This is an epic journey and one for the most adventurous traveller! Is this you?
There are a few great travel bloggers out there who have tried and tested a trip to the Corn Islands without flying. Here are a few we have found particularly good!
DIY Travel HQ: Getting to the Corn Islands without flying
Managua to Corn Islands: Along Dusty Roads
more coming soon….
Can you recommend other great Bluefields/Corn Islands travel blog posts?
Managua to Bluefields
The Mercado Ivan Montenegro is home to the Terminal Costa Atlantica. Which exclusively has expreso service every day to Bluefields via El Rama. Talking to the ticket lady we are told that both your bus and panga ticket are bundled together in the price, which is currently 174C$. The trip takes 5hrs and is a bit more comfortable than the buses to El Rama from the Terminal Mayorero. See photo below for the schedule.
We aren’t sure if you need to book your ticket in advance but these are the numbers listed for reservations:
2253-2879 Managua
2517-0073 Rama
2572-0131 Bluefields
Completed this route a few days ago.
A few notes,
– Buses to bluefields leave from 2 terminals, Terminal Costa Atlantica and Terminal Costa Carribean.
-The buses that leave from Terminal Costa Atlantica also pick up at the Terminal Costa Carribean
-unlike in other central American Nations night uses in Nicaragua are 100% safe.
– If you are on the large ferry the lower level can get unbearably hot, go upstairs!!! There is a nice breeze, and dolphins swam around the boat a few hours in on the way there as well as back 🙂
– On the way back, upon arriving in bluefields some drivers may tell you that “so and so bus is not running today”, go confirm at the ticket office! The buses are being run by competing companies and they may misinform you in order to get your business.
– Unless you take the bus of ‘Wendelyn’, you will arrive in Managua at the Terminal Costa Carribean.
– Salida Managua => Bluefields
0600 – jipe
0915 – nazareno/Wilson
1115 – amador/nazareno
1440 – zeledon
1700 – camilo Ortega
2030 – nazareno/Salinas
2130 – wendelyn
– Salida bluefields => Managua
0400
0530
0630
1000
1600
2100
2300
– Panga times,
Big corn => Little Corn
10:00
15:30
Little Corn => Big Corn
06:30
13:30
The panga usually leave swhen full, even if that means leaving early.
Also, the 13:30 panga from little to big only runs if there were enough people to fill up the one leaving big corn at 10.
Leaving little corn, your best bet is to take the 06:30
Bus price: 320 Cordobas
Ferry price: 255 Cordobas
Panga to Little corn:$5 or 320 cordobas
Hope this helps 🙂
It may sound like a lot, but the corn islands are 1000000% worth it!!!!
I did the trip to Bluefields / Corn Island by bus and ferry two weeks ago. There are supposed to be 8 busses a day going from Managua directly to bluefields. I got told in the hostel in Granada that right now only one bus is leaving each day. Luckily I did not believe them and went to Managua anyways. It is probable that not every bus is going, but definitely more than one a day. Normally the schedule is: 6am, 9:15, 11:15, 2:30pm, 5:00, 8:30, 9:30, 11pm. At that day the 9:15 am and the 5pm did not go. In general the bus is a simple chicken Bus ride taking approx 6hrs with 2 stops to eat/drink.
As told before, the ferry from bluefields leaves Wednesday’s and Saturday’s at 9am. So either take the night bus or sleep a night in Bluefields. The ferry was totally calm nice 5hrs ride. If you have, take a hammock to chill outside I’d the weather allows.
According to the terminal in Managua, the schedule for the bus from Bluefields to Managua is: 4am, 5:30, 6:30, 10:00, 1pm, 4:00, 9:00, 11pm.
Best is to call the terminal before to ask which busses go. I also found this website with the bus schedule for Nicaragua: horariodebuses.com
So far the information were correct.
(If I could, I‘d add a picture of the bus schedule, possible? Or shall I send it to you?)
I did the trip to Bluefields / Corn Island by bus and ferry two weeks ago. There are supposed to be 8 busses a day going from Managua directly to bluefields. I got told in the hostel in Granada that right now only one bus is leaving each day. Luckily I did not believe them and went to Managua anyways. It is probable that not every bus is going, but definitely more than one a day. Normally the schedule is: 6am, 9:15, 11:15, 2:30pm, 5:00, 8:30, 9:30, 11pm. At that day the 9:15 am and the 5pm did not go. In general the bus is a simple chicken Bus ride taking approx 6hrs with 2 stops to eat/drink.
As told before, the ferry from bluefields leaves Wednesday’s and Saturday’s at 9am. So either take the night bus or sleep a night in Bluefields. The ferry was totally calm nice 5hrs ride. If you have, take a hammock to chill outside I’d the weather allows.
According to the terminal in Managua, the schedule for the bus from Bluefields to Managua is: 4am, 5:30, 6:30, 10:00, 1pm, 4:00, 9:00, 11pm.
Best is to call the terminal before to ask which busses go. I also found this website with the bus schedule for Nicaragua: horariodebuses.com
So far the Info was correct.
(I‘d also have a pic of the bus schedule, if I can add it or send it)
Did this trip today and can confirm Johanna is correct.
Just in case there is any confusion, Terminal Costa Caribbean is nearby Terminal Mayoreo and NOT Terminal Ivan Montenegro.
There is a Ferry leaving from Bluefields 2x per week on Wendsday and Saturday at 9am for 255 Cordobas. For the way back, the Ferry leaves Thursdays and Sundays.
There are straight busses to Bluefields from Managua, leaving from Terminal Costa Caribbean between 6am and 11pm. The run daily, 8 per day.
There are two ways you can get to the Corn Islands. I have done one, and i have friends who have done the other so i will try and write about both. With both options you first get to Big Corn, and then it’s the same method to get to Little Corn.
Option 1
By far the easiest and quickest (and more expensive) option is to fly. You can fly from Managua airport to Big Corn Island on airline La Costena. They fly 3 times a day, sometimes with a short stop in Bluefields. Total flight time is just over an hour. You leave from the domestic terminal at Managua airport which is right next door to the international terminal. There is a good website with flight times although apparently it costs $15 extra to book online rather than through an agency. Also, if you book via an agency, you can request an open ended ticket which you cannot do online. The price is approximately $180 return. You are allowed a luggage allowance of 15kg for your checked bag and 10kg for your hand luggage. Once you arrive on Big Corn you can either walk or take a taxi to the pier to get the panga to Little Corn. It is about a 45 minute walk, or 20 cordoba per person in a taxi.
Option 2
This option is much cheaper but very very unpredictable as boats do not leave when they say they will! First you need to get the bus from Managua to El Rama (approx 6 hours). There you get a boat to Bluefields (approx 2 hours), and then another boat to Big Corn (approx 6 hours, cost $10). The boat from Bluefields to Big Corn leaves once a week and times vary, although at the moment it is leaving on a Saturday. I think sometimes there is another boat each week but this isn’t running at the moment (April 2016). The big problem with this route is that you don’t know when the boats are going to leave so it’s very hard to plan and you might end up waiting at Bluefields for a long time.
With either of the above options, you will arrive at the pier on Big Corn island. From there you take the panga to Little Corn (30 mins, 145 cordoba per person). The pangas leave Big Corn at 10:30am and 4:30pm. For the return, pangas leave Little Corn for Big Corn at 6:30am and 1:30pm. The panga ride is bumpy and can be wet! Also, the pangas do not run if the wind is above a certain speed so bear this in mind. There are also a few larger boats that travel between Big Corn and Little Corn but i don’t know anything about these.