The San Juan river flows from the Lake of Nicaragua (Cocibolca Lake) down to its delta in the department of San Juan del Norte, which is located at 260 km of distance from the origin of the river.

The department of San Juan del Norte is rich in history due to its privileged strategic and geographic position. During the spanish colonization, English pirates attempted three times to cross the river and assault the city of Granada. For defensive purposes, spanish colonizers decided to build a fort that was named: “El Castillo”, that is nowadays a very attractive site for tourists and is easy for the visitor to appreciate why it had strategic importance for the military.

The biggest part of this region is virgin rainforest and has the highest rain average in the country. It is considered one of the most attractive nature reserve the country of Nicaragua has to offer to the ecotourism lovers. It is also full of natural resources. The population that lives around the lake, is dedicated to livestock farming, rice production, wood processing and fishing.