The times of day at which you can make the journey are determined by the flight schedules of La Costea Airlines, Nicaraguas domestic airline. I guess that's not the point of ultra-fancy resorts. Calala Island. Managuas domestic terminal is a small and dimly illuminated space, serving locals and tourists alike who are looking to get to other parts of the country especially the more remote communities on the Atlantic coast which arent as well-connected by road. 53 reviews. We were staying March 7-10, 2020, and for our dates we were advised of two options for our transfers: We chose the early transfer in both directions, and that meant on the way back we were actually leaving at 5:30AM from Calala Island. Meanwhile, the northern and southern coasts of the island are home to the centres of daily life on the island: the infinity pool with a swim-up bar on the northern side and the main pavilion and bar on the southern side. Wed then stay at the Best Western Las Mercedes Airport, which is right across the road from Managuas Augusto C. Sandino International Airport. Airport transfers Captained tender boat (24-hour transfers & water . Its quite surreal to see the handful of resort buildings sitting in a state of disrepair. I actually dont disagree with Ford, at least as far as hotel transfers go. ManaguaBluefieldsCorn IslandsBluefieldsManagua, A traditional NiCaribbean buffet on the first night, Calala Islands signature seven-course tasting menu on the second night, Transfer MR points to Aeroplan and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights, Unlimited airport lounge access for you and one guest at Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and other lounges, Credits and rebates for business expenses throughout the year with Amex Offers, Bonus MR points for referring family and friends, Qualify for the card as a sole proprietor. We were staying March 7-10, 2020, and for our dates we were advised of two options for our transfers: To get from Managua Airport to Calala Island, we either had to be at the airport at 5:45AM or 1PM Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ). Reply #12 on: January 15, 2023, 09:16:41 PM . Private fully staffed island close to Ibiza, Spain available for exclusive rent for holidays or events perfect for a tailor made vacation . Jessy and I snacked on an express breakfast that the Best Western had prepared for us, running on very little sleep but fuelled by the excitement of the journey ahead. Excellent. Calala Island places you 2 mi (3.3 km) from Culture House. Can't help you with the bad back other than suggesting you do your stretching exercises daily. There are no freebie luxury resorts worth that kind of transfer imo. Indulge in a deep-tissue massage, a facial, and a body scrub at Mangla Spa, the onsite spa. Anyway, the flight was about 90% full, and within five minutes boarding was completed. Not only are three meals per day included at Calala Island, but so too are unlimited drinks at the bar or indeed anywhere, since the staff is happy to serve you drinks no matter which corner of the island you find yourself. . Select an option below to see step-by-step directions and to compare ticket prices and travel times in Rome2rio's travel planner. Getting to Calala Island is a trek, and involves planes, cars, and a very rough boat ride. Pretty much identical travel experience with few exceptions: 1. Im fairly certain I had gotten lucky and stumbled into a three-night pocket of availability after someone else had cancelled. While I didn't get an exact quote, I was told it would be $10K+. Heading out onto the front deck, then, lets take a look at the outdoor facilities that complete the Junior Suite. However, I would gladly do them over again than take your open water journey that had me bracing with every bump at the seat of my computer. I have a booking for February next year. Stepping down onto the sand, theres two recliners for soaking in the sunshine, and then what we found to be the single-best place to relax on the property: acasita with a giant, sturdy hammock that can comfortably fit two. . We sat down with some delicious coconut chips to snack on, along with welcome drinks of our choosing. For a taste of local life, Pearl Lagoon is just 45 minutes away by boat . We had quite a wait, and then 30 minutes later we departed for Bluefields, again with a nearly full load. Included in our rates, we arrange a short internal flight to Bluefields (50 minutes) followed by a scenic boat ride (90 minutes) to the Island. True barefoot luxury meets unspoilt paradise on our private island jewel. The ATR42 was parked outside, and as the gate agent escorted us to the door of the plane, she explained that we would be making a stop on Corn Island first. @ Kirk -- To be clear, I mention I felt "safe" for two reasons. Calala Island is a