20 replies to this topic

[fairfield59]

Posed some picks in gallert

[Buzo Guero]

Looking good, man! Thanks!

[WreckWench]

Thanks Gerry...I can't wait to hear your report! Is this a new SD.com destination?

[fairfield59]

Based on the diving so far and the somewhat tortuous path to get here, I would say I wouldn't make a return trip. Today's dives were best of the trip so far, and I would classify them as okay. Dive op is great and sites are all< 10 min ride. People are friendly. Food is pretty good. Its the diving itself that is, to me, hard to justify the $850 in airfare to get here. Maybe I'm just getting to old for this s@#$. As far as I can tell, there is no hot water anywhere, anytime. Will post all the details when I get home to a computer.

[WreckWench]

Thank you! Here's hoping things get better! Kamala

[fairfield59]

don't want you to get the wrong idea I'm still having a great time and it's a really cool place.

[WreckWench]

No worries...we'll wait for a full report!

[fairfield59]

Dolphin Dive has 2 dive boats. A medium sized (~26-28'?) one and a little one (~24'). The big one can accomodate up to 12 divers, and was the boat I dove off for all my dives. The most we had at one time was 9 divers, along with 2 DMs. It is cramped when getting geared up, as all equipment is staged in the middle of the boat in 2 rows. The crew was helpful in getting your stuff on, and entry was back roll. Everyone hung out at a predetermined place (front of boat, back of boat) until everyone was in water.

The visibility for the dives was fair. Lots of stuff in the water, which made for some tough picture taking. Compared to every other place I've dove in the carribbean, this was the worst overall visibility by far.

There were not very many big fish. An occasional barracuda but not much else. As an island, which along with its larger neighbor Big Corn Island, subsists on a large fishing industry, it appears there are no laws or regulations which prevent the over fishing of the area. The lobster industry is huge here. They would like to see some enforcement on some restrictions on shark fishing, but it is having little or no effect, since there is little to no enforcement according to the Dive Shop Manager. Seeing a single nurse shark during a dive was a big deal. There is no marine sanctuary or reserve as the dive industry on this island and Big Corn is very small, and fishing outweighs tourism by a huge margin.

The Dive Shop was professionally run. The DMs were fantastic. Friendly, helpful, knowledgable. They worked very hard to find and point out everything they could, which in some cases were things which I thought were non-noteworthy. After spending the first few dives dutifully swimming to what they were pointing out, I stopped.

The dives include all gear. There is a 30 lb weight restriction on the La Costena Airlines flights from Managua to Big Corn. They had good condition Sherwood Regs and Sherwood BCs. Shorties were included also, but as I schlepped my 3 mil full with me, I didn't check them out. (I hate getting cold) I also did not look at masks and fins closely, but did not see or hear any problems from the other divers about them. I bought a 10 dive package, which included the gear as noted above, for $280. They did not make you do the 2 morning dives, you could use your 10 dives however you wanted. They did a 3 pm afternoon dive most days. They did one night dive while I was there which I did not do.

More to come.

Edited by fairfield59, 06 June 2013 - 08:42 AM.

[MNJoe]

Thanks for the report!! I was curious about this destination also.

[fairfield59]

The deepest we dove over the course of the week was 70'. Most dives were in the 40-50' range, with a 45 min time, and several dives were <40'. One dives of the normal 2 tank moerning dive was shallow enough that we were not required to do our safety stop. Of my 10 dives, 8 were unique, we repeated 2 sites during the week. One of the sites was called Tunnels and Caves, and in my opinion was beyond what an OW diver should be doing. On our second trip to that site, I stayed on top of the reef with one DM while another DM led a group of 4 into the tunnels and caves. One very new (5 dives logged) diver freaked upon entering the first tunnel, and had to be escorted back to the dive boat. These weren't swim throughs. These were very dark, no way out tunnels, and no one except the DM had a light. Hence my not wanting to do it again.

The DM would conduct a post dive brief. He brought out his reef fish books and went through what we saw, and helped divers with their fish identification, then stamped their logbooks. I have never seen this post dive thing before, and thought it was pretty cool. They did it for every dive.

The getting back on the boat etiquette was a little confusing. The DM was always the first one back on the boat. There were no gentlemen. Handed up all gear before climbing ladder.

I was required to set up my own gear for the first dive of the week, then after that the shop took care of it. They brought tank/BC/reg to boat and I brought my mask,fins, and weight belt. Had to go down an easy staircase to beach then boat was ties off right onshore in a foot or 2 of water.

[fairfield59]

I stayed at the Los Delfines Hotel, on the leeward side of the island. $40/night standard rate. It is associated with Dolphin Dive. If you dive with them and stay with them, they take 15% off the total package. 10 dives and 7 nights in a standard room was $476. There was a 5% VAT. The room had a double bed and a single bed. Small bathroom with shower. Toilets which are like marine toilets, in that nothing can be flushed down except waste. Everything else goes into the wastebasket. (In the airport at Managua, they were the same way.) No closet. Dresser and 2 nightstands. Could be tough for 2 people, although the room costs the same for 1 or 2 people, so would have no need to share. Had a window type A/C which worked fine. The hotel has a restaurant and bar. I ate breakfast there one morning, and was unimpressed for the price. (~$8)

Power to the entire island would shut off about 5-530 am each morning, and remain off until around noonish. Its just what they do. It seemed that was the signal for everyone to start making noise, too.

