Are The Corn Islands Worth It? Visit Nicaragua's Caribbean Paradise

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Back in 2015 when I went to Central America, one of the places I was most excited to visit were the Corn Islands in Nicaragua.

I was super excited to go but also wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the trek out there, especially on my own.

Once I got to Nicaragua, though, I found someone to go with and I’m SO glad I didn’t skip it!

So if you’ve been wondering if the Corn Islands are worth it, YES! I would love to go back some day.

Are the Corn Islands in Nicaragua worth visiting?

Yes! It can be a trek to get to the Corn Islands (depending on how you want to get there) but it’s so worth it!

I will note that throughout this I’ll primarily be talking about Little Corn Island. If there are other thoughts on Big Corn Island specifically, I’ll make sure to say that.

The beaches are beautiful

The beaches on Big Corn Island are nice, but the beaches on Little Corn Island are NICE.

When I talk about Little Corn, I usually refer to the island by the food side (the side you arrive on) and the beach side (the other side).

The food side beaches are smaller and just fine but the beach side beaches are beautiful, soft white sand and cover most of that shore.

Some areas are busier than others but it’s generally not that busy since there are only so many places to stay on the island.

This is a wonderful little beach destination in Central America and it shouldn’t be missed!

It’s can be both budget friendly and luxurious

(This is all about Little Corn, no thoughts on Big Corn here).

I think the little beach bungalow we stayed in was maybe $15 per night (Elsa’s Place)? It was bare bones, just a bed with a mosquito net and table, but it was on the beach.

There was a shared bathroom and shower where you just bring a bucket of water to flush.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Yamaya Resort which will run you about $225-250 per night. It’s (obviously) much fancier and also right on the beach.

Food prices also vary but there are plenty of budget friendly places and a few more expensive ones, like the Turnt Turtle (it’s actually Turned Turtle but I prefer Turnt).

I hung out at the Turnt Turtle quite a bit even though we weren’t staying here and enjoyed their best pina coladas ever in the hammocks while I read.

So, no matter your budget or travel style, there are options for you! It might seem like a budget-breaking destination at first, but it’s definitely backpacker-friendly.

There are no cars!

I love going to places that don’t have cars and Little Corn doesn’t have any!

It’s a tiny little island and very walkable. You can easily walk around the whole thing in an hour, maybe two if you really take your time and make stops.

I love not having to worry about cars and traffic while I’m walking around, so for me this is a big plus and a great reason to visit Little Corn Island!

Big Corn Island, since it’s much bigger, does have cars.

It’s like a holiday on a holiday

This was a common thing I heard from the other backpackers I met there. It was like a holiday on holiday!

And it really was! I think we were there for five or six days, which some people might say is too much, but it was so nice to just be there and relax!

It’s obviously a great holiday if you want to come here specifically just for this, but if you’re backpacking through Central America, this is a wonderful place to slow down a bit.

You can learn to dive

While I didn’t do this, my friend that I went with did! Utila is generally the popular place to learn to dive in Central America, but this is a great option, too!

It’s particularly great if you don’t want to be in a party destination (which Utila is).

You can do the beginner course or more advanced ones, depending on your current skill and certification levels. There are 20 dive sites around the island.

Or go snorkeling or paddling instead

Don’t want to learn to dive while you’re here? No worries! You can go snorkeling or paddling instead if you still want to be out on the water!

We rented paddleboards on the food side of the island which I really enjoyed! The water is calmer on this side of the island so I think it would generally be better for that unless you have experience paddling on the ocean.

There are quite a few tour operators on the island if you want to join a snorkeling trip out to the barrier reef. I didn’t do this but think it would be fun to try if I went back.

Getting there is an adventure in itself

There are two options for getting to the Corn Islands: by land and by air. I did both and which you pick will probably depend on how much time you have and the level of comfort you want.

Cost wise, they pretty much evened out. Time wise, land and sea takes WAY longer.

The easy way is to fly from Managua (the capital of Nicaragua) to Blue Fields then to Big Corn Island.

The adventurous way is to get to Managua, take a bus to Bluefields (I think this is newer, we had to take a bus from Managua to El Rama, then a boat from there to Bluefields).

Then there were two options for a boat from Bluefields to Big Corn Island when we went, an overnight ferry (The Captain D) and an express ferry.

I heard nightmares about both and we figured the faster trip would be better. We took the Rio Escondido ferry (the express one) and it was smooth sailing.

I did see a few people that were seasick (that was a big thing I saw mentioned in our planning, and rough seas) but we thankfully were ok. I did take two Dramamines though.

Then, once you get to Big Corn you have to take a Panga (a small boat) over to Little Corn.

The hardest part about going by land and sea is timing everything right because the Rio Escondido only leaves Bluefields on Wednesday and Saturday at 9 AM and returns Thursday and Sunday at the same time.

But the boats can be cancelled if weather is bad which just makes planning even more difficult.

Plus you want to try and get the morning boat to Little Corn because timing is better for finding a hotel (I don’t think many took reservations when we went, this could be different now).

Here is a rough breakdown of our journey there:

Very very early morning bus from Managua to El Rama (the night one sold out so we had to spend a night in Managua)
Panga from El Rama to Bluefields on Tuesday
Spend the night in Bluefields
Rio Escondido ferry from Bluefields to Big Corn
Spend the night in Big Corn
Panga from Big Corn to Little Corn

Then, to leave we flew back because we didn’t have four more days to try and get back by land and sea.

All that to say, getting there is quite the adventure and takes a pretty good commitment if you’re not flying.

While I have the way we went written out above, that was in 2015. It seems pretty similar, but here is an experience from January 2023.

Little Corn Island is quite safe

While Big Corn is fine to walk around during the day, it can be sketchy at night.

Little Corn, on the other hand, is much more safe! Of course, take precautions like you normally would but it’s generally pretty safe there.

I walked around the island during the day by myself quite a bit and never felt uncomfortable or unsafe.

I would probably be a little more wary at night on my own but there are very few places I feel truly unafraid to walk alone at night (Taiwan and Japan).

And like usual as far as safety goes, I’m a fairly small white lady and know my experience won’t reflect on everyone else’s experiences who don’t look like me. I know this is just Reddit but this may help.