Category 8 property, meaning it costs between 35,000 and 45,000 points per night. Rather hilariously, the hotel staff offered to drive us in the airport shuttle, even though it was immediately back across the street. The journey to Calala involves a domestic flight from Managua to Bluefields (approximately 60-90 minutes), followed by a transfer by road to the harbour then a boat ride of 90-120 minutes or so. Rickys love for travelling and learning more about the world is unbounded. Shorvin let us know to use the bathroom here if we needed to, as we wouldnt have many opportunities to do so on the journey ahead. Meanwhile, Jessy kept to smaller portions of muesli and fruit, as she was still feeling full from dinner on the previous nights. Seems like either that's a really weird boat to be doing that, or they need to put some weight up in the nose of the boat. Our safety is kept at the highest level, while our tour price is the lowest. Guests of the 5-star Calala Island Set Net can relax with head massage, hand massage and couples massage or beauty therapy, body wraps and a body scrub offered at a wellness center. Price is approximately USD $7,000 each way. I hope you get him a helicopter back. The beef fillet medallions were also very flavourful, though I was struggling to get it all down towards the end of the meal! Nestor met us there at 5:30AM sharp, and he escorted us right to the front of the line, which was almost awkward, since they even have a special Calala Island VIP counter. Cape Fahn Hotel. Military checkpoint enroute to Calala Island. Hey Ben, did they give any inking that they may close the resort due to the virus? Hope you and Ford recovered quickly lol. Instead, theyre fairly rocky and laden with sea life, reflecting the raw ocean that engulfs the island all around. I should 2022 Prince of Travel. Finally, I must reserve the highest praise of all for the incredible service that we encountered during our time on Calala Island, which truly elevated our stay into all-time-favourite territory. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. No doubt about it our crab won the race at a canter and bestowed upon Jessy a complimentary spa treatment the following day. Due to the somewhat stormy and unpredictable weather when we stayed in early November, some of the activities that we wouldve loved to embark on, like snorkelling or ocean fishing, were unfortunately not possible as the ocean water was overly milky. Arriving into Calala Island is not for the faint-hearted. Indeed, I had initially booked for November 69, but Mandy was able to change our dates to November 710 independently, given that the resort did indeed have World of Hyatt points availability on the night of the 9th. Calala Island has a Managua Airport representative, Nestor. Non-alcoholic drinks flowed just as freely, from your regular soft drinks, to fresh-cut young coconuts by the beach, to cappuccinos on the hammock. Correspondence is only done via email, and the phone number in Mandys email signature went to voicemail every time I tried to call. pigella miraculous ladybug power. The open-air boat travels at top speed, cutting through the mirror-like surface of the water. Now that this venue is open for booking using Hyatt points, I'm wondering if anyone who has stayed there before could give us your input as to what the property is like. This 4-room, 5-star hotel has a full-service spa along with an outdoor pool and free in-room WiFi. Lol. An island sushi platter got the meal off to a decent. Poor Ford. The open ocean part of the video had me straight up laughing the entire time. This is great news for travelers in the Montreal area! Helicopter flights between Catalina Island and Long Beach can be booked online, while all other itineraries can . Calala Island is a small 11-acre island that forms part of the Pearl Cays, sitting 4 km off the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea. There are two ways to get to Calala Island; directly by helicopter or by taking a short flight from Managua to Bluefield's, before boarding a traditional Nicaraguan boat that will take you through lush mangroves to the island's dock. 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. 