Big Corn Island

Big Corn Island is the larger of the two islands located about 70kms off the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua that combine to make up Corn Island. 

Big Corn island has an area that covers roughly 10 square km so it is a very nice size for walking around on. A walking tour around the entire Big Corn Island should take you a little over 2 hours.   

There are many pristine white sandy beaches on Big Corn Island such as South West Bay, more commonly known as the picnic center where the majority of tourists spend their time as it is the best location on Big Corn Island to relax. It has a little bar/restaraunt right on the beach so you can sip Pina Coladas and eat your Pan de Coco (that's coconut bread) with the feeling of the warm white sand between your toes. The beaches are all  along the outside of the island while the interior consists mainly of mangrove swamps. Personally, I would not recommend going into the mangrove swamps without a lot of mosquito repellent as the mosquitos run rampant there.

If you feel like you don't want to walk around the island there are a couple of options for you to chose from. The public bus, which charges 5 cordobas to go the whole round the island, or of course there are a multitude of taxis that make runs around the whole of Big Corn Island. Taxis tend to charge 20 to 25 cordobas per person to go anywhere on the island.

The industry on Big Corn Island revolves mainly around fishing (Lobsters and shrimp being one of their biggest exports) and tourism (around 75% of all tourists that travel to Corn Island wind up staying on Big Corn Island for the majority of their stay). There are many activities to keep yourself busy on Big Corn island but it is catered more to the party life style (Big Corn island has over 10 local bars besides the hotels, as well as its one dance club!) or the relaxation lifestyle than one of the nature adventurer. (If you prefer things like snorkeling or scuba diving your best bet would be Little Corn Island, although there are some facilities available on Big Corn Island the facilities  on Little Corn Island are better for that sort of thing.) The one thing that is popular on Big Corn Island for example are horseback riding tours that give you a nice view of everything that Big Corn Island has to offer. These tours generally last about 3 to 4 hours and cost somewhere in the vicinity of $20 to $35.  

In my opinion one of the nicest things about Big Corn Island is that the majority of the people that live there speak English and are always willing to help you out if you have a question. So even if you don't speak Spanish but want to get away to a tropical paradise then Big Corn Island is a good option for you.