Itinerary Opinion: Little Corn and ____?

I'm just looking for some quick FEEDBACK PLEASE on our working itinerary for a trip to Nica in May.

Sat: Arrive 8PM. Hotel in Managua.
Sun: Fly to Little Corn Island
Mon-Fri: 5 full days on Little Corn Island.
Sat: Fly back to Managua and bus on to Granada.
Sun-Mon: Two whole days in Granada.
Tues: Early bus back to Managua for 6:50AM flight.

Overall, is this itinerary both practical and interesting?

Would it still make sense to go to Granada if we stayed only one whole day (two nights) and came back on Monday? Shaving one day off this trip would give us an extra day on our second trip later this year.

Is there an alternate to Granada that someone might suggest? We like cuisine, wildlife, scenery, horseback riding, physical activities, local culture, peace & quiet.

Also, about accomodations:

On LCI we were thinking 4 nights at Carlito's and (possibly) 2 nights somewhere on the North shore (Ensueno's or Derek's?)

In Granada we were thinking Hotel La Pergola?

I have no idea where we'd spend our one night in Managua. It should be someplace just safe and inexpensive enough for one night before we catch our flight in the morning. Ideally close enough to the airport to avoid paying much of taxi fares. Suggestions?

The Little Corn and Granada part of your trip seems good but, instead of changing locations on Little Corn(the island is not that big) you might want to look at spending the last night on Big Corn before your flight back since if a storm comes through the boats don't always run. Granada may be pretty warm in May so another option might be looking towards some of the highland areas but you won't be there that long and Granada is a special area.
We stayed at the Nicaragua Guest House close to the airport, friendly host who will arrange a taxi and inexpensive.

A601mom, this is exactly the kind of thoughtful, helpful feedback I was hoping for! Thank you so much for the excellent suggestions!!

Enjoy your trip!! It is a secial place, one of my favorite countries.

You could get a taxi from Granada to the airport give you more time in Granada!
Your hotel can arrange it- about US25 maybe a bit more at that time.
Best Western opposite the airport will be US$65 plus taxes!
And you still have to get there by taxi from the 'center' off Managua!
La Pergola is nice, Terrasol in that price range is nice as well.

GRANADA INFO

Spending just one full day in Granada is fine. It is a nice city, but if you are really just staying in the city (i.e. not trying to go to Masaya or los Pueblos Blancos nearby) it is still worth it. Enjoy!

One day in Granada would be ok. Your not going to any outlying areas. I'd try Casa Iguana on Little Corn, it's very nice. I agree with the Big Corn Island for the final nite just to make sure you can get back to Managua. Not only that, Big Corn is actually very nice. Friendly people and a great swimming beach at Picnic Center. Give yourself a day there and check it out.

Hi there, I went to both those places during the week of Christmas and it was amazing. I have hundreds of pictures. We spent three days in granada, first we hiked the larger of the two volcanos. It's about two hours of hiking but plan on a whole day in order to get to the top. They have guides for less than ten(US) that will take you all over the mountain. I'm in great physical shape and it was one of the most strenuous hikes i've been on but well worth it. The second day we kayaked on Lake Nicaragua. The third day we explored the city which isn't too large. The restaurants are all pretty good. Stay close to the Lake side as that is where the historic area is with all the better restaurants. It will cost 2 people no more than 18 for any restaurant in town with as much food as you can handle. Nicaragua is dirt poor so your money will go really far. Try to use your credit card when possible to avoid carrying cash. It is impossible to break anything larger than a 20. The fourth day we flew to little corn on a single engine prop out of managua. I spent 200 in Granada for a hotel room, endless drinks food and all entertainment. If you get to Big Corn after 4 or 5 you will have to stay the night there. the island has power but it is weak and shuts down randomly. Only hotel canada has it's own generator. Which is also the most expensive place on the island. Big Corn has only a small area of nice beach. I'd leave there asap. The boats are extreme. You WILL get wet. You may get injured. They go very fast and are very small. Several people in my boat were injured including black eyes. Take the larger of the two boats since it can handle the swells a lot better. It's a 45 min. boat ride that you will never forget. Cash only. in fact, everywhere on the little island is still cash only except the dive shop and one cuban restaurant the has th worst cuban food ever. They have like 5 dishes to choose from(all overpriced) and two were unavailable including the cuban sandwich and cuban sauce. lol. Don't eat there unless you run out of cash and are starving. Tip is only 1(US) or less. Don't waste your money here. We ran dangerously low and could barely get off the island the last day. Go to Ensuenos or Derek's place. Derek's is better and they both cost about the same. Don't go to Farm Peace & Love. Some mean italian lady runs it. Try to get to the north/northeast shore near derek's for the best beach area. Not a lot to do on the islands. I'd do three nights on little corn. You should be able to rent a hut house for 50-70 a night at either place. The cheapest on the island would be like 15-20 for someting that is like sleeping in a jail cell.
All said though it is a great place. Have fun and pack heavy for the islands.

