Nicaraguan Flag
The award for Most Remote Location The Jessetters Have Visited goes to….Little Corn Island, Nicaragua!!! How remote is Little Corn Island you may ask? It was not even on Google Maps until a couple of years ago and we had to take 4 planes and a boat just to get there. You may also ask why the hell go to such a remote spot? The answer to that is quite simple: to scuba dive with freaking HAMMERHEAD SHARKS! More on that to come though.
Our hotel and dive shop!
Enjoying island life
This stray adopted us during our stay!
Lounging with the pup
Walking the dog
Dinner at Hotel Los Delfines, pup was fat and happy.
This friendly local sold us a coconut from his front yard.
Enjoying the coconut!
Just a quick info session on Little Corn Island:
- The island is about 40 miles off the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua
- Little Corn Island makes up half of the Corn Islands – the other half, of course, being Big Corn Island
- The island is roughly one mile in diameter
- There are no cars or roads on the island, and very few bikes
- The island only has electricity for half the day. A couple places have generators though so you can check in for a flight or grab a cold Nicaraguan beer.
Island “billboards”
Horseback riding available
Amazing restaurant (expensive for the island) but very good. Vegan and vegetarian options available.
Grocery store
Now on to our trip rundown… After flying from Chicago to Florida to Managua we ended up sleeping in the airport due to irregular schedules to the islands. We eventually caught a flight (on the most busted up plane ever. Seriously not even painted!) from Managua to Blue Fields, Nicaragua, and then another flight to Big Corn Island.
Quick side note #1 – Blue Fields looked very beautiful from the plane and I wouldn’t mind exploring there one day.
Anyways, we arrived in Big Corn and had some time to kill before our boat trip to Little Corn. We ended hiring a local driver to give us a tour of the island. It was an awesome way to see the island and only took about an hour.
Quick side note #2 – It’s not worth spending too much time on Big Corn because Little Corn is a much nicer island overall.
Local school
Classroom
School yard
School kids and I
Photos on the dock with a local boy
Local kids
We eventually made it to Little Corn Island about a half-day before our bags. They did come eventually and they said this happens all the time. So make sure to pack a day bag! Upon arrival, what we discovered was an amazing location filled with an extremely friendly community of people, great food (albeit a bit pricier than expected), cheap beer, friendly dogs, happy kids, and really good scuba diving.
Enjoyed breakfast here!
A chicken joined us for breakfast!
Fruit Cup at Rosa’s
Rosa’s Restaurant
Church
Another hotel on the island
Our dive shop Dolphin Dive
Jen enjoying a local beer
What you won’t find on the island: crazy amounts of tourists, five star resorts (or even two star resorts), or finely manicured beaches. In my opinion, this is the great allure of the island though. It can be nice to venture off the typical “tourist trail” from time to time, and experience a location that feels “untouched” because that is becoming pretty rare nowadays.
Locals lived here
Cabin
Island map
Found hammocks
Chilling in a hammock
Beach
Sunset
Breathtaking
All in all, Little Corn Island is the most random place we have been, but I highly recommend it for anyone in search for a true adventure. And yes, we really did dive with hammerhead sharks. It was a surreal experience to say the least. The water was very choppy and murky, and the elusive hammerheads would dart in and out of our vision. You kind of got the feeling you were being hunted, but it was one of the coolest things the Jessetters have ever done.
Little Corn is one of my favorite places on earth!
I should note that i have spent significant time in RAAN and RAAS, i wrote my MA thesis on the indigenous miskitu peoples who live there. The children in your photos are miskitu children and BCI is actually a place where you can find 2 and 3 star hotels making trips to LCI easily accessible for day trips. It’s also worth noting that the Best Western Hotel at the Managua Airport is a great place to stay and if someone is going to book travel to the Atlantic Coast they should plan on spending one or 2 days there early morning flights to the coast, weather dependent flights and regularly canceled flights make it hard to reach the AC in one day. Bags almost always come on a later flight. Only once did i get my bag when i arrived and even then i had to wait for my bags 45 min. glad you enjoyed the island.
Yes, we loved the island! Thank you so much for the info. We hope to go back very soon!
I never made it to the Corn Islands during my trip to Nicaragua. But I’ve only heard great things. It looks like you had an amazing time. I definitely will go next time I’m in Nicaragua!!!
They are a must see if you are in the area again! Especially if you are a scuba diver!