Tarpon Channel lies east of Little Corn Island and is dived for one reason: the chance of meeting one of the few native great hammerhead sharks. A sighting is never guaranteed, but this is the site on the island where divers go looking for them.
0Where it is and how deep
12.2885° N, 82.9708° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The channel resembles a canyon with steep walls and goes to a maximum of 21 m (70 ft), with visibility generally between 15 and 25 m. The whole point is to look for a great hammerhead: some dives find one and others do not, and tarpon and reef fish make up the rest of the dive.
Marine life and season
- Hammerheads
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Little Corn Island & the Corn Islands: Blowing Rock and the east-side sites need calm seas, which come in April and May and from mid August to mid October.
Know before you go
- On the exposed east side of the island, so it is only dived in consistently calm weather with winds of around 16 km/h (10 mph) or less.
Dive videos
Tarpon Channel with Dolphin Dive... Little Corn Island, Nicaragua · Brendan Lewis on YouTube
Sources
- Dive Sites – Dolphin Dive Little Corn — Dolphin Dive Little Corn
- Tarpon Channel Dive Site — ScubaGo
More dive sites in Little Corn Island & the Corn Islands
Pinnacle
Caribbean reef sharks around a lone rock breaking the surface far offshore
Reef
Lobster and octopus out feeding on a sheltered night reef
Reef
Nurse sharks and eagle rays over sand patches ringed by elkhorn coral
Reef
A maze of sandy channels and small coral archways
Similar dives elsewhere
A gentle drift down a sand channel that ends at the drop-off
A 9-metre reef cut, with nurse sharks and stingrays next door
The channel between Redonda and Comprida, down to 18 m
Drift the channel either way, depending on flood or ebb