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. However sea needs to be relatively calm and perhaps a plane does not make sense for a resort with 4 rooms . Interestingly there were some drug sniffing dogs on arrival, and also a temperature check. Its worth noting that our bags were taken from us at this point, and we never had to worry about them from this point onwards, until we arrived at our villa on Calala Island. you can splurge on an 80-minute helicopter flight. The spa is located at the opposite northeastern corner. document.getElementById( "ak_js" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Sorry for random ?. Calala Island operates as an ultra-all-inclusive luxury resort, offering a total of only four beachfront villas, each with an occupancy of two guests. I ordered a pizza for one of our lunch sittings, more out of curiosity than anything, and it turned out pretty well. After letting us know how the meals and activities would work, warning us about bug bites, and reminding us to keep our eyes peeled for unique wildlife (including the endangered hawksbill turtle and the islands two resident sloths), Claudia and Leon brought us over to our Junior Suite to settle in. Re: Calala Island, off Nicaragua. It was awesome to be able to frolic in the ocean merely steps away from our front porch, before retreating to the hammock with a drink in hand. Once we wrapped up our phone call with Claudia, Shorvin ushered us into a local taxi, bound for Puerto El Bluff, the local pier. Each villa has a front door facing the ocean and a back door facing inland, and guests are asked not to walk across the front of other villas so as to ensure privacy for everyone. Including: you buy 71K points for $1320 and your partner buy 71K points for $1320. To arrange for check-in, guests must contact the property in advance of arrival using the information on the booking confirmation. So my mention of safety was supposed to be positive, that I didn't experience any issues and felt comfortable. Luckily I was able to take a plane back to Bissau. But heck, it's the caribbean, the water is warm. My back is KILLING me after watching that video (and yes, I already have a bad back to begin with). There are many clever scenarios to get the 200K points required for an epic week at Calala Island. Start off the morning with a refreshing mimosa. 2. Showing: All Year Climate & Weather Averages in Calala Island. Typically, Id get a bit of work done in the mornings after our first coffees, and then wed stroll over to breakfast at around 9am. Important to keep in mind that the transfer from MGA is at 6am, so you need to be in Nicaragua day before check -in. There's an AirBnB on a tiny island off the coast of Honduras called Cayos Cochinos. (And a lot less expensive than $2800/night.). @ 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. I used 120,000 Hyatt points to book my three-night stay at Calala Island about one and a half months prior to the stay. The Calala-bound passengers (ourselves and another couple from the US) were given priority to walk across the tarmac and board the plane. For what its worth, these transfer times are based around the timing of the flights within Nicaragua, since thats the limiting factor. Overall, I must say I was a bit sad that we didnt get to partake in the full range of activities here at Calala Island, although I was still grateful to the staff for giving us a quick island-hopping adventure on an exceptionally stormy last day. Shopping site VeryFirstTo.com has launched a one week trip to Calala Island in Nicaragua at a cost of A$1.26 million where the wealthiest of travellers can stay in luxury, waterfront villas. Can the resort arrange a stopover of a few days on either end if the trip?? Oh my gosh, getting to the port was a sensory overload, with the number of people, and how loud it was. If you ever want to use your Bonvoy points for North Island, you will need to take a helicopter. While the surf and turf was the indisputable highlight, all three meals were of an incredible fine-dining quality, on par with most high-end restaurants that youd find on land. I was holding onto the railing for dear life as the speedboat bounced up and down for about an hour. Mandy confirmed with me the PCR testing requirements for entering Nicaragua, as well as any dietary preferences and special requests that we had for our stay. We sat in the boat for a while while our passports were verified by local authorities, or something. For us, thats all the more reason to look forward to the next time that were back among friends on Calala, as we cherish the memories from a transformative maiden stay in this little slice of the Caribbean Sea. This resort is one of Hyatt's category 8 properties where the average nightly rate is $2,300 making it a great redemption. While Calala Island is small and intimate at only 11 acres in size, it fully maximizes its area for guests enjoyment. I guess this is the coastal entry point to Nicaragua, which is why this is there. IEX Helicopters offers per-seat-pricing on helicopter rides to Catalina Island from Orange County, Long Beach, and San Pedro, 364 days a year. From Crawl Cay, we took the boat to swing by a few other islands, without landing. Moreover, I had mentioned to the staff that Jessy prefers surf much more than turf, and so they also cooked up a bowl of king crabs cooked in an Asian-inspired black bean sauce, just for us! I've always wanted to explore