The Corn Islands are located on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and was the culmination of my trip in this country. Many times I end the trip on islands where I can rest and enjoy the last days of the trip.
To get to them you have to arrive first in the city of Bluefields. Located at the mouth of the Escondido River, it is the capital of reggae and calypso music.
With an important cultural richness since four languages are spoken: Spanish, Creole, English and Miskito as it is shown in the Central Park monument where the four cultures are intertwined: garifonos, branches, mestizos and miskitos.
70 kms from the mainland hides a haven of peace and nature, the archipelago of the Corn Islands formed by two islands: La Grande (Big Corn) and Little (Little Corn) also known as La Islita.
A flight of fifteen minutes leaves me on the Big Island. I rent a taxi that takes me to the best places and beaches that are in the southern half. The most popular is South West Bay with turquoise waters, golden sand but the most beautiful is Long Bay with its whistling palm trees.
Beach in Big island
The island is quiet with a local population not used to the tourism but friendly and very calm appearance that always return a greeting and a smile.
The interior of Big island is a haven of peace
I leave the Big Island to catch a panga, the name given to the local boats and in forty minutes I step the Little Island also known as La Islita.
I had no place to stay and I got carried away by the recommendations of the people of the island. I wanted to be in a bungalow facing the sea outside the village, in a calm place. So I decided to stay at Stedman home, a place on the island with simple wooden bungalows in front of the beach with good cook skills with fish and lobster meals of Caribbean flavor that were always a pleasure to taste.
My cabin in front of the beach in Islita
What did I do? Basically, relax. Here there is a great variety of alternatives. And I think here is its charm: to lie down in a hammock on a beach of crystal clear water and alternate to swim with a good read or a good conversation.
During the day I had my corner on the island: these hammocks that accompanied me with coconut water
It is not probably the island with the best beaches in the Caribbean but most of them have a small strip of white sand and lots of seaweed just before entering the water. But the turquoise color and the transparency of the ocean is totally ‘made in’ Caribbean.
I walked on empty beaches surrounded by clear turquoise waters
I enjoy a few days of pleasure where you could get to all places on foot. Sometimes in less than an hour you went around the island or crossed it looking for little exploded corners while enjoying beautiful solitary beaches like the northern tip where the hung hammocks between palm trees were waiting for me with the background music of the waves and a landscape of blues waters always accompanied by a fresh coconut.
This place is capable of making you feel the loneliness of isolation since you barely hear noise. They are the moments of the sunsets where the breeze felt deliciously pure and only the colors of the sky changed.
Sunset in la Islita
That is why perhaps La Islita is one of these islands so unknown that they keep it as one of the forgotten paradises of the Caribbean. But the best thing is to hurry; it is the best kept secret in Nicaragua, but unfortunately not for long.
See more pictures of Nicaragua in Countries