It's time to review my recent stay at Calala Island, though I first want to write a separate installment about getting to Calala Island. Why? Because as Ford described it to me while we were on our way there, "this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever voluntarily put myself through." Below is what that…
Continue reading: How To Get To Calala Island (Brace Yourself)
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Wow.
My back is KILLING me after watching that video (and yes, I already have a bad back to begin with).
Can't wait to read the review of the property!
Omg! This reminded me of the boat ride from Gateway of India to Elephanta Island on a speed boat. But at least that was in a bay and not nearly as long. There are no freebie luxury resorts worth that kind of transfer imo. I would be seriously pissed off if I spent $2800 cash/ night And have to endure that kind of transfer to come to this resort. I much prefer three hours of Indian traffic. If you ever want to use your Bonvoy points for North Island, you will need to take a helicopter. Otherwise you are looking at rough sea which I def don’t recommend!
Thanks for taking one for the team!
Your experience sounds similar to what I heard before.
During our honeymoon our tour boat had to return to Phuket from the Phi Phi islands as a storm approached. I was holding onto the railing for dear life as the speedboat bounced up and down for about an hour. I actually bit my tongue for most of the ride because I figured I’d I didn’t then the hard crashes on the waves might make my teeth crack as they slammed together.
Ford: I'll pay $2,800 to get off this boat.
I can only imagine dreaming of a romantic vacation at a luxury hotel then finding yourself bobbing up and down on a fishing boat.
Shows how much he loves you 🙂
Pretty much identical travel experience with few exceptions:
1. Military Customs checkpoint on the mangrove ocean part felt like a straight-up bribe to me.
2. Taxi ride from the airport to boat felt more sketchy to me (maybe because I had kids with me and we had to take two separate taxi's - wife and few kids didn't like being separated from me and my taxi left few minutes before hers).
3. Your experience of the boat ride is accurate, but my family probably just laughed the whole way there thinking we were on a big roller coaster ride with oh... and ahs... when we got air! 🙂 - One thing to note is they do have full body nice ponchos if it rains on the boat, we had to use them for 20 minutes and never got wet.
This gave me bad flashbacks. And I think our ride to the island was rougher. The ride back to Bluefields was definitely less bumpy, but still quite the "experience".
Wow, I thought the transfer between Almirante and Bocas del Toro in Panama was bad, but this....
I've always wanted to explore Bluefields. Can the resort arrange a stopover of a few days on either end if the trip??
THANKS, LUCKY [AND FORD!] FOR BEING THE BLOGGER WHO -- IN TRYING TIMES -- KEEPS THE SPIRIT OF TRAVEL ADVENTURE ALIVE AND MANAGES TO TAKE US ALONG FOR A CRAZY BOAT RIDE.
Haha I loved this post.
I can't wait for the actual review of the property Lucky.
Anyone paying $$ can afford the helicopter transfer and surely will rather than endure that.
Oh my. I have a booking for February next year. It needs to be good as it is after I go to Antarctica and Galapagos. Can’t wait for the review of the island.
There's an AirBnB on a tiny island off the coast of Honduras called Cayos Cochinos. You get there in much the same way. In our case the transitions from inland waters to the open ocean and back were quite dramatic, as it occurred at the mouth of a river with a strong current. One of the crew had to jump out and sort of guide the boat. Quite an adventure, and we got totally drenched during the hour long ride to the island. But heck, it's the caribbean, the water is warm. And it was worth it because that island is soooo spectacular when you get there. (And a lot less expensive than $2800/night.)
I wouldn't do that if they paid me $2800 per night. No way!!
I hate helicopters but that would be the only way they could get me to go there.
The island loomed like Gilligan's.
Lanai is just fine for me.
Yikes! My back hurts just after watching the video!
But the thing that gets me is how much the boat is moving up/down when it's in the calm water in the mangroves (unless it's rougher than it looks??). Seems like either that's a really weird boat to be doing that, or they need to put some weight up in the nose of the boat.
