Casinos are abundant in Managua. They all have slots, card tables and rullet and bars. The largest casino in Nicaragua is Pharaohs (278-3752), with three locations in Managua, Masaya and Bluefields. Pharaohs also just opened a massive new Pharaohs Camino Real (near the airport), which is one of the biggest casinos in Central America.

One of Managua’s many casinos

Other casinos in Managua include Aladdins (270-9689), Casino Las Vegas Nicaragua (278-5629), Casino Star City (252-4024), which also has a disco and popular Kareoke bar; Nicarao’s Casino (278-8516) and Fiesta (222-2714).

Movies and Theaters in Nicaragua

Managua has two modern and large movie theatres, and a new mega-plex that is soon to open.

The theatres are air-conditioned, with large screens, reclining chairs and a full concession stand. Just like you’re used to. Movies cost about $3 for adults, and about 40 cents less for kids, students and senior citizens. Tuesday is half price day at the theatre. All the Managua theatres take major credit cards.

Recently released movies are shown in Nicaragua

The theatres usually get major U.S. releases three months later. Most movies are in English with Spanish subtitles, but cartoon movies, or movies like Shrek, will be dubbed in Spanish.

The two main theatres in Managua are Cinemark (www.cinemarkca.com, 271-9037), which has six cinemas inside the MetroCentro Mall. The other is Cinemas, which has 8 cinemas at the Plaza Inter Mall.

A new 10-cinema theatre will soon be opened at the new Galeria Santo Domingo Mall in Managua.

Alhambra, is a smaller, three-cinema movie complex in Managua.

In Granada, the rundown Karawala theatre near the Central Park has two cinemas, a musty upstairs theatre with broken seats and four-month old U.S. releases, and an even dodgier downstairs theatre that shows porno. The picture-quality is never very good in the theatre (the dark scenes are too dark and bright outdoor scenes look like they’re filmed on the sun). The popcorn bags are too small, the theatre has bats, and teenagers usually walk around the theatre talking to each other. Enjoy the show! (starts at 6:30 pm every night)

El Club has started to show projection pictures on Wednesday night at 7 pm, and Casa Bohemia, next to the fire station, shows DVD’s of new releases on a projection screen every night (shows are posted on the chalkboard). The Bearded Monkey hostile also shows nightly movies on a TV.