Pochomil - Surfer's Paradise

Pedro Tosh was anxious to depart from Granada, so we decided to head straight for the beach. Having some difficulty figuring out which bus to take to our destination, Pochomil, we jumped a cab for $35 to take us directly from Masaya (where the first bus out of Granada dropped us). The drive was a little more than an hour long - much easier than spending three hours on different buses to get there, and totally enjoyable. The cab driver was fun to chat it up with while pointing out different interesting facts along the way, such as the highest point of the mountain we had to climb on our way out to the Pacific. The entire drive was beautiful with great travel companions. Once we arrived at the entrance gate to the community of Pochomil, a hustler was waiting to lure any arriving tourist to his beach cabinas. I paid the fee to enter and we followed him on his bike to the rooms on the beach. Of course, being the savvy business man that he was, he insisted that his was the best location as one could walk a mere 20 steps and be in the water. This was true, then he also generously offered to have his wife cook up any meal on the menu immediately, insisting that I must be starved. When he asked for $20 for his very basic room, I pulled out my handy guide book and showed him that others were recommended and were much cheaper. We then agreed on a fair price of $10 per night. They ended up making a killing off of the price for the meals, as did every outfit along the beach. Meals were two to three times the price of anywhere else I'd been in Nicaragua. According to the locals, this is because it is a popular tourist stop. However, being there during the week, I saw no other tourists with completely empty waves and beaches all to ourselves. I even talked a local surfer boy into letting me borrow his board for a quick surf session to test out the arm. It was heaven, and the waves were HUGE.