Flight from Philadelphia to Managua was $660. You leave the main airport and right next to it is a dilapadated little terminal for Los Costenas Airlines, which was $179 RT to Big Corn Island. We flew on a ATR-42, a twin prop 44 person plane, both ways. They have smaller puddle jumpers but didn't see them in use. On Big Corn, it is a $1 taxi to the pier, where you catch a "panga" to Little Corn. The panga is a ~28' open boat with about 8 rows of seats, with twin 200 OB's. The ride to Little Corn can be, and was on that day, quite an experience. It was raining, and the boat goes about 25 kts. Seriously. It bounces and slams into and over and through some pretty good seas. There was a huge piece of clear plastic which we pulled across the passenger section. We all still got soaked. Supposedly there is a cabin cruiser type boat that occasionally makes the run but it did not during my week there. The panga costs $6 each way. The ride back to Big Corn was smooth and actually enjoyable.

Edited by fairfield59, 07 June 2013 - 01:58 PM.

[fairfield59]

There are many other places to stay on the island. By the "village" where I stayed, there were 1/2 dozen "hotels" some with AC some not. There was not a lot of breeze on that side of the island, and my room heated up pretty quick when the power went off. On the windy (east) side of the island, there are hotels that are open air type huts/cabanas, that range from $15/ night up to $75 / night. No AC. It is always windy, so they say it is comfortable. These cabanas had windows with no screens, and mosquito netting over the beds.

There were a ton of places to eat for such a small island. Breakfast at a tiny little place (someone's house/backyard) called Rosas was $3. Choice of 5 entrees, like juevos rancheros, or coconut bread french toast. Comes with coffee and a small fruit bowl. Ate there 3 times until they served me coffee and milk with a little skin on the milk. Went to a resort, Casa Iguana, for the remainder of breakfasts, which had better food and was QUICK for $6 breakfast.

Tranquilos is a bar/restauant near my hotel that I spent alot of time at. Happy Hour 5-7. Local beer was $1.30. Normally $2 non happy hour. Good food, free wireless, battery backup power, nice people. I ate ate a pizza place one night, Mango's, and it was absolutely horrible, after waiting an hour (only customer) for the pizza. They used local queso fresca instead of mozzerella and it just doesn't work. Cafe Deseirdre (?) was another nice little place with great fish sandwich and WiFi. Had a good whole fish for lunch one day after the owner found someone who spoke english so i could place my order. The only place I really wanted to eat was a Cuban Restaurant which was closed all week. Kids were selling fresh coconut bread from tupperware containers for $1 a loaf. Went to a pig roast at Casa Iguana one night and met this really cool family from Seattle. They were living in Nicaragua for a year so their 7th grade daughter could learn spanish by immersion.

The water is all spring fed, and the island has their own purification system on top of that. A bunch of restaurants/businesses as part of their recycling program will refill your water bottle for free.

Edited by fairfield59, 07 June 2013 - 01:56 PM.

[fairfield59]

The island is pretty small. I think one square mile. There is a cement path which goes maybe a third of the way around, then it is well worn dirt paths. No motorized vehicles allowed anywhere. Wheelbarrows and carts carry things everywhere, and bicycles. No golf carts. Most people walk. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to circumnavigate the island one afternoon, and only that long because I had to backtrack when I ran out of beach in one spot.

The people were friendly. I was only out in the unlighted part of the island at night once, and felt safe. I saw many people, tourists, children and locals out after dark and no one seemed overly concerned about it. the village has lights along the cement walkway. There is a 2 man police department on the island, with about 800 inhabitants.

A fellow diver told me there are a couple of places to carry on until the wee hours of the morning, but I never saw them or heard them.

There isn't much else to do on the island. Good walks and beaches. No zip lines, no rum factories, no butterfly gardens. Just alot of peace and quiet. Couple of very small grocery stores for snacks and drinks that were actually very cheap. I spent an hour one night taking pictures of the pre-and actual sunset from Tranquilos while the bartenders kept bringing fresh beers down to the beach for me.

Edited by fairfield59, 07 June 2013 - 01:43 PM.

[fairfield59]

Last thoughts, then I'll shut up.

Even though it was the beginning of rainy season, there were no mosquitos.

I was amazed at the level of trust shown by the Hotel/Dive Op. When I reserved my package 2 months out, they did not ask for a deposit or CC to confirm. When I checked in, they did not ask for a CC to have on account. At Tranquilos and other bars, they ran a tab for everyone, you settled up when your visit was over.

Pros
Cheap once you get there
Easy Diving
Food/ Fresh seafood

Cons
Long trip to get there
Pangas can be cancelled for bad weather
The diving is < spectacular
Not much to do besides dive
No hot water anywhere on the island.

Would I go back? Yes. Not right away. Wouldn't make it a yearly trip, but it was a pretty cool place once I got there and realized its a pretty cool place. Kamala, the Dive Shop Manager said he would be able to make a group deal, he said in the past they have arranged a cookout/pig roast, etc for groups.

Edited by fairfield59, 07 June 2013 - 02:00 PM.

[WreckWench]

Thank you darling...what a great report...I feel as if I was there myself. If anyone is interested we'll plan a group trip there!