Survivor: San Juan del Sur — Blood vs. Water (commonly referred to as Survivor: San Juan del Sur) is the twenty-ninth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, which premiered on September 24, 2014. Similar to Survivor: Blood vs. Water, the season features pairs of loved ones competing against each other but, unlike Blood vs. Water, all the players are new. The season was filmed in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, the same location as Survivor: Nicaragua and Survivor: Redemption Island. The two-hour finale and one-hour reunion show aired on December 17, 2014, where Natalie Anderson was named the Sole Survivor by a vote of 5–2–1 over Jaclyn Schultz and Missy Payne.
Format
Survivor is a reality television show based on the Swedish show Expedition Robinson, created by Mark Burnett and Charlie Parsons. The series follows a number of participants isolated in a remote location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter. One participant is removed from the series by majority vote every three days, with challenges held to give a reward (ranging from living- and food-related prizes to a car) and immunity from being voted out of the series. The last remaining player receives a prize of $1,000,000.
Contestants
The cast is composed of nine pairs of loved ones splitting into two tribes: Coyopa and Hunahpu, both named after Mayan warrior gods. Relationships between contestants included parent-child, siblings, and partners (both married and dating). Notable contestants include former professional baseball player John Rocker and two-time The Amazing Race contestants Natalie and Nadiya Anderson, who competed together on seasons 21 and 24.
San Juan del Sur is the second season of Survivor to feature a gender imbalance, following Survivor: Fiji, due to a contestant not clearing medical and being forced to withdraw. It would be followed by Survivor 47.
+List of Survivor: San Juan del Sur - Blood vs. Water contestantsContestantAgeFrom Tribe Finish Original Switched Merged Placement Day 28Edgewater,New Jersey rowspan="3" 1st voted outDay 3 Jeremy's wife35Foxboro,Massachusetts2nd voted outDay 6 Julie's boyfriend39Atlanta,Georgia3rd voted outDay 8 Alec's brother25Winter Park,Florida rowspan="2" 4th voted outDay 10 Dale's daughter28Seattle,Washington rowspan="2" 5th voted outDay 13 Kelley's father55Ephrata,Washington6th voted outDay 15 John's girlfriend34Atlanta,Georgia rowspan="6" rowspan=12 QuitDay 18 Reed's boyfriend32New York,New York7th voted outDay 21 Val's husband36Foxboro,Massachusetts8th voted outDay 24 Keith's son24Shreveport,Louisiana9th voted outDay 26 Josh's boyfriend31New York,New York10th voted outDay 29 Drew's brother22Winter Park,Florida11th voted outDay 32 Jaclyn's boyfriend26Waterford,Michigan rowspan="5" 12th voted outDay 35 Missy's daughter20Nashville,Tennessee13th voted outDay 37 Wes's father53Shreveport,Louisiana rowspan="2" 14th voted out Baylor's mother47Dallas,Texas2nd runner-upDay 39 Jon's girlfriend25Las Vegas,NevadaRunner-up Nadiya's twin sister28Edgewater,New JerseySole Survivor
Future appearances Keith Nale, Jeremy Collins, and Kelley Wentworth returned for Survivor: Cambodia. Natalie Anderson was originally selected for Survivor: Game Changers but had to back out for medical reasons. Anderson would eventually return to compete on Survivor: Winners at War, along with Collins. Wentworth returned again for Survivor: Edge of Extinction.
Outside of Survivor, Kelley Wentworth and Jeremy Collins competed on the premiere of Candy Crush. Natalie Anderson competed on the thirty-sixth season of The Challenge. In 2025, Collins competed on the third season of the Peacock reality TV series The Traitors. In 2026, Anderson competed on the fourth season of The Traitors.
Season summary
Due to one pair dropping out prior to the game, the season started with nine pairs of loved ones separated into two tribes: Coyopa and Hunahpu. Coyopa lost nearly every challenge; the tribe was initially dominated by a men's alliance led by John, but Josh was torn between allegiances to the men and perpetual target Baylor. On Hunahpu, Jeremy and Natalie aligned after their loved ones were voted out, and argued with John at challenges over their loved ones' eliminations. Due to John's volatility, Josh orchestrated his ouster and took over the alliance. After a tribe swap, Missy (Baylor's mother) came into power on Coyopa, while Josh and Jeremy vied for control on Hunahpu. While both men targeted each other, their conflict was never resolved as their tribe won every challenge.
At the merge, two factions emerged: Jeremy's alliance with Natalie, Julie, Missy and Baylor, and Josh's alliance with his boyfriend Reed, Wes and his father Keith, and Alec, with dating couple Jon and Jaclyn in the middle. While they prepared to side with Josh's alliance for the first post-merge Tribal Council, it was cancelled after Julie quit the game, giving Jon and Jaclyn time to change their minds and side with Jeremy's alliance to eliminate Josh. Jeremy's fortune was not to last, and he was blindsided by his alliance sans Natalie. While Natalie rejoined her old alliance to pick off the remnants of Josh's alliance, Keith was spared as Natalie enacted her revenge, voting out Jon and Baylor and leaving no intact pairs of loved ones remaining. Keith then lost the final immunity challenge and was the last player voted out of the game.
Missy, Jaclyn, and Natalie were the final three. At the final Tribal Council, Reed eviscerated Missy's character, comparing her to a “wicked stepmother” and chastising her for a lack of strategy, while Jaclyn was questioned for having only made moves with others, primarily Jon. Natalie was praised for making bold moves without a loved one's support, and was ultimately awarded the title of Sole Survivor with five votes to win, compared to Jaclyn's two and Missy's one.
