What is the culture of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua?
Joe Lopes - las escadas condominiums
The Nicaraguans of San Juan del Sur are very religious, very political, and very social. They are a very happy group of people. They have gatherings all the time. When you walk around, you will always hear music everywhere. They have a lot gatherings, whether religious or political. Nicaraguans always find a reason or purpose to gather.
Some expats join locals in their gatherings. I, myself, join locals in their gatherings. I am a person who likes to blend...
The Nicaraguans of San Juan del Sur are very religious, very political, and very social. They are a very happy group of people. They have gatherings all the time. When you walk around, you will always hear music everywhere. They have a lot gatherings, whether religious or political. Nicaraguans always find a reason or purpose to gather.
Some expats join locals in their gatherings. I, myself, join locals in their gatherings. I am a person who likes to blend in because the more you blend in with the people, the more you are accepted in the community. I did that even when I was living in Canada. You cannot forget your roots, but do not expect people to change for you; you have to change for them. I blend in and people accept me. Nicaraguans accept expats with open arms. For them, the more, the better. They are very nice and extremely sociable.
Posted October 18, 2014
Eugenio Cortez - Hacienda & Ecolodge Morgan´s Rock
The culture of San Juan Del Sur is very laid back. The day-to-day life of people from San Juan Del Sur is very simple. They work, but they do not work too hard. They take care of their own businesses. The people of San Juan Del Sur are very friendly, but they are the opposite of “hardworking.” Since many tourists and expats come to San Juan Del Sur, their cultures start to blend in with the locals, too. For example, you can now see some of...
The culture of San Juan Del Sur is very laid back. The day-to-day life of people from San Juan Del Sur is very simple. They work, but they do not work too hard. They take care of their own businesses. The people of San Juan Del Sur are very friendly, but they are the opposite of “hardworking.” Since many tourists and expats come to San Juan Del Sur, their cultures start to blend in with the locals, too. For example, you can now see some of the local Nicaraguans wear their caps backwards! You start seeing them wearing different types of shirts that you know they did not wear in the past. They have also adopted some hand signs and hair styles from tourists or expats that would make you say, “I know you; you weren’t like this five years ago.”
Posted December 28, 2014
David Smith - Nicaragua Sotheby's International Realty
The culture of San Juan del is a little bit of everything.
San Juan del Sur is predominantly a tourist beach town so there are a lot of transient people passing through, which keeps it spicy. We have a synagogue in San Juan. We only have a population of 15,000 or 16,000 people and we have a synagogue for the Jewish community and the Israeli community and Orthodox as well. We have everything from orthodox religious groups to hippie to any type of...
The culture of San Juan del is a little bit of everything.
San Juan del Sur is predominantly a tourist beach town so there are a lot of transient people passing through, which keeps it spicy. We have a synagogue in San Juan. We only have a population of 15,000 or 16,000 people and we have a synagogue for the Jewish community and the Israeli community and Orthodox as well. We have everything from orthodox religious groups to hippie to any type of dogma at all and everything in between—old, young, etc. The culture is hugely varied and provides the opportunity to dip in to anything that you might want to or fancy or try. And yet at the same time it’s still very Nicaraguan.
Most of the restaurants along the beach are Nicaraguan owned and operated and so you have a lot of Nicaraguan food. There’s no barrier between the Nicaraguans and the beach community, unlike how it’s developed in Costa Rica. We don’t have high-rises, which are prohibited. So we don’t get a lot of condos along the beach where you would tend to find expats and wealthier tourists congregating, so there’s no separation. The people and culture is still very integrated in San Juan. Nicaraguans are everywhere.
One of the main reasons I came here is that I did not want to be on a resort behind the gate where I’d be exclusively with other gringos and the only Nicaraguans would be those serving.
Posted September 8, 2016
Gordon MacKay - InNicaNow.com
San Juan del Sur is a surf and yoga town, and a fishing village. San Juan del Sur is really a bit of many things. When we drive into town from visiting another city, as I pull into town I immediately feel more relaxed as I see people walking slower, just taking time to enjoy the day. There’s no stress in San Juan del Sur. There’s a saying here, “Tuani, diakachimba, bueno anda” (good waves.) They all mean the same thing- it’s...
San Juan del Sur is a surf and yoga town, and a fishing village. San Juan del Sur is really a bit of many things. When we drive into town from visiting another city, as I pull into town I immediately feel more relaxed as I see people walking slower, just taking time to enjoy the day. There’s no stress in San Juan del Sur. There’s a saying here, “Tuani, diakachimba, bueno anda” (good waves.) They all mean the same thing- it’s all good, life is good. It’s the Nicaraguan version of Costa Rica’s "Pura vida.”
In San Juan del Sur and in Nicaragua in general, there are many holidays. I remember when we first moved to Nicaragua, we thought we’d do a blog post on all of the holidays, and we gave up really quickly because there’s something going on every month, and there’s rarely a day or a week that there isn’t a holiday that’s celebrated.
There’s Semana Santa, which is the 10-day Easter week celebration where all the locals head to any beach they can find, and San Juan del Sur is definitely one of the hot spots for that. The town probably swells four to five times its size for Semana Santa. Semana Santa is the biggest holiday in Nicaragua, but it’s one of many.
A celebration unique to San Juan del Sur is the feast of San Juan Baptista. During its week-long celebration in September, there are two parades. The feast of San Juan Baptista is a religious holiday, as are almost all holidays (Catholic).
As with most holidays for Nicaraguans, it’s a time to get together for families, to cook meals together, and it’s definitely a time for parades and fireworks.
(Mother's Day, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.)
Posted October 12, 2017