evan, thanks for sharing the details and impressions from your trip. Especially your experience on the panga. I'll be sure to bring large trashbags to cover our suitcases! ...and perhaps some dramamine.

Regarding accommodation, I think in your budget B & Bs like La Islita and Casa Silas in Granada might be attractive options. Islita is southeast of the central parque and Casa Silas is in the southwest. Both are about two or three blocks from the parque and the market. Check out their reviews in vianica.com I look forward to reading about your Corn Island experiences. I've not been to that side of the country in my travels. buen viaje

Thank you for the great suggestions, melton. The B&Bs look lovely! As I learn more about Granada and the surrounding areas, however, I'm finding myself considering staying somewhere outside of Granada, perhaps Masaya or the shores of Laguna de Apoyo. Or even in one of the Pueblos Blancos. I am just concerned that I might find the strong tourist and ex-pat presence in Granada a little too comfortable and typical. Granada seems beautiful and a unique part of Nicaragua (and Central America) but I might prefer to be pushed a bit more outside my comfort zone. At the same time, Granada offers an easy home-base for just a couple days' activity and eating. It offers plenty of buses to/from Managua and certainly a lot of dining options (we prefer traditional-regional fare in comfortable atmospheres.) If anyone would like to give their two cents on the matter (Granada v. Masaya and other local alternatives,) please do.

We'll have two full days flanked by two half-days (travel days) to spend in the area and get a taste of Nicaragua to contrast our experience on Little Corn. Kayaking, scuba diving, sailing, hiking, a canopy tour, horseback riding, bird-watching, food markets, flora, fauna, and dining are all active interests. But we enjoy being quiet observers too. We like to see everyday life-- work and play.

Also, as per suggestions, we've decided to spend our last island night on Big Corn just to assure we'll be able to catch the flight the next day.

The "real" Nicaragua might be outside of Granada but there is precious little to do in Diria or Diriomo unless there's a hipico going on. Then you're in for some fun. Though on the plus side, if practising your spanish is what you are after, you'd be in a good spot - though you'd do as well in Granada - spoken english is still the exception here. The Laguna is strictly for relaxing in or looking at. There's nothing out there really. It's tranquilo no doubt, but there nothing going on. The tourists are really concentrated on Calle Calzada and the area around the parque. Outside of those areas the tourists really are quite scarce. This isn't Disneyland by a long stretch.

Oh geez, I wrote a detailed response to 11 where I decided we should stay with Granada and just do excursions, but I must have failed to post it. HOWEVER between then and now, I've discovered a lot more about Ometepe and although it is going to make things a lot more complicated for us (on an already short schedule) I think that we still must go there. It sounds, literally, just perfect for us. Abundant wildlife, ultra-cheap horseback riding, lots of hike options, less tourism, gorgeous views... the only thing we'll be missing is our first canopy tour, oh well!

If the boyfriend agrees that Ometepe is the way to go for us, we might try to make this happen:

Sat: BOS-MGA arriving 1:30PM. Overnight in Managua.
Sun: Managua to Little Corn.
Mon-Thurs: Little Corn.
Fri: Little Corn to Managua, then onward to Granada. Overnight in Granada.
Sat: Granada to Rivas, then onward to Ometepe.
Sun: Ometepe.
Mon: More Ometepe. Last ferry to Rivas. Overnight in Rivas.
Tuesday: Early bus to Managua. MGA-BOS departing 2:45PM.

This is mid/late May. Do I need to make lodging reservations for anything besides our first flights to/from Little Corn? It would be good to have plenty of flexibility should we have transportation complications for all that indirect travel between Little Corn and Ometepe.

I'm also going to nicaragua with a similiar itin. One thing we did was push LCI to the end of the trip so we wouldn't have that awkward day in managua- instead, spending the afternoon and morning in Leon before heading to Granada and Ometepe. Then off to LCI!!!!!