Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

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Nickle Tour: Paradise found, period.  There’s not a lot to do (if you don’t dive, like us) and that’s exactly what we wanted.  Bring a Kindle or a dozen books and you may stay here longer than you plan, as we did.

Travel Tip: Bring cash!  There are no ATM’s and if the wind is blowing and seas are swelled, you won’t catch a boat back to Big Corn!




See: Chill out!  Walk the island.  You can take several trails past Casa Iguana for private beaches or head north through the jungle.






Sleep: 
We stayed at Elsa’s and it was fantastic.  For $13 a night you get a comfy bed, tiolet and (cold) shower in a private cabana on the beach – who needs more?








Eat:
The Rundown is a stew of seafood, potatoes, onions, etc (and I mean “etc”) and it’s great!  There’s also excellent food at the Cuban place (just to left of the dock), but it’s pricey.  Also, by far our favorites were the “pie ladies” who came by with pineapple pies, meat pies and other varieties – for $.50 you can’t beat ’em!

Big Corn Island, Nicaragua

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Nickle Tour: The only reason to go to Big Corn Island is to pass through on your way to Little Corn Island.  Seriously, there is nothing to do and no real infrastructure for tourists.  **Unless**, you stop by Corn Island Finca to see Kevin, an expat from Oklahoma who is 3 years into creating a farm.  Even Kevin will tell you to move on.

  1. Travel Tip: 

When you buy your plane ticket to the Corn Islands, you get a 30-day open-ended ticket back to Managua.  Reserve your flight back – even if you have to change it – or you’ll be flying standby and may have to stay over in Big Corn, ugg.

And, if you’re walking across the island, consider waiting until the planes have flown their morning or afternoon flights and they’ll open up the runway for you – a practical boulevard!

See: You can take a taxi around the island for about $3 and it’ll take you about 30 minutes.  It’s beautiful, but once you get to Little Corn, you’ll wonder why you weren’t there 30 minutes earlier.

Sleep:  2 nights with Kevin at his Finca courtesy of Couchsurfing 

Eat: Cook with Kevin – all restuarants have bad service and the food is meh

Border Crossing #1: Austin to Managua, Nicaragua

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Leaving on a jet plane – at ABIA
aka the last time D will wear that jacket before sending it home with fam in January from Costa Rica

Nickle Tour: Damon and I left Austin on December 6th and headed for Nicaragua.   The flight was cheap $300 one-way each through Miami to Managua, the capital city.

Travel Tip:  If you’re headed anywhere in Central or South America and concerned about the price, try booking straight from Miami to your destination and then book your domestic travel seperately to Miami – it’s almost always cheaper.

See: ???  We had heard that Managua was meh, and we were eager to get to the Corn Islands so we got off the plane, took the 5 minute hotel shuttle to the hotel for the night.  We arrived at 10:30pm and we’re out the door by 5am to buy plane tickets to the Corn Islands.

Sleep: 1 night, $80, Camino Real Hotel – It’s a fine hotel and would be a nice place to hang (AC, TV, pool, casino, etc), if you like hanging out at hotels.  The main attraction was the proximity to the airport and safety in Managua – which can be unsafe.

Eats: For our late-night meal after the long flight, we ate at the hotel restuarant, which had HUGE portions.