Daily Life
Sending Mail to Canada from Nicaragua
Although there are ton of stamps on this package truth be told it cost me just under $2.50 USD to mail it to my sister in Calgary, AB, Canada. It was a shoebox & weighed around 1 lb.

The process of securing a post office box in San Juan del Sur was super quick and easy.

With a photocopy of my passport in hand I made my way to our local post office.

After completing a simple form I handed over the copy of my passport and C$240 ($8.99 USD) and that was it — Gordon and I were officially able to receive mail in Nicaragua.

Our new address is PO Box 203, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. That’s it, that’s all — no postal code required.

In Nica Now Address Card
– With no postal code our new address is pretty simple and easy to remember!

Postage in Nicaragua — like many other goods and services here — is inexpensive.

It costs just 37 cents to send a regular sized letter or postcard to North America and 52 cents for regular letter postage to Europe. And if you’re mailing a letter in country the cost is just 15 cents!

Other than sending the odd postcard or small package or two back to Canada our experience with the Nicaraguan Postal Service (Correos de Nicaragua) has been limited. 

So who wants to be the first to send us a postcard?

14 Comments

  1. Good old mail, we still need it. Lots of stamps on that box. 😉 I’ll send a postcard 😉 Nicole & I are heading to NB for May long weekend. Of course Randall & I will go in the summer…when is your next trip to Canada?

    Cheers,
    Emeline & Randall

    E LeBlanc

    1. Hi Emeline,

      There were 21 stamps on that box and I had to lick every one of them! LOL

      My ticket isn’t booked yet, but I hope to travel back to Calgary for 2 or 3 weeks at the end of June, beginning of July. Mom & Dad will be there around that time so I’ll get to see them as well.

      Enjoy your trip to NB and give Gram a big hug for me!

      Love,
      Elisha

      innicanow

    1. Hi Kara,

      To date we have not received “goods” in our mailbox either from “home” or a retailer.

      If there is something we absolutely need that we can’t get here (i.e. Chuckit balls and fish oil capsules for our dog Maggie) we have a friend or family member “mule” it for us. Or I bring it back with me when I take my annual trip home to Canada.

      Amazon ships to Nicaragua, but as one would expect shipping fees are quite costly.

      One solution is to use a company like Reship.com. You order your goods online and Reship handles delivery from their warehouse, as well as any fees or taxes incurred at customs, ensuring your package can be delivered to you at our chosen address in Nicaragua.

      Cheers,
      Elisha

      In Nica Now

  3. Hi,

    Did you have to open the parcel at the post office, show the contents, and then reseal it? I heard this is the procedure in Nicaraguan post offices. Is that true?

    Best regards,

    Rob

    1. Hi Rob,

      I too have heard of some people who have had to open their packages at the post office. I did not have to, but the postal agent did ask me what was in the box.

      Cheers,
      Elisha

      innicanow

  5. Hi Elisha & Gordon! Hope all is well your blog is super cool and very informative. I currently live in Florida and I would totally be up for sending you a postcard from where I reside! Would it be possible for you to send me one from San Juan too Ive been dying for a postcard from Nicaragua! It would mean a lot to me I am all up for postcard exchanges and pen pals haha

    Kevin Varela

  6. Hi.

    I just came back from Nicaragua. I’ve sent a letter to someone. Not to his house because he does not really have an address as you can imagine but I’ve send it to his shop in San Juan Del Sur. There’s no address either but at least a street and postal code. Even though his name, the shop (Alex’s Surf School), the street and the city is written I’m not sure it will get it.

    Do you think the postman will bring it to his shop or to the local post office? And if it goes to the local post office, how does he knows he has mail? Just curious to know what you think. Thanks for your time!

    Melissa

  7. Can’t believe I left a stack of clothes on Corn Island. ;-(

    If the hotel folks can mail them (in US would fit in large plastic UPS envelope) do you have any idea at all what it might cost?

    Thanks!

    Barb Thibault

    1. Hi Barb,

      Sorry to hear you left a bag of clothes behind on Corn Island.

      I once sent a shoebox sized package to my nephews in Calgary. It was a light package; 1 – 2 pounds at most. The cost for postage was $2.50 USD. It took about a month to get there.

      Cheers,
      Elisha

      Elisha MacKay

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