Christ of Mercy Statue | Hostels and Hot Rollers

One of the first things I noticed when exploring San Juan del Sur, was the colossal statue of Jesus that sits high on the hills overlooking the beach.

There it is!

From the beach it looks like it is miles away, so when Colleen mentioned she wanted to try to climb up to it, I thought she was loco. But, Colleen and I are FAMOUS for our attempts at adventure (insert story of how we once randomly ended up on the set of the X-Men move). Given our history of adventure success, I figured we would give it a go.

There were lots of jokes about our tans that week!

We decided to try and beat the heat, and got up bright and early to start our trek. We knew there was some sort of path as Colleen’s Mom had taken an ATV to the statue in the past. So we wandered in the general direction of the statue, glancing up occasionally to ensure we were still on the right path.

ya, it got a little steep

As our adventure progressed, the road started getting steeper, and steeper. I guess that is the thing with going to see a statue that rests high up on a gigantic mountain, you’re going to end up with some hills to climb. As the heat and the hills continued to climb, our little stroll turned into a full on sweaty workout. As you can imagine, some of us (me) were more excited about that then others (Shaun and Colleen). I ran up a couple of the big hills, and it took 3 days for my calves to fully recover. Woops!

We made it!

After an endless winding road of hills, and lots of sweat, we turned a corner and saw the backside of the statue looming before us. We found a sign the explained it was a 2 dollar entrance fee to go in. We sort of hummed and hawed as to whether we were going to pay to go in, but after doing such a big hike, we sort of felt like we had to.

In the end we were so glad we did. The view was absolutely breathtaking.

The statue looks out over the beach and entire town of San Juan del Sur. It was the perfect vantage point to see the town that we would spend the next four days exploring. Colleen and her Mom are just putting the finishing touches on their house in San Juan. We were able to spot it from way up on the hill.

Checkin out the view

The money from the entrance fee is used to maintain the area surrounding the statue as well as the small church/museum underneath the statue. It was really great to be able to learn a little bit about the statue, and the whole process that they went through to build it.

The statue was built in 2009, and has quickly become one of the most notable statues of Jesus in the world. It’s about 25m high, making it one of the largest in the world.
It is without a doubt, one of the more impressive touristy attractions I’ve seen during this trip. When you stand at its base it simply towers over you.

We spent about 30 minutes wandering around, exploring and enjoying the gusty wind that was rushing by. It was a perfect way to cool off our sweaty selves before the walk back.

I would say it was about a 2km walk from the heart of San Juan del Sur to the base of the statue. Leave early in the morning so it is not to hot, and wear good walking shoes. The road is paved, so it is an easy hike, but the hills make it a doozy. Make sure you bring lots of water too!

All in all, I would say this is a very worthwhile little adventure. If walking is a problem, lots of companies in town offer ATV tours that will take you up to see the statue. Regardless of how you get there, I would say that walking up to the Christ of Mercy statue in San Juan del Sur is well worth it.