JES

We are staying in Managua with a family for Christmas and are trying to decide on a fun getaway for New Years. We are considering Corn Island off the coast of Nica or Punta Leona on the central coast of Costa Rica....can anyone make recommendation?

Is there anyplace recommended over the border of Nica into CR that is closer and nice?
Thank you!

ateabag

Hi, We are flying into the Corn islands in Jan-www.bigcornisland.com & then going down to Juan del Sur which is right over the CR border in Nigaragua-staying at Pelican eyes which has received great reviews. Also looked at Morgan;s rock which sounded phenomenol but verrry expensive-$400/nite as I understand it. Info & communication to the CI is difficult so any ?'s-will be glad to help. if you go to CI, I would be interested in any insights you can give us on your return. Good luck!

JES

Thanks for your response ateabag....I will check out those destinations over the border ($400 is over my budget also).
Will you be going to Little Corn at all or just Big? I have hear Little is very nice.
Where are you staying on CI? And how did you find out about it? Any info would be helpful and I will certainly help you out when I get back.

ateabag

We looked at Casa Iguana, Los Delfines & Bayview which was listed as Fodor's fave in the new Fodor's Central America.
Also searched tripadvisor & www. bigcornisland for lodging. All sound rather rustic-travelbear posted an excellent report-highly recommend. Sounds like it is good to take lots of US$ in small denominations. Husband prefers something newer so... Casa Canada-spoke with owner [very nice] who is down there right now & talking to the airlines about our tight connection. We are flying out of Detroit 6am-into Managua at 12;45pm to connect to the CI flight ~2pm. We are told if we are on time, we should be ok. We do have plan B if we miss it as hotel right across from the airport. Originally wanted to stay a nite on little corn but husband prefers to change lodgings as little as possible thus we will be daytripping. I do want to have lunch at Farm, Peace & love. I would highly recommend reading www.divelittlecorn.com as they have a great page on tips. It is recommended that if you stay on little corn that you overnite on the big island if you are taking the am flight out. Also, Lonely Planet & Moon just came out with new guides which were extremely helpful. As to Juan del Sur, we are daytripping to Ometepe islands which sounds fab. Happy to share info. Let me know if I can help. Will be interested in what you come up with. I think CI would be an unforgettable experience for NY. How old are your children? Are they seasoned travelers? I did read somewhere a report from someone that took a little one to the CI-will see if I can find it again.

JES

Thanks for the great info. We don't have kids so no worries about that info.
Have you read anything about the turtles on CI? I've done a little reading--though I have so little time. I'm wondering when their big season is. Would love to see them.
I did read travelbear's reaport, thank you--excellent. I will check out the new books and the lodging you mentioned.

ateabag

I thought I remembered reading about the turtles [we have seen them in other parts of the world] & when I googled it, there were several hits for turtles on CI. Unfortunately what came up was the mistreatment of the turtles. The info was old so hopefully that has changed. I was unable to tell when their season was for nesting. It appears that La Flora reserve which is on Juan del Sur as I understand is the most famous in Nicaragua. Hopefully someone can help. When I was in the Galapagos last Jan they were breeding so perhaps you may see them.

JES

My Nica friend says he goes out at night on the beach with a flashlight around Christmas time and sees them laying eggs (I just got off the phone with him) so hopefully we'll have good timing.

JES

ateabag,
We ended up not going to Corn b/c it seemed more like a caribbean island experience with english spoken, etc. than Nica and we were looking for a purely Nicaraguan. We went down south near the border of Costa Rica to Morgan's Rock which was incredible. I'd love to hear about Corn when you return.
We missed the turtles....we were at the tail end of the season.