Not to be a douche here...but as someone who has traveled the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, what really surprised me in this article was how little sense you actually get of the place. For all that transit, you didn''t seem to get much of a sense of the realities of the area (which is unique and fascinating and scary in all sorts of ways.) I guess that's not the point of ultra-fancy resorts.
Reminds me of my boat ride to the Bijagós islands in Guinea-Bissau. It was so bumpy I bruised my tailbone and had trouble sitting and laying down for many days afterwards. Luckily I was able to take a plane back to Bissau
I wasn't aware that there is an airfield on Corn Island. My friends who have been there all described getting there by boat from Bluefields with about the same experience.
I was a bit surprised that Ben would mention feeling "safe" at the dock. Nicaraguans in general are the nicest people I've ever met.
I just went to Elephanta Island 3 weeks ago via the normal tourist boat, and never saw any offers of a speedboat.
@ Kirk -- To be clear, I mention I felt "safe" for two reasons. First of all, because anytime you're anywhere and you stand out, have a bunch of luggage, etc., it's normal to be approached by people and feel on edge, while that feeling wasn't the case here.
Second of all, I mention this because I know some people canceled their Calala Island trips because Nicaragua is a "Level 3" country according to the Department of State, due to "civil unrest, crime, limited healthcare availability, and arbitrary enforcement of laws."
So my mention of safety was supposed to be positive, that I didn't experience any issues and felt comfortable.
@ Franklin -- I'll share more on my take on that in the upcoming installment, since virtually everyone working at the resort is from nearby villages. I figured a 2,400 word intro post about how to get somewhere was sufficient, so I didn't want to make it any longer.
@ Tom -- It's my understanding that Nicaragua has a very limited number of helicopters, so not only is it outrageously expensive, but often it's not even available, since they're often used by the government. While I didn't get an exact quote, I was told it would be $10K+.
@ Mitch Cumstein -- Yep, it's my understanding that they're happy to book you the flight earlier or later so you can have a stopover there before continuing to the resort.
@ utahshane -- Interestingly, I was actually pleasantly surprised that I didn't at all feel like they were trying to get any bribes in either direction. What happened in your situation?
If they are charging $2800 per night to stay at a tiny remote island (which is basically extortion for a country as undeveloped as Nicaragua), they should include a helicopter transfer with a stay of at least 3 nights.
Hey Ben, did they give any inking that they may close the resort due to the virus? We have reservations in May and are wondering what is going to happen.
Yes, the "economics" of this place raise a lot questions (best left unasked and likely not answered).
Loved this, thank you. The open ocean part of the video had me straight up laughing the entire time. Hope you and Ford recovered quickly lol
The high quality of your travel posts never ceases to amaze me. This is one of the best! My back is hurting just from watching the video. Time to get up and move about the house . . .
Lucky, I've done two hours up the Sepik River in pouring rain, just me and the small boat operator (smaller them your boat) and hours long trips down the rivers of Borneo, both similar to the mangrove part of your trip. However, I would gladly do them over again than take your open water journey that had me bracing with every bump at the seat of my computer. LOL. I hope your backs were okay. What a journey and thanks for sharing. Did you have to do this in the dark coming back????
@JetAway
In a review that Lucky link to earlier some of the comments mentioned that a lot of the guest were Brits that had won the stay or bought it trough charity actions.
So the business model seems to be; set a very high rate and then sell it at deep discount to resellers that can claim you are getting a deal of lifetime.
Doubt they get many guest that pay the full $2800 per night, hence the rather shabby transfer arrangements.
When are you planning on posting your review of the resort itself itself? I’m interested in seeing how your’s compares to the recent review of this same property on TPG.
Can't help you with the bad back other than suggesting you do your stretching exercises daily.
As for seasickness... scapolamine transdermal patches (prescription required) placed behind your earlobe are life changing. Makes seasickness a thing of the past!
@Ben ,
I am sure you have been to Maldives and you know they have seaplanes there which are fantastic . However sea needs to be relatively calm and perhaps a plane does not make sense for a resort with 4 rooms .
Sorry for random ?. But what did you use for transfers to and from the Hyatt place by the airport? Thinking that’s the best way to make sure timing is good for arrival and departure ♂️