If you want to escape from daily routine then you should visit Corn Islands or Islas del Maiz where time still stops. Corn islands are actually two islands – Big Corn and Little Corn Island. On the big one is everything quite “normal” with which I mean that you can still find shops, cars, ATMs but on the little one you can find beautiful beaches, authentic contact with the locals and there are no roads on the island so everything is very peaceful and quite. It is good to bring some food with you because you can find the basic things without a problem but if you want to get something special then buy it on big one or better on the inland before going to islands. During the days you can just chill out on the beach or in some hammock in front of the house or you can take a walk between mango trees and enjoy in nature.
During the day don’t be surprised that your fan in the room will turn off. The electricity is switching off daily between 9am and 4pm. So no getting up late as it is just too hot to stay in the room without the fan company.
If you get hungry among the day just take a walk around the island and you can grab a fresh pineapple or mango really easily. Oh yeah, don’t be surprised that you can’t buy mango on the local market…it’s just that there are mango trees all around the island so you just need a stick to get a fresh mango from the tree.
So there is only one way to explore the Little Corn Island…by your feet! Just grab a bottle of water, sunglasses, sun cream, a good book and start exploring the island in all its beauty. You can really go on a nice walk along the beach and whenever you want you can just take a shower in a beautiful ocean. It is as easy as that!
Little Corn Island
The Little Corn Island is perfect to relax and spent some days away from all civilization, for now. Unfortunately we can already see growing up some expensive bungalows so I am afraid that in a few years this island won’t be as pure as it is now anymore.
And as I said, go around and explore it. Don’t be afraid because you can’t get lost. There is only one “main road” on the island which is long about 1km and from there on you have many path roads taking you to different beaches and you can find your own space on one of them. If you want to see the island from above then you should climb to the top of the lighthouse from where you can get 360° view. The Little Corn Island is not only about the beaches. You can get some really nice snorkeling tours or pretty amazing diving trips.
“main road” on Little Corn Island
Between mango trees
The view from the lighthouse, Little Corn Island
And final question.. How to get to the Little Corn Island? You have actually two choices. The easiest one is to go on a plane from Managua to Big Corn Island and from there you can take a small boat which is called panga to Little Corn Island. The ride can be pretty though because you are for about an hour on open sea so the waves can be quite high and expect to get wet. The funniest thing to see is to watch children playing on a runway just minutes before plane is landing and then security guys come and children have to go away and after plane is safely arrived the runway changes again to the playground.
The other choice is more adventure and takes about two days and of course it is also cheaper. First you have to take an overnight bus then you catch the ferry which is only going about twice a week and for the last part you still have to take panga. But one or other way it is worth it!
Panga from Big to Little Corn Island can get pretty crowdy
Little Corn Island