I've been somewhat hesitant to post information regarding diving on Little Corn Island, but since I doubt most people will be willing to make the journey and for the betterment of all the businesses on the island here goes:
For the best information regarding the Corn Islands I recommend the following websites:
The Corn Islands - Hotels - Fishing - Diving - this site has comprehensive information regarding both Big and Little Corn Islands including maps of both.
Dolphin Dive - Little Corn Island, Nicaragua. Diving in the Corn Islands at it's best - my personal favorite dive operator on LCI
Dive Little Corn Nicaragua-Gold Palm PADI Dive Shop in the Corn Islands - the competing dive operator on LCI
The New Caribbean - Nicaragua - The Corn Islands | Scuba Diving Magazine - An excellent professional trip report on the Corn Islands
The above websites contain most of the information you need to plan a trip to the Corn Islands including how to get there, details on island life, prices for diving, when the wet/dry season is, etc.
Trip Report March 2010 & June 2010
My wife and I have made the trip to LCI twice, once during the dry season and once during the wet season. The wet season trip did suffer from the daily shower, but it was usually brief and didn't impact the diving in any way. Both trips were fantastic, not the least of which was due to our dive operator, Dolphin Dive. LCI is a remote unspoiled diving paradise and the dive sites reflect this. The reefs are healthy and boast high biodiversity. You'll find many corals such as Elkhorn and Staghorn, that have been wiped out by bleaching or disease in most other parts of the world, growing strong. There are a high number of fish and marine creature species located all around the island. We saw everything from Blue Chromis and Drumfish to Great Hammerheads and Eagle Rays. Visibility on both trips never went below 40ft with 70ft being the norm, although on some days the viz did stretch out to 100ft. The water temperature was steady at the mid to low 80's on both trips. Nothing more than a 3mm shorty wetsuit is needed unless you're especially prone to getting cold (on several dives I didn't even bother wearing a rash guard). Don't know what sites some of the previous posters went to, but there's a good cross-section of dive sites not just "shallow" ones. Some of the dive sites only have a depth of 25-40ft such as White Holes and Casa, others such as Jeff's Rock & Tarpon Channel are 75-80ft. In fact, during our Deep Diver Specialty Course we went to one site that had a depth of over 100ft. Larger marine animal species we encountered include Great Hammerheads at Tarpon Channel, numerous Eagle Rays, several Nurse Sharks, Sea Turtles, and Stingrays. Smaller marine animal species seen include Giant Hermit Crabs, several species of Parrotfish, Porcupinefish, Drumfish, Toadfish (they'll drive you mad until you find them), Yellowline Arrow Crabs, Channel Clinging Crabs, Coral Banded Crabs, several different Angelfish, several different Triggerfish, and African Pomponos. Also, expect to see a lot of Caribbean Spiny and Spotted Lobster above and below the water as the island economy depends on them. Lobster can be purchased on the island for a fraction of the price in the US, usually less than $10USD will get you a two tail dinner with sides. Dolphins have been spotted at a few sites and it isn't uncommon to hear them while diving. The Night Diving is not to be missed either as the bioluminesence is usually unbelievable. There usually isn't any current at any of the dive sites and most of the dive sites are just a 5-10 min. boat ride with the exception of Blowing Rock. Blowing Rock being the king of LCI Dive Sites...a pinnacle dive that's worth the 30-45 min. boat ride it takes to get there. At least with Dolphin Dive, the Blowing Rock trip is usually conducted on a Saturday and is done as a two-tank dive with the surface interval done on the boat. The site is astounding, we were only able to go once, but in two dives we saw several Blacktip Reef Sharks, Eagle Rays, massive Barracuda, huge Lobsters, and the usual host of fish and coral life.
Dolphin Dive is an excellent shop with a great set of instructors and divemasters. Everyone from the head instructor Adam down to the Divemaster Candidates are amazing. While there we took four specialty courses (PPB, Night, Deep, and Nav) and the Rescue Course, and all of the coursework was led by an outstanding instructor who made sure we learned the subject and had fun doing it. All of our "fun" dives were led by very knowledgeable divemasters who took their time and made sure we saw not only the larger fish but also the macro as well. This is emphatically not a Cozumel cattle-boat dive op. Additionally, the shop has a full line of well maintained equipment featuring Sherwood Brut Regs. The prices for diving are beyond cheap as well, 1 tank dives for $35, 2 tank dives for $65 (I even think equipment is included). You'll be hard pressed to find cheaper diving anywhere. Additionally, the dive shop is partnered with the hotel it's attached to, Hotel Los Delfines, which is cheap and one of the only air-conditioned hotels on the island. You'll likely receive a discount on your room rate if you choose to dive with Dolphin Dive.
It should be noted that none of the Corn Island dive ops are equipped with Nitrox and there are no wrecks on LCI.
I really couldn't recommend LCI and Dolphin Dive more.
