One upside of skipping South America, was the time to head to the Corn Islands in Caribean Nicaragua. Situated off the coast, Big Corn is a fishing island and Little Corn caters to the tourist crowd. While there were lots of tourists, this place managed to maintain an authentic vibe and it was nice to be on an island with no cars for a week. On little Corn, you can stroll everywhere you need to go, the sand is white, ocean is blue and the coconut trees are laden with fruit.
We left our car in Managua Airport under the watchful eye of the 24h police and boarded a plane to fly to the islands. Before boarding, we were asked to stand on the scales, carrying all of our luggage, as the plane was a tiny 12 seater propeller plane. A little scarier than your regular big boy jet, in this tiny thing, we felt every little puff of air and updraft. After landing on Big Corn Island, we took the famous panga to Little Corn where we settled into our hostel.
With one short plane ride to the Corn Islands, you seem to be transported to a different country altogether. More like Jamaica than Nicaragua, locals speak English (with a delicious Caribbean drawl), Spanish and Mosquito (the local coastal language). Food is also more similar to Jamaican fare with locals selling coconut bread, and spicy beef patties up and down the beach from plastic buckets. Fresh cooked lobster in garlic, coconut bread French toast and local seafood soup RonDon were the hands down culinary winners. RonDon is a must try for anyone heading to the Corn Islands. Most of the local restaurants have it on their menu, but it must be ordered at least 3 hours in advance. Fish, lobster and prawns in a coconut broth, I could eat RonDon every day for the rest of my life.
We left our car in Managua Airport under the watchful eye of the 24h police and boarded a plane to fly to the islands. Before boarding, we were asked to stand on the scales, carrying all of our luggage, as the plane was a tiny 12 seater propeller plane. A little scarier than your regular big boy jet, in this tiny thing, we felt every little puff of air and updraft. After landing on Big Corn Island, we took the famous panga to Little Corn where we settled into our hostel.
With one short plane ride to the Corn Islands, you seem to be transported to a different country altogether. More like Jamaica than Nicaragua, locals speak English (with a delicious Caribbean drawl), Spanish and Mosquito (the local coastal language). Food is also more similar to Jamaican fare with locals selling coconut bread, and spicy beef patties up and down the beach from plastic buckets. Fresh cooked lobster in garlic, coconut bread French toast and local seafood soup RonDon were the hands down culinary winners. RonDon is a must try for anyone heading to the Corn Islands. Most of the local restaurants have it on their menu, but it must be ordered at least 3 hours in advance. Fish, lobster and prawns in a coconut broth, I could eat RonDon every day for the rest of my life.
Highly Recommended - Dolphin Dive Little Corn Island
During the week, we had 10 dives booked though Dolphin Dive. Of all the shops I have been diving with, this place was definitely my favourite. Friendly, approachable and professional, I felt safe with all my guides, and found the equipment well maintained. The owner also gave us heads up the week prior to our arrival that we may expect some bad weather (which proved to be correct), but it was great to have that communicated in advance.
Angus had trouble with his ears, so only managed to get in 4 dives but we saw nurse sharks, trigger fish, sea pearls, eels, squid and LOTS of lobsters. Under one rock we counted 12 huge lobsters huddled together in the shadows. The Caribbean has problems with Lion Fish, so our guide brought a spear along and stuck a lion fish where ever he saw one. Lion fish are an introduced species who destroy the reef and eat all the baby fish they can catch. In Caribbean waters, there are no natural predators however when the guide fed the skewered lion fish to a following nurse shark, he seemed to really enjoy it!
The highlight for me was the night dive. A little eerie at first, swimming in murky black water with a thin torch beam, but once I forgot about the creepy factor I had a great time. We saw sucker fish, nurse sharks, eels, and green phosphorescents.
During the week, we had 10 dives booked though Dolphin Dive. Of all the shops I have been diving with, this place was definitely my favourite. Friendly, approachable and professional, I felt safe with all my guides, and found the equipment well maintained. The owner also gave us heads up the week prior to our arrival that we may expect some bad weather (which proved to be correct), but it was great to have that communicated in advance.
Angus had trouble with his ears, so only managed to get in 4 dives but we saw nurse sharks, trigger fish, sea pearls, eels, squid and LOTS of lobsters. Under one rock we counted 12 huge lobsters huddled together in the shadows. The Caribbean has problems with Lion Fish, so our guide brought a spear along and stuck a lion fish where ever he saw one. Lion fish are an introduced species who destroy the reef and eat all the baby fish they can catch. In Caribbean waters, there are no natural predators however when the guide fed the skewered lion fish to a following nurse shark, he seemed to really enjoy it!
The highlight for me was the night dive. A little eerie at first, swimming in murky black water with a thin torch beam, but once I forgot about the creepy factor I had a great time. We saw sucker fish, nurse sharks, eels, and green phosphorescents.