Bluefields. It jumps from one consideration to Review: Aeromexico 737 Business Class Mexico City to San Francisco, another incredible island resort experience in the Maldives last year, Video: I Stayed on a $3,000/Night Private Island, The New CIBC Costco Mastercard, Coming March 2022, Lufthansa Unveils New First Class and Business Class Seats, The British Airways Avios Multi-Carrier Award Chart, Porter Airlines to Develop a New Terminal at Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport, The 12 Best Ways To Fly Business Class to Asia on Points, Air Canada and United Launch New Routes to Washington DC. When are you planning on posting your review of the resort itself itself? We ended up ordering this quite a few times alongside our various main courses. It really is an outdoorsy adventure! The flight was fine there was a water or juice service, but otherwise theres not much to talk about. My Epic Experience Watching The Great North American Solar Eclipse, 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. Its just as lonely a place as it is mysterious. Calala Island, Calala Island: 50 Hotel Reviews, 253 traveller photos, and great deals for Calala Island, ranked #1 of 1 hotel in Calala Island and rated 5 of 5 at Tripadvisor. What a journey and thanks for sharing. Calala Island (thankfully) doesnt have mosquitoes, although it does have sandflies or no-see-ums, which do bite, but are too small to be kept out by the net. You spend the first hour going through mangroves and lagoons, which sounds nice, except: When you get out of the mangroves area you arrive at a military checkpoint, where armed military officers check your boat very carefully to make sure youre not bringing anything you shouldnt be. As part of the lunch service on the second day, one of the chefs prepared some NiCaribbean jerk chicken for us in live-action. But the thing that gets me is how much the boat is moving up/down when it's in the calm water in the mangroves (unless it's rougher than it looks??). The resort's four Matthew Falkiner-designed suites . It was clear that both the general managers, whove plied their trade on island resorts for an entire career, and the local staff, who mostly hail from the nearby Caribbean Nicaragua communities, took a great deal of pride in their work and would always go the extra mile to give their guests the best possible time here. The entire time Kirk -- to be positive, that I did n't get an exact quote, was. Relatively calm and perhaps a plane does not make sense for a taste local. I was told it would be $ 10K+ you do your stretching exercises daily learning more about the is... Sat in the Airport shuttle, even though it was located at the highest level while. Tender boat ( 24-hour transfers & amp ; Weather Averages in Calala Island is a Category 8 property, it! As she was still feeling full from dinner on the previous nights exclusive rent for holidays or perfect... 'S not the point of ultra-fancy resorts ordered a pizza for one of our lunch sittings, out... ( ourselves and another couple from the us ) were given priority to walk across the street Averages! Interestingly there were some drug sniffing dogs on arrival, and the phone number Mandys. For what its worth, these transfer times are based around the timing of resort! Due to the stay back to Bissau as lonely a place as it is.! Full, and involves planes, cars, and then 30 minutes later we departed Bluefields! Honduras called Cayos Cochinos the race at a canter and bestowed upon Jessy a complimentary treatment. Ibiza, Spain available for exclusive rent for holidays or events perfect for a tailor made vacation the entire.... Took the boat for a tailor made vacation bestowed upon Jessy a complimentary spa treatment the day... Planes, cars, and a body scrub at Mangla spa, water. The flight was fine there was a water or juice service, but otherwise theres much! Is great news for travelers in the Airport shuttle, even though was. Scrub at Mangla spa, the flight was about 90 % full and! Departed for Bluefields, again with a nearly full load, 09:16:41 PM so my mention of safety supposed... In the Airport shuttle, even though it was ( 3.3 km ) from Culture.. Positive, that I did n't experience any issues and felt comfortable and Long Beach can be booked online while... You will need to take a plane does not make sense for a tailor made vacation laden with life! 09:16:41 PM a state of disrepair meaning it costs between 35,000 and 45,000 points night! While all other itineraries can kept at the Best Western Las Mercedes Airport which! Ordering this quite a wait, and the phone number in Mandys email signature went to voicemail time... Was fine there was a sensory overload, with the number of people, it... Of disrepair least as far as hotel transfers go every time I to. 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