THE BEST BEACHES ON NICARAGUA’S CORN ISLANDS
I have a list going of the most beautiful beaches that I have been to around this world, and every single beach on the Corn Islands that I spent my days on made it on that list.
There is something so special, and so different about the Caribbean Sea, and two islands that are basically untouched by large tourism companies and resort towns is becoming almost unheard of in the region.
With a population of only under 7,800 people on both islands combined, I was the only one on the beaches 99% of the time, with local families occasionally swimming by, and a couple of other backpackers and foreigners wandering around as well. Though the entirety of both island’s coast lines are so beautiful, there are some spots that just stood out.
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BEST BEACHES ON LITTLE CORN ISLAND:
OTTO BEACH:
Otto Beach is often said to be the most beautiful beach out of both Big Corn and Little Corn, and even though it is hard to compare them all, this beach is so special.
Right on the very northern tip of the island, Otto Beach is a walk down the beach from Yemaya Reefs, the islands only higher end resort. As Yemaya charters a boat for their guests to the northern end from the port on Big Corn, it is a walk across the island from the main village on Little Corn. A ‘walk across the island’ is only 20 minutes tops.
HOW TO GET TO OTTO BEACH:
To get to Otto Beach you will follow the main footpath into the middle of the island until the path ends and you hit the island’s old baseball field, and the electricity generators. You will walk through the field, continuing into the woods on a small little path until you hit a split in the trail and a sign pointing towards Yemaya and the fish fry bar.
You will come out of the woods at the beach, take a left, and walk past the small beach bar and a little house, arriving at a beautiful open beach.
I was always the only one on the beach, sometimes with a couple of local children that would play in the waves down the beach by the house.
Some of my favorite moments of all of my travels were those spent sitting there staring into the Caribbean Sea. Seriously such a special little spot on this earth.
UNNAMED BEACH ON THE WEST SIDE OF LITTLE CORN:
This is not really an island with named beaches, just empty, unbelievably beautiful shorelines. I found this little spot while exploring around and spent an afternoon sitting in the sand and finding pretty pieces of sea glass and seashells.
To get here, you will walk past the Las Palmeras hotel and dive spot on the footpath until it ends and there is some houses overlooking the sea by the woods. To your left you will look over the small cliff down over a beautiful beach with sand touched by nothing but the waves. You will kind of have to scale up and down the dirt cliff, but it is such a perfect spot.
BEST BEACHES ON BIG CORN ISLAND:
NORTH END BEACH:
I took the 6am boat from Little Corn to Big Corn, so my first couple of hours on the island were spent having an amazing breakfast and coffee on the beach at the Seaside Grill on the North End Beach. On my walk down to my little hotel I walked along the clear blue water in the warm white sand, it reminded me of the beaches on the western coast of Jamaica, but completely empty, quiet, and unspoiled.
I spent lots of hours here, and watched some local boys bring in their catches from a day of fishing-and quite literally skinning them before bringing them to the small reggae bar to cook for dinner during sunset.
UNNAMED BEACH ON THE NORTHERN END OF BIG CORN ISLAND:
In my other blog post about the Corn Islands, I mentioned how much I loved a little restaurant called Darina’s Kitchen. Right in front of Darina’s Kitchen is a beautiful open beach with the brightest, clearest blue water.
Darina (the woman that owns and runs the restaurant) actually had a little extension of her seating on the beach, but the insane hurricane in the fall of 2022 hit the Corn Islands hard and washed her spot, and most of the beach out to sea.
Unlike other beaches that I mentioned in this list, the waves and current here can change pretty fast, but it is still so beautiful to sit on in the sun when not swimming.
Next time that I visit the islands I very well might stumble upon some different little hidden beaches that will make their way up the list of my favorite, most beautiful beaches but of right now, these 4 beaches on both islands are sill on my mind almost every day.
THINKING OF TRAVELING TO THE CORN ISLANDS? DO IT.
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