A Few Dives, Good Food and a Panga Ride Later

We arrived on Little Corn Island this morning and I’m pretty in love with it already!

Okay, first, let me fill you in on what went on over at Big Corn the last couple of days.  Bryan and I stayed in a one room apartment that was steps from the island’s only dive shop. How convenient!  We stopped in on Sunday to ask about dives, prices and all the important stuff. They were a little hesitant to dive with us since it’s been a year since our last dives but we convinced them we would be okay.

The dive shop is called Dos Tiburones Dive Shop and they have a cute little cafe on site too.

Yesterday morning, we dropped in to see when they would be going and decided to do at least a one tank dive to the reef.  The dive was just us and the dive master and pretty low visibility from the churn of sand. It’s been quite windy lately over there.  But, we did a 50 minute dive and saw a nurse shark and a few other tropical fish. I’m never upset with a dive if I see blue tang!

After that dive, we decided to do another dive.  We had a delicious lunch right at the dive shop and then hung out until the 1pm dive with a couple of other guys.  That dive was about the same - nothing too exciting. We dove between two reef walls and went through an arch in the reef. No sharks but some ugly sea cucumbers.

I’m happy that we dive and that my comfort level is getting better each time. I learned my weight belt was way too heavy on the first dive so I dropped a couple of pounds and was much happier the next time I dove.

Tomorrow we are planning at least one dive in the morning. I’m honestly happy swimming all afternoon too!

Okay, I have to say that I am in food heaven over here.  For the most part, food is cooked with coconut milk, coconut flour or coconut water.  Not a drop of dairy or wheat in sight!  Well, there is wheat or I assume there is in hamburger buns and such.  But, let’s recap my most favourite meals so far:  oatmeal and coconut milk, coconut curry and vegetables, coconut bread, coconut rice and red beans, etc. Yum!  Oh, and I have had plantain every chance I can get!  I love plantain and can’t figure out how to cook it nearly as well as people who do it every day can. Food heaven!!

This morning, we checked out of our Big Corn apartment to catch the 10 am panga to Little Corn Island.  Bryan got misinformation and bought tickets for us on the boat to Bluefields.  haha! This boat was packed with locals and one young European guy. It looked like a refugee boat with no sides, hammocks, and crap piled up all over. I asked him if he was certain if it was going to Little Corn....well, another girl informed us that is was not. So he had to get his money back, which he did somehow!  The ticket taker magically could no longer speak good English when Bryan wanted to get money BACK from him...

Anyway, we found where to actually buy the tickets to take the panga to Little Corn and Bryan mentioned we needed to find a bank machine.  Well, a local kid said he would take him there. They left me at a restaurant with all our stuff and took off. I thought the bank was just around the corner...20 minutes later, Bryan finally returned, in one piece and not held at gunpoint for his money. He said there was no way I was going to that bank because it was just too sketchy. 

We didn't get much of a chance to discuss how much cash to take out before Bryan was whisked off by this kid, so he returned with way too little.  We'd read that everything on Little Corn Island would be cash-only as it's so remote they hadn't set up infrastructure for credit cards and there definitely would be no ABMs there.

When Bryan returned and discussed funds, we decided I would stay with the stuff again and he would take a cab with my bank card.  That worked out better though I still worried he wouldn’t come back! The ABM only allows you to take out $100 US at a time, up to 3 times, too.

But, all is good and, really, everyone is very helpful and friendly here. Their livelihood relies so much on tourism that I think they are all doing everything they can to keep people happy.

We arrived at our resort here on Little Corn, Las Palmeras.  It’s literally beachfront - you walk down the steps to the beach and step right into the water!  Oh, and the water is SO warm!  I don’t think I have ever felt ocean this warm.

This hotel is cute!  It kind of reflects the B&B I'd love to run on a beach one day.

There are 8 rooms with a central outdoor bar, chairs and seating areas and then hammocks and stools to overlook the water. It’s beautiful.  They serve food from 7 AM to about 10 PM, and are good to shut things down before midnight.  The rooms are VERY close to the bar, so you can have trouble sleeping if people are partying all night.  And, the resort closes the gate at night to help prevent random people from coming in.

This island is very quiet, no cars or golf carts.  The “roads” are cobblestone walkways and there aren’t many of them. Some end in a muddy path only to pick up later. We walked across the length of the island (yes, it’s that small) this afternoon and found a gorgeous beach with some secluded upscale huts.  We also stumbled upon some eco-resorts in the middle of the island.  They’re accessible via the muddy paths and very remote. I don’t think we would enjoy staying there. Too rustic.

We ran into an older man named Thomas who lives here. We first met him on the plane ride to Big Corn, then ran into him at a restaurant on Big Corn and already saw him here today!  Small world.