Digital Nomad Guide to Granada, Nicaragua

Granada is a tourist hotspot in Nicaragua, being one of the two main cities that travellers to the country visit. But what’s it like for digital nomads to visit?

I spent a month in Granada working as a digital nomad and I have to say it is a good destination to work from and probably my favourite of everywhere I worked from in Central America.

This digital nomad guide to Granada will take you through how to get there, what to do, where to work and the most important question on all digital nomads lips… what the internet speed is like.

Let’s jump in…

Visas and getting there

Most nationalities get a 90 day visa on arrival when entering Nicaragua. Be aware that the 90 days also includes time spent in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala so you can’t bounce around those countries getting 90 days in each.

The border process if quite a faff whether crossing over from Costa Rica like I did, or flying into Managua airport. You have to pay USD$14 to enter and make sure you have exact change in a $10 and four $1 bills.

Cost of living in Granada for digital nomads

Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America but in Granada, the cost of living isn’t as low as you may expect. It is still cheaper than staying in Costa Rica or Panama.

In a tourist focused restaurant, expect to pay USD$5-15 but in a local place, it is possible to only pay C$200. As a general rule, if the prices are in USD, you’re paying the tourist price which is normally too much.

I paid C$780 (USD$22) for a months gym membership at LA Fitness close to the city centre. A coffee is between C$150-200 (USD$4-5), a local beer in the supermarket is C$110 (USD$3).

I booked my accommodation through AirBnB and paid around USD$600 for the month for a one bedroom apartment with both cheaper and more expensive options available.

Where to work in Granada

There are two coworking spaces in Granada. I first tried to work at Casa Bloom located in the north of the city in a residential area. I didn’t contact them in advance and when I turned up they were fully booked for a private function. Costs start from USD$140 for a month of coworking, but get in contact with them first.

I ended up working at Selina (now called the Sociatel) which is in a fantastic location in the main square. I paid USD$115 for a months coworking. The internet was fast and tea, coffee and water were included. As it is part of the hotel, other food and drinks are available to order from the bars. There are call booths available for those private phone calls. As I learned, it is best to contact them in advance here.

There are a variety of coffee shops close the Central Park with The Garden Cafe and The Coffee Shop being popular places for digital nomads to work from.

You can also work from home if your accommodation has suitable wifi and workspace.

How’s the internet in Granada

I found the internet to be absolutely fine in Granada for digital nomads. I could take Zoom calls from the coworking and from my apartment with no trouble. Speeds were easily 20mbps+ which was suitable for my work needs. They got up 50mbps in the coworking space at times which is super fast for Nicaraguan standards, but not by international standards.

I also used an ESIM which allowed me to get 4G signal which was fine for basic tasks.

Granada doesn’t have the fastest internet in the world, but it will suffice for most work tasks. The only issues may arise if you need to download a lot of data for your tasks in which case I would use one of the coworking spaces.

What else to do in Granada

Being a city that is heavily frequented by tourists, there are a number of tours available to explore parts of the country close to the city.

One thing I had to miss out on was seeing the Masaya Volcano as the volcanic activity was too high and not safe enough to visit.

Despite this, I enjoyed wandering around the city, exploring the churches, heading to the top of the cathedrals and exploring down by the lake.

I also managed to take a weekend away in Leon, which is easy to get to, where you can go volcano boarding.

Getting around

The centre of Granada is very walkable and I felt safe in all the major tourist areas you are likely to go. There are a few local buses that depart from bus stations in Granada that criss cross the city before heading further afield which you can jump on for short distances. There are also local taxis that can take you within the city but remember to agree a price first and don’t expect them to speak English.

If you’re looking at going further afield, there are the local chicken buses that can get you to Managua, Leon, Ometepe and San Juan del Sur.

Day to day living in Granada

I found Granada a pleasant place to live for my month there.

The main square is a nice place to hang out, there are a few supermarkets dotted around the city and some corner stores for basic needs. There are a few gyms and some of the hostels and hotels have pools and yoga classes that you can attend.

The cost of living is reasonable and if you speak Spanish, it is easy to chat to locals.

I always found that there was an event or something going on in the main square almost every weekend. As it is a place set up for tourists, there are plenty of bars, restaurants, coffee shops and activities to suit every budget.

Best time to visit Granada

Unfortunately, I went to Granada at the wrong time of year. September and October are the wettest months of the rainy season. Although it doesn’t rain all day, everyday, there were definitely times when I thought the roof may cave in because the rain was so heavy!

The best time to visit is December to February, which is also the peak months for tourists. Expect busy streets, higher prices and plan to pre book as much as possible. It is at this time when temperatures can reach into the high 30 degrees.

Summing Up Granada for Digital Nomads

Granada was my favourite destination to work from in Central America.

It has enough to do to keep digital nomads busy in their downtime, an affordable cost of living and a couple of good places to work.

Being on the tourist trail, there is infrastructure for getting around and English is spoken in enough places to get by. Whilst I don’t think Granada will become a hot spot for remote workers anytime soon, it is a pleasant place to enjoy some remote work when exploring Nicaragua.

Dan

Dan is an avid traveller from London. His first big adventure was in 2010 living in Malaysia for 3 months. He has been on the road almost constantly since 2015 travelling to destinations that aren’t on the mainstream tourist trail and working full time and travelling since 2021.