Corn Islands – A True Dive Adventure
The Corn Islands was truly a memorable experience right out of the gate…Sort of. Our group of eight were very excited about getting to this unusual destination. The flight itinerary was brutal, going from O’hare to Mexico City. From there to Managua, and finally finishing up at the Corn Islands in the Caribbean. We were pleased that Tonya, the owner of Dos Tiberones Dive Shop was there to meet us. All throughout our diving adventure, Tonya was there for guidance. She helped us negotiate the one dollar taxi rides anywhere on Big Corn Island. She also assisted us in finding all the awesome restaurants on the island. Once we finally got to our resort, Casa Canada, we received an unexpected surprise. Everyone was put into their own individual bungalow, at no extra charge. The units were beautiful. Exotic wood ceiling, tiled floors, with air conditioning, fan, wifi, and refrigerator. Our group was quite pleased.
Corn Islands – The Diving
Overall the diving was interesting. Interesting in that some of the reefs were just incredibly full of life. Barracuda, southern stingrays, turtles, and nurse sharks abounded. Lots of small life to see as well. Little blennies, and gobies hiding in the crevices. There would be juvenile spotted drums, as well as lots of adults swimming under coral heads. What also impressed me was the size of some of these incredible schools of fish…fish so thick they, literally blocked out the sun! On the other hand, we would be on some dive sites, that were pretty unimpressive as far as fish life. These sites had beautiful coral. Very healthy, and not abused like some other dive destinations. You would need to spend a great deal of time looking for small things to milk out the dive. However, all in all, it was a lot of fun. My personal favorite sites were on Little Corn Island, and Blowing Rock. Blowing Rock is a dive site that is just phenomenal. The sheer numbers of fish life were incredible. This current would push the divers around this large pinnacle in the middle of nowhere. Large schools of grunts, snapper, jacks and blue tangs would envelope the group. With so much fish life, no wonder there were large schools of barracuda all over the rocky pinnacle. To wrap up the diving, we were treated to a sunken Spanish galleon. There wasn’t much of her left. The wreck has been researched and no one can identify the remains. However, lots of cannon, ballast blocks, and an awesome anchor to check out. Ask me who doesn’t want to say they had gone diving on a Spanish wreck! With water temperatures in the 85 to 87 degree area, most of us only wore rash guards, even for the night dive. Very awwwesome!
One of the cool things about the area, is that Dos Tiberones is spending all its time (when not working) looking for future dive sites. The diving is so new here, many of the reefs are being found for the first time and being given names. This means there will be many more sites to see when Toucan Dive returns to the Corn Islands in the future.
The Value Of The Corn Islands
One of the great aspects of this Corn Island trip, was that it was a recon mission. We divers were here to see if this was a place we would want to come back again. I think for the most part, our group would sound out a resounding “YES”!!! Overall, everyone enjoyed the diving. Our accommodations were wonderful. All the units were close to the water. You could hear the waves lapping the shore every night. A beautiful infinity pool on the property, was very refreshing on hot days. It was also a gathering area for our group when not diving. Lastly, the meals we enjoyed were very flavorful, and reasonable. When I use the term “reasonable”, I’m talking $10.00 lobster dinners, and dollar beers here! It is unfortunate to get complaints on a trip like this. It was “I’m tired of lobster. I’m having something different tonight.”
This is just an awesome place to go. This may be one that Toucan Dive will do again and again. The terrific photos were provided by divers Dave Andrews and Dave Vetter. Check out the video and photos below!
