With only 4 luxury beachfront suites, exclusivity comes as standard; and with a team of 25 staff for a . I hope you get him a helicopter back. Overall, I found the booking and pre-arrival experience to be seamless, if a little shrouded in mystery. Calala/VeryFirstTo. While breakfast and lunch were always delicious, its the dinner service where Calala Islands incredible culinary team and service staff truly shine. The toilet is housed in a separate chamber. Upon your arrival, youre set up with a WhatsApp chat group with Claudia and Leon, as well as a separate WhatsApp line to the front-of-house team. Calala Island, Calala Island: "how do I get there" | Check out answers, plus 53 reviews and 268 candid photos Ranked #1 of 1 hotel in Calala Island and rated 5 of 5 at Tripadvisor. @ 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. As mentioned above, transfers are included with room rates at Calala Island, so Mandy takes care of all of that. Normally, the staff likes to serve lunch near the infinity pool on the northern side of the island, either underneath a little surf shack or closer to the beach during sunny weather. Whats more, the water is piping-hot with superb water pressure, so it makes for an all-round excellent shower experience one that I enjoyed so much, I ended up taking about three showers per day in-between spending time on the beach, dipping in the ocean, and going for meals and drinks. They nailed the foundational service principles, from greeting us with a smile every morning to ensuring our drink glasses were never empty for more than a few seconds during mealtime. CALALA ISLAND - Updated 2022 Prices & Resort Reviews (Nicaragua) Book Calala Island, Calala Island on Tripadvisor: See 53 traveler reviews, 268 candid photos, and great deals for Calala Island, ranked #1 of 1 hotel in Calala Island and rated 5 of 5 at Tripadvisor. Any information published by Cond Nast Traveler is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should . See more about our ethics policies here. Trip report for Calala Island : r/awardtravel - Reddit Review: Calala Island Nicaragua - One Mile at a Time In hindsight, Im glad that Claudia gave Jessy a heads-up about what to expect, as I dont think Jessy wouldve been a very happy boat passenger otherwise. @ 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. With all the ingredients fresh from the ocean, we couldnt really go wrong here so we sampled everything from the snapper ceviche to the snapper croquettes to the snapper fillet, from the lobster skewers to the lobster burger. I must admit, even as someone who was relishing this part of the journey, I was ready for it to end by the time we pulled into the lagoon. When you think of your transfer to a $2,800 per night resort that includes going out into the open ocean, the below boat is probably not what youre expecting but thats exactly what you get. Heres the thing a rough boat ride is kind of fun for like five minutes, or maybe ten minutes tops. Safe online bookings without fees Excellent reputation Value for money Door-to-door service The second nights tasting menu read as follows: The highlight for me was the pork ribs with yuca, which were decadently marinated and presented in an ornate elevated dish. Haha I loved this post. Up to 12% cash back for the first three months. The open ocean part of the video had me straight up laughing the entire time. The Calala-bound passengers (ourselves and another couple from the US) were given priority to walk across the tarmac and board the plane. ), Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners, To get from Managua Airport to Calala Island, we either had to be at the airport at 5:45AM or 1PM, To get from Calala Island to Managua Airport, we could either be back at the airport at 9:45AM or 5:15PM, From Managua to Bluefields to Corn Island to Managua, From Managua to Corn Island to Bluefields to Managua, From Managua to Bluefields to Corn Island to Bluefields to Managua, Youre going really fast, to the point that your eyes are watering and you can barely look outside, even with sunglasses; I spent most of the boat ride just looking down, The boat just constantly hits the water over and over and over; its physically painful, Make sure you put on lots of sunscreen, since theres no shade, Similarly, if it rains youre exposed to all of the elements, and weather in this region changes very quickly; your bags are put into plastic bags and trash bags so that they dont get wet, and youre given a poncho, There is an option to pay to use a helicopter, though its exorbitantly expensive, and personally Im terrified of helicopters, so wouldnt consider it, While a nicer boat might sound nice, theres a practical reason for these boats, which is that they can go in really shallow water, and in some cases youre in water thats just a few feet deep, In some cases you go through some tight turns in the lagoons and mangroves, and a bigger boat just doesnt make sense, The boat goes really fast, so short of taking a huge speedboat, its going to be rough, Ill say this about the resort in advance I dont at all understand economics of Calala Island, and I imagine a more luxurious boat transfer would throw off the numbers even more, Its nice that they at least fully include the transfer with the rate, even when paying with points, The whole transfer is well organized, if nothing else, Given the unique challenges the resort faces, this system is probably the only economically viable and practical way to get people to the resort.