Playa Gigante, Nicaragua

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About Playa Gigante

“Playa Gigante” literally means, “Giant Beach” in Spanish.  The locals simply call the place, “Gigante.” It is one in a string of beaches along the spectacular Tola coast of Southwestern Nicaragua.  Gigante Beach forms an embayment that is more sheltered than adjoining beaches, providing the only safe anchorage for small fishing boats between San Juan del Sur and El Astillero.

For such a small, sparsely populated beach, Gigante has been the site of a number of interesting footnotes to Nicaragua’s history.  Over the past two centuries Gigante has served as a landing spot for the famous American filibuster William Walker (mid 19th century), been owned by former Nicaraguan strong man Anastasio Somoza (mid 20th century), suffered a devastating tsunami (1992), and been the site of a planned Pacific port for a trans-isthmian railroad known as the “Dry Canal” (late 1990s, early 2000s)

In the 1980s more than 1000 acres immediately behind the beach were redistributed to 80 Sandinista farmers and their families through the process of agrarian reform.  This people of this farming cooperative (named “Pedro Joaquin Chamorro” after the famous national martyr and publisher of the newspaper La Prensa) and those from the local fishing cooperative created the social and economic fabric that defines Gigante today.

The last half decade has witnessed a rash of changes in the village.  Electricity arrived in Gigante in 2000, and a new all-weather (well nearly all weather) road was built in 2002.  These two development ushered in a period of real estate speculation by foreigners and wealthy Nicaraguans.  This growing interest in beach real estate by outsiders coincided with a drastic increase in the number of visits made to the village by intrepid surfers trying to find the perfect wave.

Today Gigante remains a fishing village, but the fisherman now share the bay with an increasing number of foreigners and foreign-owned businesses.  There are now three surf camps, five restaurants, and a small hotel.  There are at least two more restaurants and one more hotel currently under construction.  Finally, several new upscale housing developments have popped up in the hills surrounding the village.

Gigante is at a crossroads between its rural isolated past and its globalized tourist-oriented future.  One can only hope that the transition does not leave any Giganteños behind.      

**please see the volunteer section to find out what you can do to help position local people to benefit from this new economy.

 

There are many places to explore along the coast within walking distance to Gigante, from wide sandy beaches, to rocky headlands and intertidal rock reefs.

Escuela Bigfoot - Spanish School

Fishing boats line the beach in Gigante and fisherman can be found in the afternoon repairing their nets.

In the United States:

 

Phone: 512-535-5386

 

E-mail:  info@escuelabigfoot.com

 

In the Nicaragua:

    

Phone: 505.433.9737

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent surfing conditions can be had along the Tola coast throughout the year, but especially between May and September.