Nicaragua (Republic of Nicaragua)

Languages: Spanish

Currencies: NIO · Nicaraguan córdoba (C$)

Capitol: Managua

Continents: North America

Borders: Honduras, Costa Rica

More useful information

Area: 130,373km2

Population: 6,624,554

Traffic/driving side: right

Landlocked country: No

Independent country: Yes

United Nations member: Yes

IDD Prefix: +505

Timezones: UTC-06:00

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Last updated on July 14, 2023

Masaya Volcano night tour and lava watching is one of the most incredible experiences of wild Nicaragua. The highlight of the spectacular volcano night tour is the impressive Santiago crater along with the sound of lava flowing below your feet.

Masaya Volcano night tour – lava watching.

Masaya Volcano is one of the can’t miss attractions when traveling in Nicaragua. 

Masaya Volcano National Park lies between the cities of Managua and Granada and it is the largest national park in the country. It’s possible to explore the park on a day time or take a night tour for lava watching. 

Advice – never travel to Managua if you don’t have to! It’s a heavy, busy city with almost nothing to see! Granada city is nice, while Leon should be your must see destination – READ more HERE.  

If you are booking a tour to masaya Volcano, Granada is worth visiting too. We were very keen to reach Masaya by ourselves, without any guides and organized torus. But for night tour and lava watching I highly recommend booking an organized tour. 

How to get to Masaya Volcano.

Most importantly – it is only possible to visit Masaya Volcano by car, there were no walkups allowed at the time we were traveling. Masaya Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua. For safety reasons you are not permitted to walk the park on your own at night time. 

Only vehicles are accessible during night time, co they can control trafic and evacuate people if any danger occurs. Bus tour is the cheapest and most comfortable way to visit volcano at night time. We paid 20$ per person (normal prize) for the organized trip. Single entrance fee to the park after 4 p.m. is 10$, and it’s included in the price.

Once you have booked Masaya Volcano night tour, you will leave Granada around at 4 p.m. and return after 8 p.m. Be prepared there’s a lot of vehicles waiting to enter the National Park for the night tour to Masaya Volcano. 

We waited almost 3 hours to get through the gate and drive to the top of the volcano, which leaves you with maximum 15 minutes lava watching from the edge of the crater. 

Masaya Volcano crater.

I know it sounds short but at the same time 15 minutes it’s long enough to experience this phenomenon. It is really a huge attraction to watch! The sound of flowing lava is hipnotizing. If you are visiting the park in the day time, the lava imporession obviously is not going to be the same. But there are many other things to do and trails to hike in the park. The volcano landscape across the national park is incredible. The entrance to the National Park during day time is much cheaper, you are not limited with time and you can also do some volcano hiking with many viewpoints across the area.

Lava inside Masaya Volcano
Sassari Sardinia

Hey - I'm Eva!

Hiker, adventurous traveler and the author of this blog. My biggest joy is mountaineering and writing reportage travel stories here on this blog, to help you create a unique travel experience. Traveling is freedom, allows you seeing the world truly, meet communities, grow. Taste it!
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