+Challenge winners and eliminations by episodesEpisodeChallenge winner(s)ExiledEliminatedNo.TitleOriginal air dateRewardImmunityTribePlayer1"Suck It Up and Survive"September 24, 2014rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan="2" Nadiya2"Method To This Madness"October 1, 2014rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan="2" Val3"Actions vs. Accusations"October 8, 2014rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan="2" John4"We're a Hot Mess"October 15, 2014rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan="2" Drew 5"Blood is Blood"October 22, 2014Kelley6"Make Some Magic Happen"October 29, 2014rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan="2" Dale7"Million Dollar Decision"November 5, 2014 Keith rowspan="9" Julie8"Wrinkle In the Plan"November 12, 2014Jeremy,Keith, Natalie,Reed, WesJeremyJonJosh9"Gettin' to Crunch Time"November 19, 2014Alec, Baylor,Jeremy(Jaclyn),Natalie(Jon),ReedBaylorJeremyJeremy10"This Is Where We Build Trust"November 26, 2014Alec, Jaclyn,Jon,Reed(Missy)ReedWesWes11"Kind Of Like Cream Cheese"December 3, 2014Missy[Baylor, Natalie]KeithJonReed12"Still Holdin' On"Natalie[Jaclyn, Jon]JonAlecAlec13"Let's Make a Move"December 10, 2014Jon(Baylor),Keith, MissyNatalieNatalieJon14"This Is My Time"December 17, 2014KeithKeithJaclynBaylorJaclynKeith15"Reunion" In the case of multiple castaways who win reward, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in square brackets.
Episodes
Voting history
Original tribesSwitched tribesMerged tribeEpisode1234567891011121314Day368101315182124262932353738Tribe colspan=2 colspan=2 Eliminated Nadiya Val John Drew Kelley Dale Julie Josh Jeremy Wes Reed Alec Jon Baylor KeithVotes 5–3–1 4–4 5–1 5–2 5–2–1–1 3–2–2 3–2–1 Quit 6–5 5–3–2 2–0–0 7–1 4–3 2–2–2 2–1–0 2–0 3–1VoterVoteNatalie Drew Josh Keith Keith Reed Alec Jon Jon Baylor KeithJaclyn Dale Baylor Baylor John Kelley Dale Josh Jeremy Wes Reed Keith Keith Baylor KeithMissy Drew Kelley Keith Josh Jeremy Keith Reed Alec Jaclyn Jaclyn Jaclyn KeithKeith Julie Dale Dale Baylor Reed Jon Reed Alec Jon Jaclyn MissyBaylor Nadiya Val John Kelley Keith Josh Jeremy Keith Reed Alec Jaclyn Jon JaclynJon Keith Dale Dale Josh Jeremy Wes Reed Keith KeithAlec Nadiya Val Val John Baylor Reed Jon Reed KeithReed Julie Baylor Jeremy Jon MissyWes Nadiya Val Val John Baylor Reed JonJeremy Drew Josh KeithJosh Baylor Val Val John BaylorJulie DrewQuitDale Nadiya Baylor Val Baylor Baylor MissyKelley Drew BaylorDrew KelleyJohn Nadiya Baylor Val BaylorVal Dale BaylorNadiya Dale
Jury voteEpisode15Day39FinalistNatalieJaclynMissyVotes5–2–1JurorVoteKeithBaylorJonAlecReedWesJeremyJosh
Production Casting The season was originally set to have 20 castaways: sisters So Kim and Doo Kim were originally cast but they dropped out before the game began due to a medical emergency. So eventually competed on the following season, Survivor: Worlds Apart. The season would continue with nine pairs, but with the first gender imbalance since Survivor: Fiji. While this season initially included Redemption Island, production ultimately decided not to use it for the season, and instead replaced it with the return of Exile Island.
On August 12, 2014, six weeks before the scheduled premiere, the post-production crew for the season went on strike, consequently endangering the premiere date. The approximately 20-person post-production team, who have been working on the show since its inception in 2000, demanded a better health insurance and pension fund. The strike ended a day later, leaving the premiere's intended airdate intact.
Reception Entertainment Weekly'''s Survivor columnist Dalton Ross called the cast "boring, if not boorish," and said that there were no standout moments from the season. Ross added, "This is not a season that inspires anger or rage, just apathy, which is maybe the worst indictment of all." Despite adding that the final episodes of the season were an improvement, as well as praising Anderson's post-merge gameplay, Ross ultimately ranked it as the sixth-worst season of the series, only ahead of One World, Thailand, Fiji, Nicaragua, and Island of the Idols. Survivor: Tocantins runner-up and People’s Survivor columnist Stephen Fishbach called it a "humdrum" season, and although it had "a great winner", he also called the Final Tribal Council "one of the worst in the show's history." While Tom Santilli of Examiner.com reserved some praise for aspects such as the idol plays and the memorability of Keith Nale, he said that the season "mainly consisted of a cast full of people who could only be considered as 'non-gamers,'" and ultimately concluded that "something about this season didn't quite click, and I'm afraid that most of it will be forgotten over time." Gordon Holmes of Xfinity similarly summarized: "I don't get this season. There are big, interesting moves, but it doesn't feel right. It just doesn't pop."https://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2014/12/11/survivor-san-juan-del-sur-episode-13-recap-who-got-the-boot/ Host Jeff Probst acknowledged the season as lackluster, especially in comparison to the previous four seasons. In response to whether or not he disliked most of the cast, he stated that "there was a lot of frustration this season", but similarly to Ross, added that "it got a lot better as it went along."