San Juan del Sur is a
municipality and coastal town on the
Pacific Ocean, in the
Rivas department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in southwest
Nicaragua. It is located south of
Managua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan families and foreign tourists.
Its population is approximately 15,553, consisting largely of families engaged in fishing, tourism or food and beverage industry and foreigners from the
United States,
Canada and
Europe. While the local economy was, for many years, based on fishing and shipping, it has shifted towards tourism in the last 20 years. In October 2002, to mark the city's 150th anniversary, it was formally designated the "Port of San Juan del Sur" and a "Tourism City of Nicaragua."
San Juan del Sur, set beside a crescent-shaped bay, was a popular resting place for gold prospectors headed to
California in the 1850s. Correspondingly, San Juan del Sur served as a hub for
Cornelius Vanderbilt Lines.
A statue of the
Christ of the Mercy sits above town on the northern end of the bay. The Mirador del Cristo de la Misericordia sits on one of the highest points on the bay and is one of the tallest Jesus statues in the world.
The town is near the site where ''
Survivor: Nicaragua'' and ''
Survivor: Redemption Island'' were filmed.
Those seasons aired in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The 29th U.S. Survivor season, ''
Survivor: San Juan del Sur'' (2014), was also filmed there, as was Season 30, ''
Survivor: Worlds Apart'', which aired in 2015. San Juan del Sur has become a hot spot for international surfing competition.
Nicaragua Canal
San Juan del Sur is the port on the Pacific that has been focus of many historic and modern day
Nicaragua Canal proposals because of its location on the narrow isthmus of Rivas between the
Pacific Ocean and
Lake Nicaragua.
U.S. Intervention in San Juan del Sur
U.S. backed forces engaged in armed conflict in San Juan del Sur on March 7, 1984.
The 1992 Nicaraguan tsunami
On September 2, 1992, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake off the central coast of Nicaragua generated a
tsunami that devastated many communities along the Pacific Coast. Run-up values along the coast ranged from 2m in the north and south to up to 10m in some central locations. Run-up values in San Juan del Sur were approximately 5m. As a result of the tsunami an estimated 60% of homes in the community were destroyed, approximately 800 residents were displaced, and businesses and homes along the Malecón suffered severe damage.
Geography
Climate
The climate for San Juan del Sur is a
tropical savanna climate (''Aw'' according to the
Köppen climate classification), with constant and very warm temperatures throughout the year. The dry season lasts from December to May, with a substantial and heavy rainy season throughout the remainder of the year, with an average yearly rainfall of .
International relations
The Barrio Planta Project school is supported by a US-based
501(c)(3) organization
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...
.
Twin towns – Sister cities
San Juan del Sur is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
*
Gießen,
Germany
*
Newton, Massachusetts, USA
[Newton-San Juan del Sur Sister City Project](_blank)
Retrieved 2008-06-07.
*
Sauda,
Norway
*
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Gallery
File:SJDS (Acunapic).jpg, Image taken from the Christ of Mercy hill
File:San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. View from SANSA Flight (Liberia-Costa Esmeralda).jpg, San Juan del Sur Bay, aerial view
File:Bahia de San Juan.jpg, San Juan del Sur beach, and the hill with the Christ of Mercy atop
File:SanjuandelsurIV.JPG, Sunset at San Juan del Sur bay.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Nicaragua
References
External links
Points of interest on the map for San Juan del Sur- Interactive online map of San Juan del Sur
San Juan Live- Practical Lifestyle Information on San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Nicaragua Earthquake/Tsunami Sep 1992 UNDHA Situation Reports 1 – 7* Satake, K., J. Bourgeois, K. Abe, K. Abe, Y. Tsuji, F. Imamura, Y. Iio, H. Katao, E. Noguera, and F. Estrada. 1993. Tsunami Field Survey of the 1992 Nicaragua Earthquake. Eos, 74:145-160.
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q33411587
Municipalities of the Rivas Department
Populated coastal places in Nicaragua
Lighthouses in Nicaragua