by Zack Black

Until recently there were two common ways to travel to Nicararagua - by road or air. Now there is a third option, by water. Marina Puesta del Sol opened its’ docks to the international yachting community in July in the Aserradores Estuary on the Pacific coast just west of Chinandega. There is a luxury hotel with 19 rooms, a fine restaurant and complete marina facilities available, now that the first phase is complete. The complex sits on the inland side of a peninsula, the tip of which is ocean front. A pool and rancho have been built on the beach with additional hotel rooms, condos and a golf course planned.

Roberto Membreño, an avid “cruiser” and partner in a California engineering firm, first conceived the idea three years ago. “It’s a natural place for a marina to be built - I saw it from the perspective of a sailor, not a business man, a full-service yacht facility with in-water repairs, laundry, electricity, cable and internet. We can do repairs in water, but we don’t have facilities to take boats out of the water.”