Tools
Driving in Nicaragua
The rules of the road as our desk recorded them, native unit first.
Right
45 / 60 / 80 km/h · 28 / 37 / 50 mph
urban / rural / motorway
Recommended
A home-country licence is accepted for tourist stays (30 days, extendable with the stay); an IDP plus passport keeps the frequent police checkpoints brief.
0.05 % - checkpoints common; penalties include vehicle retention
No toll roads.
Required at night; unlit cyclists, carts and animals make night driving genuinely hazardous - avoid it.
No effectively enforced child-restraint law - bring your own seat for small children.
Police checkpoints are frequent and usually uneventful - documents ready, patience on. Any fine must come with an official receipt (boleta); a request for cash without one is not a fine. The Pan-American is decent; secondary roads on Ometepe and toward the Caribbean deteriorate fast - a high-clearance vehicle earns its keep.