Finca/Eco Hotel Aguas del Arenal | Established Campground

October 30th, 2023 by sonny jadun

Stayed here for a night. A beautiful place.The parking lot is small but the host Anabel and Jurgen, make up with their frienfliness and hospitality. If you are not in hiking and eco lodge environment, you may not like it. Fruit trees all around. I grabbed some Guavas on the way out.

April 4th, 2023 by hamon.fab

We slept here for only one night. We're in Easter Week so the hotel is pretty full and they do need their parking lot for hotel customers.
Hiking in the property is pretty nice. We were able to grab some water with our portable tank 'cause there are not water on the parking lot. 2 friendly dogs.
Be careful for the last 700m: Height limit around 3m (electric line across the road) and pretty narrow.
We're in a european RV, 2RWD 24ft

November 21st, 2022 by myuvalgo

far away from everything.
"nothing to do" here.
the car park is down from the property. no water, no electricity, no toilet.
everything is up and unavailable.
kitchen closed.
very pretty and we'll maintained.
but we don't recommend coming here.

April 18th, 2022 by fannyspironelli

We stayed one night at the finca. Very quiet and beautiful.You awake with the sounds of the birds. Fresh nights 18-19C degrees very enjoyable. Very nice owners. Short and cute sendero. There is a small parking lot that can accommodate 2 to 3 RVs not more. You can use the banos and the garden. For one night, family of 5 and RV plus a bag of coffee we paid approx 300C. Regarding the road, Google map is in fact wrong at the very end. Make a left, not a right

March 28th, 2022 by Struuners

Jürgen is a great guy and their coffee as well. Don't trust their dog when you decide to walk around, he'll walk ahead of you but doesn't take the right path... Definitely not our fault we took at 45 minute detour.

November 14th, 2021 by asobolife.com

A MUST place to visit and spend a few days.

Very nice coffee plantation resort. The host, Juergen, gave us the best coffee tour we’ve had so far. Very informational. BONUS: Tell him you’d also like to help pick the coffee cherries.

To get here, the second to last intersection is incorrect and Google maps will want you to take the right road, but this goes to a private home and it’s difficult to turn around. You should drive left. There is a little green sign at this intersection.

Also, parking can be tight and you’ll be parking in the parking lot. I’m not sure you can fit here if you’re driving anything bigger than a 6m Sprinter van.

Grab a bag of Juergen’s hand roasted coffee.

October 29th, 2021 by tanguy.adriaenssen

Such a serene place to spend some time! We camped here and enjoyed the tranquility of the place, nice walks through the forest… The owner is really nice the price is very reasonable. Since 2018 the hotel side of things has taken a bit but overlanders can still come and pitch a tent or park their van for a few bucks.
Follow google maps to get here, it took is right there without issues.

July 30th, 2021 by Hobbes OnTour

Fabulous place to just relax.
For cyclists it's about 5km generally down on rough but doable road. Getting out may be trickier in the wet. Definitely worth the detour in my opinion. Friendly, beautiful and great coffee.

April 19th, 2021 by landroots

Incredible place to stop. Fresh air with Good Coffee and safe place. We came here to take a rest during The weekend. The shower is the river.. Jurgen and Anabel are Amazing. Enjoy your stay here. Low Signal of Claro but possible to use The 3g. Don't use maps me, use Google maps.

April 13th, 2020 by cl.gluck

This place is nice and quiet, in the middle of the forest. The Finca ware closed because of Easter time and covid19 but Jurgen and Anabel accepted to let us camp at the entrance. We made nice hikes arround the property. Temperature is pleasant after the heat of the
Valleys. We recommand this place.

February 19th, 2020 by andrew.couch01

addendum: as stated earlier, follow the faded green signs for El Roble. the directions from iOverlander were correct except for the last turn. at the last split in the road, the directions say to go right (it's to a private home) you will see the faded green sign for El Roble/Aguas del Arenal pointing left. Follow the sign and the destination is will shortly down the down. there is a faded green sign in front of the entrance stating it's Aguas del Arenal.

February 19th, 2020 by andrew.couch01

what a gem! beautiful and tranquil place, we only met Anabel and the three dogs. all were very nice and incredible hospitable. our little dog and be antisocial with other dogs, and the others tolerated his presence with no problems. the air is nice and fresh, and cool! they did open a room for us to shower (cold water) at no extra charge. still $1pp with $1 for the van. we cooked ourselves..highly recommend if you want a nice, quiet and cool weather spot.

February 4th, 2020 by amraja

awesome place to camp, parking area can fit two medium sized rigs. prices are still $1/pp and $1 for the truck. food and drink is reasonable ($6/pp for dinner) or you can cook in the rig. easy drive from matagalpa and awesome cloud forest. can shower in the morning if a room is empty or pay extra for a free access to a room.

April 7th, 2019 by silasandcoryn

We had a great time at this beautiful place. All as described, food was tasty, coffee was delicious, and there is a nice hike you can do! Owners are also kind and helpful.

March 24th, 2019 by gaeltristanvoyagent.wordpress.com

Super family that hosts you very well. Llorgen can shows you his Finca of coffee and explains the whole process of coffee from the seed to the cup. Ask him about the plants and trees on his property he will answer you with pleasure. You can also walk around the reserva Arenal or to the selba negra.
They charged us 1US/pp per night for the parking, 2.5US/pp for the coffee tour and you can buy their coffee for 120/130C (bag of 350g).
We had a very nice stay and lot of fun to exchange with both of them. Tranquilo!

