Why I’m Not Going to “Sunday Funday” in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Yes, I’m in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua on a Sunday.  And no, I’m not going to attend “Sunday Funday”.  What’s not to love, and why am I not going?  Happy to share.  But first…

What is Sunday Funday?

San Juan Del Sur’s “Sunday Funday” is a full day of binge drinking, splashing about in hostel pools with other backpackers in various states of undress, drunken dancing to DJs, and forgotten walks home.  Sort of a Central American answer to Thai “Full Moon Parties”.

I’ve been told it’s a very fraternity party-like celebration largely populated with a crowd in their early twenties.  It takes place on Sundays.

Sounds great!  Why don’t you want to go?

A few reasons.

#1.  The price of admission to Sunday Funday is disproportionately expensive in comparison to other activities in Central America.

Admission to Sunday Funday, which is a 3-hostel “pool crawl”, is $30 US, which includes:

• Admission to three San Juan Del Sur hostels that have pools
• Transport between those hostels
• Zero included/free drinks
• Free tank top (call it a “vest” or a “singlet” as you like)

Note:  your ticket price is halved to $15 US if you choose to stay at one of the participating “Sunday Funday” hostels in San Juan Del Sur (Pelican Eyes, Naked Tiger, PachaMama), but that means staying at a party hostel on it’s biggest party day of the week!  Not worth it to me.  Also – if you plan to take advantage of this savings, book your hostel bed at least a few days prior – PachaMama, for example, reached capacity prior to Sunday when I was in San Juan.

$30 US admission for a pool party is an incongruously high cost that’s out of sync with nearly every other activity I’ve done in over five months in Central America.

Amazing activities in Central America are largely inexpensive by comparison.  For example:

• $15 US:  transport and surfboard rental for a full day of surfing on Playa Maderas, near San Juan Del Sur.
• $23-30 US:  Sea turtle tour in San Juan Del Sur.  People were seeing THOUSANDS of sea turtles on the beach at the time I was in SJDS.
• $25-30 US:  Motorbike rental ($20-25 for rental, $5 for fuel) for a full day of zipping around the dual volcanoes of Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua.
• $25-30 US:  Volcano boarding Volcán Cerro Negro in León, Nicaragua.
• $45 US:  Canopy tour (ziplining) in Monteverde, in Costa Rica.
• $50-60 US:  two-tank scuba dive in the Corn Islands, Nicaragua or in Utila, Honduras (meaning $25-30 each tank).

Super-low budget:  I also climbed a Guatemalan volcano for $0.50 US through independent means!

Again, drinks are NOT included in Sunday Funday admission – it’s a safe bet that during a 12-hour day of drinking that you’ll put away at least 12 drinks, and buy a number of beers for friends as well – so let’s just call that an estimated $30 US additional.

This puts you at a projected entertainment cost of $60 US for the day (or $45 if you stay at a participating hostel).  No, it’s not necessarily a huge sum of money for those interested in spending it – but it’s an expensive day for those of us that are traveling long term, on a budget.

#2.  San Juan Del Sur area beaches are emptier on Sundays than they are any other day of the week.

While the crowd is hanging out at Sunday Funday, they’re not on the beach.  Sunday is the best chance you’ll have all week to get a little more space on the sand or in the sea (which can be helpful for beginning surfers, no doubt). Take full advantage.

#3.  Want to have a drink?  There are no shortage of other bars and parties in San Juan Del Sur.

SJDS is a tourist-oriented party town.  Drinks are everywhere, as are surfer babes/dudes with tans and defined abs.  You don’t need to pay admission to access either of the two.

The free tank top is, in my opinion, the tramp stamp of Central America freebie shirts.

#4.  I admit it, I’m too old for this shit.

I know this is a party for people in their early 20s that have recently discovered party culture and the many joys of alcohol.  As a 34-year-old, I’m not in the target demographic anymore, and I’m totally at peace with that.

#5.  This is “being a tourist” at its worst.

Sunday Funday, in my mind, represents trashy drunken backpacker culture to the max.  Yes, I like to let loose from time to time, but I don’t relish being party to events that include pukey, shouting half-naked backpackers pissing in the gardens of local people’s properties every week.  It’s embarrassing.

