Nicaragua Beach Towns (Masachapa, Pochomil, Montelimar) *adding pics later

All these beach towns are connected to each other. Only 60 kilometers from Managua (about 40 miles), starting in Managua you can take the South Highway (Carretera Sur) and then continue on the old highway to León (Carretera Vieja a León) until you see the signs to Pochomil and Masachapa pointing to the left. It takes about an hour to get there. You can take a bus to Pochomil and Masachapa from the Israel Lewites market. The price is approximately $0.70.
You will drive through many little mountain towns, if you are not used to it, you will spot poverty and meager ways of living, and there are places along the way to stop and get munchies like at Raspado Loly's, many places to stop for Quesillo and beer, etc. But once you reach Pochomil and Masachapa you drive all the way to the end of the town (toward the beach) and park. You can ask around about renting horses to ride on the beach or ask about the local eateries. On the left, down this little sliver of road is Hotel Summer right on the beautiful ocean waters. There are many places to eat that look at the ocean...this is just the one we stopped at for a quick breakfast before heading into Montelimar resort. We had a "plato típico" which includes Gallo Pinto, Platano frito, Queso frito, and eggs any style (of course I just asked for more gallo pinto instead of eggs), plus a cup of café con leche.

Signs to Barceló Montelimár resort http://centralamerica.com/nicaragua/hotels/montel.htm can be found to the right upon entering Pochomil and Masachapa. Just follow that road to the right past the 5 miles or so of sugar cane crops along the sides...you will eventually see the beach on the left side of the curving road, to the left, an old landing platform once used as an airport, straight ahead, is the gated entrance to Montelimar. The resort sits on 700 hectares = 1729.7 acres...it was land that belonged to once-president "Tachito" Somoza, before being assasinated in 1980.
The open-air lobby is grat for the heat, and once you get your all-inclusive bracelet on...you can enjoy free drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) while you're waiting to get you luggage to your room. There are choices of hotel room in the hotel structure or in the bungalows - which are on the "lower" part of the property closer to the beach and you can either walk or take the tram.
When I say all-inclusive, I mean the price includes every all-you-can-eat meal at the dining area (cafeteria style) that sits about 10 feet from the beach and has a view of the ocean. There are hammocks all along the beach, underneath all the beautiful native trees, there are 2 pools (that I've seen), countless activities from pool-side dance classes to bike-riding ($5/hour to rent bike), there is a small zoo, a casino, a small performance stage, Ping-Pong, a children's play area, Boogie board & AV rentals, Basketball and Tennis courts, Beach volleyball, I could go on, but I think you get the point!