The Islets Of Granada

By kpvega

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The islets

A private island

The islets of Granada are located in Lake Nicaragua, just southeast of the city of Granada in Nicaragua. The islets are a group of over 360 small islands and are scattered in a irregular way in the Asese peninsula. The 365 islets are of volcanic origin, they were formed when the Mombacho volcano blew most of its cone into the lake, more than a million years ago. Most of islets are covered with unusual vegetation, and are rich with bird life and all together have an area of 2.21 kms2

Some islets are owned by people who have built vacation homes, but there are also hotels, restaurants, parks and shops on some other islets.

On one of the private islets, there are about 8 monkeys which has become an attraction on some boat tours, but be careful and don’t get close, because these monkeys are not domesticated and are very wild and can get close to you to get food by going on the three branches of the islet. This family of monkey started with 3, and have been reproducing since then, but some have died trying to go to other islets trough the electric towers. The owners of the monkeys dedicate people specially to take care of the monkeys and their intentions weren’t to become a tourist attractions but some of the locals are taking advantage of the situation.

On one of the islets, called El Castillo, is a fort called San Pablo, which was built in order to protect the city of Granada from pirates a long time ago. This fort has witnessed battles and conflicts that happened during colonial period.

The waters between the Las Isletas and the shores of the Cocibolca Lake (Lake Nicaragua) are shallow and you can get only by Kayak. To get there you should get a tour guide to help you discover the wild animals hidden in depths and the amazing swampy zones. Normally the trip starts at 300 mt far from the Las Isletas, if you are using a kayak for the first time or if the vawes in the lake are big is better to carry the kayak to the Las Cabañas harbor nearer the fnal destination. When you stay among the "isletas", the waters are very calm and rowing among the tree and bushes is a pleasure.

The weather is tropical humid and the islets will exhibit a wide variety of plants and big and small trees. Only 26% of the islets are inhabited by more than 800 people that transport only by boats.

During Easter week, the Viacrucis acuático, which is a religious procession, takes place on the waters of the islets.

The prices of the tours, restaurants and transportation are not expensive and if you go with a group of people, you can take tourist packages which will save you money.

There are some places where you can get on the waters, so you may want to take bathing suits.

Most of the year the climate of the place is really hot, so be sure to take water to drinks and appropriate clothes to wear, and also some repellent because on winter there are a lot of mosquitos due to the closeness of the water and the virgin forests of some islands.


To get there you will have to fly to Nicaragua and then head to Granada, which is 45 kms from the International Airport, by car or bus.

When you get there, find La Calzada street and at the end of it you wil find the Granada Touristic Center. At the end of the road of the Granada touristic center you will find the establishments that rent boats to go on tours on the islets and they also rent equipment gear to do water sports.

The prices of the tours are not expensive and if you go on a group tour, they can offer you special packages that will save you money.




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