More:  I’ve long rolled my eyes at extremes and excess of backpacker party cultures in otherwise poor and/or developing countries, in places like Vang Vieng (Laos) and San Pedro La Laguna (Guatemala) where the party culture stands in stark contrast to the culture/customs of the local community, or worse, has more or less obliterated it.

Given, San Juan Del Sur seems a little more at home with its tourist culture (and will happily take your tourist dollars – it’s one of the most expensive places I’ve been in Nicaragua), but that doesn’t make it ok to act like your party life exists in a bubble and doesn’t influence local communities and economies.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Central America trying to learn Spanish, learn about the culture, make friends and make a good impression.  Why screw that up now?

#6.  It was difficult to get my travel buddies interested in Sunday Funday for the same reasons as the above.

Anything can be fun with a good group of friends – and frankly, if good buddies wanted to team up for Sunday Funday, I would have gone – but the vast majority of the people I befriended along the way in Central America just didn’t want to go, primarily due to the cost of the event and availability of other great activities in the area.

What I’m going to do with my Sunday:

I’m going to surf Nicaragua’s beautiful Pacific Coast for two days instead of getting drunk at Sunday Funday, all for the same cost as I would have spent for Sunday Funday admission alone.

POSTSCRIPT:  OK, so I went to Sunday Funday anyway

On Sunday, my friends and I surfed Playa Maderas during the day.  The waves weren’t the best, but we had a nice time anyhow.  After riding the shuttle back to town in the late afternoon, we agreed to step out for a drink together.

Despite misgivings about Sunday Funday, we were all still a bit curious, and figured we’d see if we could get into the last portion of the party for free just to see what was going down.  We approached the door of Pacha Mama Hostel, and the dude working the door just waved us in – no wristbands, no tank tops, no entrance fee, no nothing.  Go ahead, dudes.

There’s a good reason for this free admission:  people like to sell beer, especially when it’s marked up beyond prevailing prices for no particular reason.  Then they like to sell even more of it.

My experience:  the music was loud but not terrible.  Some people seemed to be having fun dancing and hanging out.  A number of people were wandering around making out with one another, some more successfully than others.  Body shots were poured and taken.  The MC of the event stood on the bar from time to time and called out party things that made the crowd say “woo”.  In the streets, there was your garden variety of loud drunken conversation, people attempting to clandestinely piss on walls or behind shrubs, a bit of drunken crying, a bit of puking.

LOOK AT HOW GOOD OF TIME I AM HAVING AT PACHA MAMA

While at Pacha Mama, I spoke with a few other Sunday Funday attendees and asked them to tell me about their experience and their feelings about the event.

Some shrugged and weren’t really impressed.  Said it wasn’t really worth the cost nor time expended.

Some said that they had more enjoyed the daytime portion of Sunday Funday at the prior two hostels/pools (and that the views were quite lovely), but also told me that the group transport arrangements took them away from these locations too soon.

A few people said they had “the craziest, most amazing time” that day, which is fair.  A few of those people later told me in hushed tones that they’d snorted a fair amount of coke that they (importantly) didn’t have to pay for, and made out with a number of people as well.  Ok.

My perspective?  This is just another backpacker party, not a “bucket list” item, and I wouldn’t plan a Nicaragua / Central America travel itinerary around it.

What do I think you should do with your Sunday in San Juan Del Sur?  Whatever you want.  It’s your trip after all – enjoy it however you like!

I’ve been amazed by the number of people that, in heartfelt defense of Sunday Funday, have sent me hate mail about this post, including pretty nasty personal attacks.  I guess that’s what happens when your editorial blog post hits #1 on Google SEO for “Sunday Funday San Juan Del Sur”, well above Sunday Funday event promotion pages.

You’re allowed your opinion, I am as well.  Thanks for reading and enjoy your Sunday.

Other blogs that talk about Sunday Funday with varying opinions of the event:

• Global Hobo:  San Juan Del Sur:  Pool Crawl
• Luke Spartacus:  Sunday Funday in San Juan del Sur Nicaragua
• This Boundless World:  San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua:  What is Sunday Funday?

Note:  prices of Sunday Funday admission are already out of date on some of these links as of November 2014, and times/places may be out of date by the time you read this as well.