Blogs from Corn Islands, Caribbean Nicaragua, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean

The Corn Islands, especially Little Corn Island, is living up to expectations....laid-back, sun, sand, snorkeling, fishing, beachcoming and coconuts. Hotels and hostels pick the best spots on the circumferential beaches: from the high end Yemaya ($300), to the one my travel partner and I chose, Little Corn Beach and Bungalow ($54++), to our favourite that we are at now, the more rudimentary, beachfront Elsa's Place ($30, two bdrm, bath, kitchen access). Sun rises over the sea and beach, snorkeling straight out to the reefs 200m off shore. Coffee and tea brewing in the kitchen. Fishing has been pretty cool; predictably tons of ground fish plus one to three of the more elusive Barracuda, Mackerel or King Fish all within 3 hours. Lots of conch. However, lobster, which comes mainly from Big Corn Island is in over-fished ... read more

This has to be the best winter vacation place l've visited to-date. If it weren't so damn difficult to get to (a non-direct flight into Managua, then small plane via Bluefields to Big Corn Island, finally an up-and-down, bang'n splash, ride through the sea via panga to Small Corn Island) it would be crawling with tourists...... divers, snorkelers, wind surfers, beach combers, bar hoppers, and lots of lazy layabouts... and even some environmentalists. I'm sitting at Casa Iguana (for breakfast & internet) on a headland overlooking much of the eastern shoreline of Small Corn Island; halfway along is Elsa's Place where I'm renting a small cabana. You can walk around about half of the whole island, from bay to bay, all on coral sand shoreline. Walking is a big deal on this isolated isle: like there's ... read more

We arrived on Little Corn shortly before sundown and walked up to our hostel. The restaurant was closed since they'd had a going away party down at the beach for an old employee so we had a quick bite in town and found a great lending library at Tranquilo, one of the major hangouts on the main strip. We grabbed a Mexico travel book and Mockingjay; finally we'd be able to finish a book that we were half done when we left home. Water Sporting The next week and a half was awesome. We didn't have a ton of ways to pass the time but we made alright use of our time there. One of the main things we wanted to do was get a couple more dives under our belts. We ended up doing seven ... read more

Since we were leaving from Laguna de Apoyo we wanted to stock up on a couple things in Granada before hitting the road to Little Corn Island (LCI). We took the morning shuttle from the lake and tried to leave our bags at the hostel we stayed at in Granada, but they wouldn't let us. Instead Dan sat outside La Merced with the bags dealing with people asking for money while Ashley went to the store and bank machine. Since we chose the less (but not un-) travelled route over land and water, we stocked up on snacks including a re-realized favourite of bread, cream cheese, and cucumber. From La Merced we walked through the sweltering heat to the Managua bus stop, which we located only on a map and really hoped was still there since ... read more

Our Arrival The panga drops you off at the docks on the West of the island. Once you get off the boat people from different hostels meet you or there are signs to hostels in the village. Where We Stayed 3 Brothers in the village - $15 for a double room with shared bathroom. 2 kitchens and laundry sink. What We Did Walked around the island. The nicest beach is at the North of the island. Turn right at the school in the village and keep walking. You can walk from there all the way around to the hostels on the East beach. There are some small beaches just South of Casa Iguana which you can visit. Where We Ate The restaurants on the island all sell dinner for about C$200 each so we cooked mostly. ... read more