Charco Verde: Don’t Miss Out On Nicaragua’s Hidden Gem

Charco Verde ecological reserve is one of the most underrated spots in Nicaragua, often overshadowed by the country’s many volcanos, cosy colonial cities and surfing paradise San Juan del Sur.

If you’re looking to tone down the adrenaline after a spot of boarding down volcanoes, and immerse yourself in nature for a bit, then Charco Verde is the place you need to visit.

Nicaragua is in my opinion, the best country in Central America, and alongside Volcan Masaya (where you literally see lava inside a volcano), Charco Verde was my favourite place. I’ll tell you what it is, and all the information you should know before visiting. Then you can decide whether to add it to your itinerary for your Central America trip.

What Is Charco Verde Ecological Reserve?

This is a wildlife reserve surrounding a small lake on the island of Ometepe. The island is best known for its two volcanos – Maderas and Concepcion, which many people enjoy hiking up, but Charco Verde provides a great nature experience in the shadow of Concepcion.

It is predominantly forest, with a lake in the middle, and you can see a lot of wildlife here. There are also beaches from where you can look across, back towards the mainland.

Sure, you can see jungles and wildlife at Treehouse hostel near Granada, but it’s not a patch on what you’ll find here.

Let’s explore what you can find.

What Wildlife Can You Find Here?

Howler monkeys were the easiest to spot during my own visit, mostly due to the fact you can hear them long before you can see them. These chaps won’t be winning any hide-and-seek championships any time soon. They may be loud, but they’re really awesome to see.

Wild horses also roamed around the reserve. An interesting thing to see as a Brit, since horses in my country are generally kept on farms, or used by humans for racing purposes.

My favourite creature here however was the dung beetle. These cool little chaps can lift up to 1,141 times their own body weight. This is the equivalent of a human (global average weight: 68.5KG for an adult) being able to lift a small plane or up to 50 elephants. So these guys are pretty strong! They roll their own, well, dung, which they use for several purposes, including food… Yum.

The one that got away was the boa constrictor. Apparently they can be found here, and I was very keen on finding one, but they managed to evade me. Guess that’s better than one sneaking up from behind, but to see something like that in the wild would be spectacular. Maybe you’ll have better luck with finding one during your own visit to this wonderful place.

Oh, and there’s a butterfly garden at the entrance to the reserve. Must admit this isn’t the primary reason to come here, but it can be fun for five minutes or so. The butterflies are colourful, so you can take a few nice pictures if they sit still for a moment.

Laguna Charco Verde

Laguna Charco Verde (“Charco Verde Lagoon” in English) is the lake I briefly eluded to, and it’s roughly 2km in circumference, taking around half an hour to walk around. Bizarrely I saw dozens of giants toads lying dead on the trails surrounding the lake, and a bird that had shed feathers all over the place. Not quite sure why this was the case.

The lake has a murky green colour, therefore it isn’t the prettiest, but it just about makes up for that with stunning views of Maderas Volcano and its larger neighbour Concepcion in the background.

What Else Can You Do Here?

Just get lost in nature. This place has only a handful of visitors at the best of times. Even when people do visit Ometepe, they tend to focus mostly on the volcanos.

Yet when you step off the main path, it is easy to lose yourself in your surroundings. I ended up in a big grassy clearing, seemingly miles from another human being. I didn’t see another animal in this spot, but it was really lovely to just feel the gentle breeze and listen to the soothing sounds of nature.

How Do You Get To Charco Verde?

You will need to get to a tiny little spot called San Jorge on the outskirts of Rivas to begin with. You can get to San Jorge by bus from almost any major city such as Leon, Managua, Granada, or even the Costa Rica border.

The Ferry To Ometepe Island

From San Jorge you can take a ferry to Ometepe which will take you across Lake Nicaragua. It will arrive either at Moyogalpa, the main town on the island, or San Jose del Sur which is just a 40-minute walk from Charco Verde.

Ferries to Moyogalpa run every 30-90 minutes from 7am-5:45pm. On Sundays the number of ferries heading to the island drops from 15 to 6, albeit with the same start and finish times.

There are only two ferries per day heading to San Jose del Sur. These run at 9:30am and 5pm every single day.

How To Reach Charco Verde From Other Parts Of Ometepe

You can rent scooters, cars or motorbikes for anything from $5-20 per day. As soon as you get off the ferry in Moyogalpa, there’s a whole street in front of you with over a dozen rental places to choose from.

Only a handful of them have websites, but RentaNica, Ometepe Rent A Car, Green Expedition, Ovidios Rental and Willy’s Rental all have online presences, although it is important to note that the best deals can be found offline, by just arriving on Ometepe and negotiating locally.

It is also possible to catch a bus. Check out this bus timetable to see when they leave, and from where. Buses from Moyogalpa will take around 30 minutes to reach the reserve.

Please note that on Sundays, buses are a lot more infrequent and there is no guarantee that they will leave at all. Buses do not run at all on national holidays.

How Much Does Charco Verde Cost To Enter?

The entrance fee for Charco Verde ecological reserve is US$5 for foreigners and US$3 for Nicaraguans.

Charco Verde Opening Hours

The reserve is open every day from 8am-4:30pm.

My Personal Experiences And Final Thoughts On The Wildlife Reserve

This was a really awesome place. So good in fact, that I added it to my list of 10 bucket list activities in Central America.

When you arrive you will find Charco Verde Hotel and Restaurant, which is a great place to grab a refreshing juice in the humid Nicaraguan heat. I stopped here first before buying my ticket to the reserve, then just went walking to see what I could find.

I was in the reserve for 3 hours walking around the lake enjoying the stunning volcano views, and heading into the open grassland where I enjoyed the feeling of remoteness without another human being nearby.

The dung beetles were absolutely fascinating. Never thought I would find it so interesting to watch a creature pushing poop around, but here we are… And the howler monkeys were a lot of fun too. I also saw many smaller creatures including several lizard and bird species.

This natural paradise is a place to enjoy solitude and nature.

It is suitable for all demographics. A family with young children will enjoy the reserve just as much as intrepid backpackers. Elderly people should also be able to enjoy it, since there are no steep hikes or other spots with dodgy terrain. The only thing I would advise, is to bring a lot of water as you will sweat a fair bit in the heat. I speak from experience!

It’s hard to offer just one tip to anyone visiting Nicaragua, because this is such an awesome country with so much to offer. I spent two weeks there and could’ve turned that into two months without getting bored. It’s also one of the cheapest countries in the Americas, so your budget can stretch far here.

It would be a real shame for you to miss out, so put this right at the top of your Nicaragua itinerary and hopefully you will love it as much as I did.