clean up. Other than that it was a good way to spend a day!