June 6th, 2018 by Martina

Low saison: no food, no Jürgen, no guests but still a quite and nice place. MapsMe will show you the wrong way! Follow all the El Roble signs until you see the entrance to the parking lot. The last 300 m we pulled down some branches with our 3.70m high truck....

April 26th, 2018 by travis.downs

Our favorite stop so far in Nicaragua. Juergen and Anabelle are welcoming, relaxed and happy tell you about the surrounding area or whatever you want to know.

Healthy, tasty food (a nice break from the often fried fare you find a lot in CA) for $5 a plate. Other prices as described below. Great shower: hot as you want with great pressure (solar heating). The place is powered by a DIY 2000W mini-hydro generator (an old bus alternator). Ask Juergen to show you!

The road was a bit rough but doable in our class B van with a long rear overhang without scraping anywhere. I think you could do it in almost any vehicle.

The GPS point here is accurate and Google maps will get you there fine (or just follow the small green metal signs to "El Roble" and later "Aguas del Arenal" when that option appears).

Highly recommend.

April 12th, 2018 by edward.moseley

It's possible the road here has been improved. The turnoff from the highway takes you down two km of hard packed dirt road (it's a little bumpy), and about one km of road with some loose rocks. Better than 90% of roads in Guatemala, haha. Our class B RV made it just fine and we don't have 4x4. Maybe in rainy season it's bad? Anyway very nice guys here, 90/night=2 ppl+van. We were able to shower in a used guest room. You can also swim in small reservoir in stream! Friendly dog Wolfie goes with you on the hikes!

April 2nd, 2018 by Famille-Lacroix

Spent 2 nights here in this beautiful area. Jurgen created a great place. Very refreshing stop. Coffee is great and trails are nice. Swimming is also possible!
We went here with our traction motorhome of 7 meters long and 3m high. No problem to access this place even if the gravel road is not so good...

March 22nd, 2018 by planr.org

Beautiful surrounding. You can hear the creek flowing and the birds, very quiet. Both jürgen and Anabel are easy going and very knowleadgable. He showed the whole group that was staying here the different plants and trees and talked about coffee. You can buy his coffee.

October 22nd, 2017 by rejsentilverdensende.dk

Checked in today. The information is still valid and it is a great place. We had a little challenge to find it as our GPS was 100 m wrong on the last road to the right (or the position is wrong) We go too far. The last road is small and it gets smaller and smaller. You may think it is wrong. But it is not. Just continue to the gate and small parking lot. We recommend!!!!

March 1st, 2017 by mark

Confirm as below. rough last three kms (bent my manifold downpipe at the bottom bend). 4100' up. Picked coffee for 3 hrs (felt like a local getting paid .50 cents/hour) got a beer out of it. Aside from horse and pony coffee tour, Juergen offers 4 hr. guided hikes in the neighboring mountains. Worth the 18km drive up and out of Matagalpa. Broke bread and ate at the family table for a few meals. Let;s you use one of his cabins (nice) for showers and w/c work. thumbs up.

January 25th, 2017 by 4runner4adventure.com

This place is incredibly tranquil. One of our favorite stops so far. You can hike around the area and visit some of the coffee plantations. You can use the toilet in their little restaurant. No wifi.

October 8th, 2016 by Fabian Pickel

Nice place in the countryside, beautiful finca, great and relaxed owners. Lunch/dinner available, toilet during daytime. Nice short hikes possible. Cool climate, very quiet, lovely surroundings. Felt very safe. 1 USD/night. No internet. Level parking in small lot (max. 8 cars). Problem for bigger rigs might be the bad access road (partly narrow, low branches).

June 30th, 2016 by Overland The Americas

Camped at parking lot of the eco-organic farm/boutique hotel. Anabel, the owner, was very nice. $1 usd per person per day, $1 usd per car per day to camp. Restrooms open only during the day up in the building. You can walk along the trails at no extra cost if you camp. Beautiful quiet property with nice cool temperatures. We really enjoyed our stay.

May 12th, 2016 by ycgfwcge

Very beautiful location! It's 1 US$ per person and 1 US$ per vehicle. Toilets available when someone is at home.

May 9th, 2016 by Manfred Thum

Real nice Finca with friendly Owner Jürgen.We loved this place.You can make little hikes, the nights cool down to 12degrees.
Everywhere you look around...green, green, orchids, flowers...amazing.
Jürgen is a real good cook ,too.Ask him to make a Pizza at the openfire in the living room....delicious.
You stay at the bottom of the finca. He will open a cabana, so you can use the superclean bathrooms there.He charges 1 dollar per person, 1 dollar for the truck....worth every penny....Hey Jürgen...we will remember youand your place!!!!

March 17th, 2016 by http://opp-joeck.de/

[email protected]
Km 142,5 carretera Matagalpa – Jinotega, then about 3,2 km down a dirt road. Follow the green signs to Centro de Gestión Ambiental “El Roble”. Then you pass directly the entrance to the farm, which is about 50 m before you would have to ford a small river.
The owners are Bavarian-born Juergen and his Nicaraguan wife Anabel. They grow coffee, bananas and flowers and run a small hotel with several cabañas. Overlanders are welcome. We stayed here for a few days, had lunch with the family and made an excellent half-day hiking excursion into the cloud forest of the Cerro Arenal Reserve. This was better and much cheaper than our Monteverde visit in Costa Rica.