Thinking of Vacation in Central America? Cross Nicaragua Off Your List!

As Americans began to return to travel, flights to Central American and Caribbean destinations are starting to pick up.  But one country continues to lag behind the others-- becoming even more of a pain-in-the-ass vacation destination, as compared to how travel existed there pre-COVID.

American Airlines has still not resumed flights to Managua-- even though it has resumed flying to many other destinations across Central America.  Avianca is the only airline flying to Nicaragua and results from PCR tests taken no more than 72 hours prior must be sent to the airline as a PDF format no less than 36 hours prior to arriving in the country.  Vacationers have discovered the hard way that they must also carrying original copies with them as well.   In addition, travelers have reported that the PCR test results will not be approved to board the flight to Managua if the submitted rest results do not contain a signature and seal (stamp) and an official logo on the document. Test providers are understandably confused by the requests for original signatures and seals/stamps of approval-- but travelers are doing whatever they can to get into the country any way they can.  Airlines are also apparently being fined by the Nicaraguan government if they allow any passengers to board that have detectable COVID infections upon arrival.   This has resulted in many airlines not resuming flights to Nicaragua-- holding back from doing so simply to avoid the hassle and risk of screwing up with the Nicaragua government rules and dealing with all the passengers who are denied boarding.  

The Nicaraguan government also requires travelers complete/submit an online form on the country's website 7 days prior to arrival-- separate from whatever paperwork is required by the airline.  By trial and error, people are discovering there's less bureaucracy to flying to Costa Rica and entering Nicaragua on a bus and crossing at a land border, rather than dealing with Avianca and bureaucrats in Managua trying to process visas for all the incoming flights. Due to the uptick in border crossings from Costa Rica, there are now local Nicaraguan scammers hanging out near immigration office (such as Penas Blancas) asking tourists to pay a "local city tax" of $1 or $2 (which many visitors gladly pay if that will help ensure entry into the country).

To make matters worse, in the last month reports started seeping out of the country that officials are searching the bags of all arriving airline passengers (not just a random sample).  They are apparently looking for multiples of items and will accuse the travelers of bringing them into the country for resale.  One visitor had duffle bags of random items such as clothes and shoes and books and kitchen items and was accused of wanting to resell them (even though many of the items were already used). The officials then ask the traveler to pay up to three times the value of each item or be detained. According to the observations of this traveler, there is no rhythm or reason to the searches, and the officials usually don't know what their looking for.

Getting PCR tests in Managua to return to the U.S. are problematic as well.  There are only 2 or 3 testing centers in the country-- and they are all in the capital, which means that travelers have to waste spending their last night (or two) in Managua to get an appointment for a $100-150 PCR test and receive their results at least 24 hours prior to departure.  To avoid this, people have been bringing in PCR test kits with them from the States (that require monitoring by a proctor over the internet), but there are now reports that border officials have been confiscating the self test kits when entering the country.

And if all of that didn't discourage you-- another recent traveler reported that Nicaraguan immigration officials are checking vacationers' social media.   An American  woman was apparently denied entry into the country due to a 2018 Facebook share of a meeting of the Organization of American States.  Nicaragua abruptly withdrew from the OAS in April due to criticism of its recent elections.  Nicaragua’s decision came after the OAS General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that Nicaragua’s most recent presidential election was “not free, fair or transparent and [has] no democratic legitimacy” — undermining President Daniel Ortega’s claim to the office.