Little Corn Island Beach

Little Corn Island lies about seventy kilometres off Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, north of its larger sibling Big Corn. It is around three square kilometres, has roughly a thousand residents, and has no roads and no motor vehicles.

Getting there is part of what it is. The route is a flight or a long boat from Managua to Big Corn, then an open panga across a stretch of frequently rough water for half an hour. That crossing filters visitors effectively, and the island's tourism has stayed small and largely locally owned as a result.

The island's culture is Caribbean rather than Nicaraguan in the way most people expect: English-based Creole is widely spoken alongside Spanish, and the Corn Islands are part of an autonomous region with its own history. Fishing, principally lobster, is the main economy, and the diving industry is second. Big Corn Island, half an hour away by panga, has the airstrip and the road; Little Corn has neither, and the absence of vehicles is the single thing every visitor mentions first.

The beaches are white coral sand on a reef-protected shore, with the eastern side taking more wind and the western side calmer. Snorkelling and diving are good, with the reef close in and a wall offshore. Electricity has historically been intermittent and the island runs on generators and solar; water comes from rain catchment.

No cars, no roads, no airstrip — everything arrives by open boat from Big Corn and is carried up from the dock, which is why prices sit above the mainland's. The crossing is wet in any swell. What you get for that is a Caribbean island that still works the way Caribbean islands used to. Big Corn half an hour away has the airstrip, the road and the reggae, and the two islands are unalike enough that most visitors end up preferring one firmly.