On Friday morning, myself, Robin and Stephanie took a flight from Managua to the Corn Islands. I had planned to do my dive certificate here as it was cheap and the diving was supposed to be decent.

We arrived on Big Corn in the afternoon and took a panga across to Little Corn which takes about 30 minutes. We were hoping to stay at 3 Brothers Hostel, which we had heard was decent. Unfortunately as we approached we saw that there was a large queue of people waiting to get in - it wasn't looking good. A local guided us to an alternative place called the Lobster Inn, where we settled in for a decent price.

That evening we took a quick stroll to get our bearings on the island. We found a Cuban restaurant and had an awesome fresh lobster dinner for $12.

The next day we realised that there was no cashpoint on the island (lesson learned - always do your homework!). We spent the morning on the beach as the sun was out (something that would be a rarity for my stay) with Robin and I deciding to head to Big Corn in the afternoon to take some money out.

The weather was due to get bad that day and the ride over to Big Corn was interesting. It was relatively rough but some of us on one side of the boat managed to cover ourselves with a plastic tarpaulin which stretched only half way across. The rest of the passengers ended up getting pretty wet.

Once on the island we strolled to the cash point, took out some cash and headed back to the docks for a couple of beers. We saw Francois (the French guy I'd met on the Volcano Boarding tour) cycle past and shouted after him. We stopped for an interesting chat - he told us he'd had his drink spiked by a girl in Managua and had woken up in a street in the city. Luckily he had only lost a little cash and his phone.

The boat journey back to little corn was very interesting. The wind had picked up and the waves were rough. The boat was small and was getting pounded. The waves were at about 10ft and the boat was getting some serious air time. I lost count of how many times my backside came off the seat. It was actually pretty fun (though not for those that get seasickness), almost like a roller coaster ride. I also met a sound English guy called Chris on the journey.

Once back, both Robin and I needed to shower and dry off. We had dinner at one of the beachfront cafes (I had one of the best burgers I've ever tasted). We also headed to a reggae bar (the local party spot) where we played a lot of pool with some locals and danced a little (though we couldn't keep up with the locals who seemed to have natural rythm).

The guy from the dive school had told me that there was no way they would be able to dive for a few days, which meant that I wouldn't get the chance to do my open water certificate. Given that that was the only reason I had gone to the island I was gutted. The next couple of days were a real downer as the weather was terrible and there was little to do on the island.

The island had a certain charm about it - I didn't quite fall in love with it like I did with Caye Caulker (though it had a similar vibe) but I could see that if the weather was good it would have a lot to offer.

I decided to cut short my stay and having (sadly) said my goodbyes to Robin and Stephanie on the Monday night, took the first flight back to Managua on Tuesday. I decided to stay one night in Managua and took a bus to Panama City on the Wednesday.