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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Nicaragua: Flying to the Corn Islands

The 14-seater plane we took from Managua to the Corn Islands
The 14-seater plane we took from Managua to the Corn Islands

There are two ways to get from central Nicaragua to the Corn Islands, the tiny pair of idyllic Caribbean hideouts that live some 70km off the eastern coast of the mainland.

The pilot catching up on the news, mid-flight
The pilot catching up on the news, mid-flight

Island Air

The view of Granada and Lake Nicaragua as we headed east
The view of Granada and Lake Nicaragua as we headed east

Even with the flight option, it still sounded like a bit of an effort, having to deviate miles from our planned route south to Costa Rica just to visit a couple of islands, but we needed a bit of a break from the unpleasant hassles of Granada, so we thought we might as well see what was involved. In the end, it was relatively easy to arrange a quick side-trip to paradise; I bought two return flights from the La Costeña website with no more than a few clicks, I booked an airport taxi through our hotel in Granada, and Peta managed to make a couple of hotel reservations on Little Corn Island that would see us through our visit. All we needed to do now was to get there in one piece.

Flying over the east coast of Nicaragua and into the Caribbean
Flying over the east coast of Nicaragua and into the Caribbean
The view over central Nicaragua
The view over central Nicaragua
Flying through the clouds
Flying through the clouds
The co-pilot's view of Corn Island as it appears on the horizon
The co-pilot's view of Corn Island as it appears on the horizon

The Public Panga

The harbour on Corn Island
The harbour on Corn Island

Big Corn Island is a proper Caribbean island, but Little Corn Island is a proper Caribbean paradise, so we decided to head straight for the smaller island. The only way to get across the 12km divide between the two islands is by public panga – a panga being a large, open speedboat with powerful engines and a liberal attitude to passenger comfort – and we'd heard some nasty horror stories about the panga and rough seas, which worried me a bit with my propensity for seasickness. Luckily the weather was pretty pleasant as we took our seats among the 40 other passengers on board and put on our life jackets.

Loading up the panga
Loading up the panga
Getting ready to leave for Little Corn Island
Getting ready to leave for Little Corn Island