Looking for advice for diving Little Corn Island Nicaragua

[handben]

I am in the planning stages of a trip this summer with my wife and 2 teenage kids (17 and 15). We are thinking about trying to get off the beaten path a bit this summer and travel to Nicaragua. We plan to spend 2 weeks in Nicaragua - the first will be exploring the mainland. Specifically we want to see cultural, historic and environmentally interesting sites. The second week we want to dive, hang-out, read and relax. Little Corn Island seems to fit the bill well for the second week. We are all fairly seasoned divers - my son who will be 15 is the least experienced of the 4 and is advanced open water/nitrox certified and will probably complete his 100th dive on this trip. The rest of the family has more experience. We like to dive as a family unit (the 4 of us) but independently. We don't like to be part of a big group/cattle boat and bristle at "hand-holding".

My ideal operator would get me to the site safely, give me a dive briefing about the site and then state something along the lines "Dive your computer profile and return to the boat with 500 psi, pools open".

Do any of the operators work like this on Little Corn? Thanks for any help scubaboarders can give. Ben

 

[dirtfarmer]

You'll be limited to 45 minute dives. No profile-air diving.

You won't have a cattle boat, you will have short rides to the sites. The diving is ok not great. I've done over 75 dives there. Why? It's a great little island with tons of charm, off the beaten track, nice locals with tons of character,lot's of choices to eat, one of my favorite tropical islands. I travel there for the overall island, including, affordability, a ten dive package will cost $28/tank including equipment.

Most the 2 shops business there is in "c' cards, and most the fun divers are beginners, or haven't dived in quite a while. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the island it's a fantastic place, the diving can be pretty good depending on the time of the year. Last year at this time the wind and seas kept the diving to about 5 sites. There is a chance for sighting hammerhead sharks, some really long swimthroughs. There is a site 45 minutes boat ride away "blowing rock" it is a pretty spectacular site, with a pinnacle going from the bottom to the surface. It can have some really big fish and shark sightings.The last time I was there the size of the fish was a bit diminished as some sh--head speargunners had been thru.
Summer is generally good time calm wind seas.
If you doing Nica, go there have a good time, have a fun experience diving with your family, and experience one of the last unspoiled Caribbean islands, and chalk one more place up in your log books.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Dirtfarmer, my friends have told me that the crossing from Big Corn can be pretty uncomfortable. Is this common? And is there also the chance of crossing being a no go on the day you have to leave the island to make your flight?

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Rumor has it that Big Corn may have some pass-thru drug related crime issues, but I have not kept current on recent events. I believe Little Corn is free of that problem. My wife and I were going to Little Corn a couple of years ago but had to change our trip plan. It may have been a little rustic for my wife but would have been OK for me. There was a small "resort" we looked at that was full of charm and I think at the time, the only game in town. Have a blast...!

 

[dirtfarmer]

Chilly, sometimes the crossing can be rough or not at all. My first trip there I was stuck on big corn for a few days.There is rumors of a newer enclosed boat running soon that might make the ride smoother in rough weather. I have made the trip from the U.S. to Little corn with all the flights and boat ride in one day. The flight from Managua to Big Corn is on a puddle jumper.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Guess I'll wait until new boat becomes a reality . . . Will probably be a long wait. Thanks dirtfarmer.

 

[drewmeister_sd]

Greetings. I just discovered this forum. My wife and I are adventurous travelers and now both advanced open water certified.

We were in Nica in mid-November. We stayed 6 nights on little corn island. It is very simple and rustic. The weather was crap- wind howled 24/7 and it rained a lot. The ride over from big corn was really, really rough. I fish offshore here in Southern California and while life jackets were provided on the panga, I really felt like it was overloaded. We only managed 3 dives due to the weather, which was really disappointing. Personally, it was a lot of work getting there and back with not enough reward. We fly on United and you can't get either there or back in one day.

I too have heard about a larger ferry/water taxi in the works.

We visited Granada, which was nice for a couple days. We did a canopy zipline and volcano tour, both of which were via private car and not too expensive. We had the Hotel San Francisco book both. [Disclaimer- we know the owners].

 

[rickcavanaugh]

see my review of Little Corn from my trip last week. If you need more details, PM me.

Little Corn Island Dolphin Dive | Scuba Trip Reviews

There are only 2 scuba operations on Little Corn. One of the 2 was on strike due to non payment. I have heard that they went back to work a couple of days ago.

---------- Post added March 4th, 2013 at 04:53 PM ----------

Crossing can be a bit rough, but if you are used to diving off boats it is not that bad. A new boat was just delivered to Little Corn to act as a ferry last week. It is a very large cabin cruiser. I do not know when this will start operating.

Yes any boat crossing can be cancelled due to weather. If this is a concern stay the last night on Corn Island. But then again, if the weather is that bad, the planes will not fly either.

 

[fairfield59]

The new ferry started service yesterday, March 9, 2013.

Facebook link New Passenger Yacht Service Begins Today | Facebook

 

[rickcavanaugh]

I would highly recommend the new boat for a couple of dollars more. I don't think I would ride in the front seats though