San Francisco to Managua (SFO–MGA) — Airlines, Schedules & Connections

US passport holders enter Nicaragua visa-free for up to 90 days. No advance application is needed. Nicaragua is part of the CA-4 agreement with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, meaning the 90-day period is shared across all four countries. Passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of entry. A tourist card (tarjeta de turismo) costing $10 is purchased on arrival at Augusto C. Sandino International Airport (MGA) in Managua. A return or onward ticket is required.

The 90-day CA-4 clock starts when you enter any of the four member countries and does not reset when crossing borders between them. For stays beyond 90 days, exit to Costa Rica or another non-CA-4 country for at least 72 hours, then re-enter for a fresh 90 days. Granada, on the shore of Lake Nicaragua, is the main tourist hub with colorful colonial architecture. Leon has Nicaragua's largest cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. San Juan del Sur on the Pacific coast draws surfers. Ometepe Island, formed by two volcanoes rising from Lake Nicaragua, is reachable by ferry from San Jorge (1 hour).

Direct flights from Miami (MIA) to Managua run about 3 hours on American Airlines and Avianca. Houston (IAH) to MGA runs about 3 hours 30 minutes on United. Fort Lauderdale also has service. Nicaragua uses the Nicaraguan cordoba (NIO), trading at roughly 37 NIO per $1. US dollars are widely accepted in tourist areas, Granada, and San Juan del Sur. ATMs dispense cordobas and are available in cities. Card payments work at hotels and restaurants but cash is preferred at markets and smaller businesses. Chicken buses (repurposed US school buses) are the cheapest inter-city transport at NIO 30 to NIO 100 ($0.80 to $2.70). Express minibuses between Managua and Granada cost NIO 50 ($1.35) and take 1 hour.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) runs from downtown San Francisco (Embarcadero, Powell St.) to the SFO station and then a free AirTrain shuttle to all terminals (30–40 min from Embarcadero, $10.45). BART also connects Oakland and Berkeley; useful for East Bay travelers. Trains run from ~4am to midnight.Taxis from downtown San Francisco cost $40–60. Ride-hails (Uber, Lyft) pick up in the designated area in the garage and are often $30–50 depending on surge pricing. SamTrans buses serve Peninsula cities. Highway 101 and I-280 are heavily congested during commute hours; BART is faster than driving at those times.