Corn Islands

The Corn Islands sit seventy kilometres off Nicaragua's Caribbean coast and feel entirely separate from the mainland: English-speaking creole culture, reggae rather than ranchera, lobster fishing as the main industry, and beaches of white sand and clear water that would be developed beyond recognition anywhere else in the Caribbean. Big Corn has a road, an airstrip and villages; Little Corn, a forty-minute panga ride further out, has no cars at all - just sand paths between guesthouses, a reef offshore that draws divers, and hammocks. Diving here is inexpensive by regional standards and the reef is in decent shape.

History

The first known inhabitants were the Kukra, and British settlers from Jamaica came in the mid-18th century with enslaved Africans, who were declared free at South West Bay after Colonel Alexander McDonald landed on 27 August 1841; slavery ended on the islands in 1843. The Reverend Edward Kelly founded the Ebenezer Baptist Church and School in 1852, the first Christian institution on the islands (Wikipedia, Corn Islands).

What's there

• Little Corn's car-free paths - walking everywhere between beaches and guesthouses.
• Reef diving and snorkelling - affordable dives on healthy coral.
• Lobster and coconut cooking - the creole kitchen of both islands.
• Big Corn's beaches - Long Bay and the quieter southern shore.

When to go

The driest and calmest window is roughly February to April, which is also the best for the panga crossing and diving visibility. The rainy season from June brings heavy showers, and hurricane season runs to November. The islands are humid year round.

What to expect

Getting there is the barrier: a flight from Managua on small aircraft with strict luggage limits, then an open panga boat that can be very rough - people get soaked and seasick regularly. There are no banks or reliable ATMs on Little Corn, so bring cash. Power and water outages happen. Facilities are simple and prices are higher than the mainland because everything is shipped in.

Nearby

Bluefields and the Caribbean coast on the mainland, reachable by boat and air.