Trip Report Utila
My boyfriend and I visited Utila between February 26 to March 11th. We had a fabulous time! Heres some details hope its helpful!
Dive Operator: We spoke with a few dive shops on the island and ended up going with Deep Blue (their regular dive shop they also have an all inclusive resort which is supposed to be good too). We took our advanced open water with them. Ian was very professional and knowledgeable, and was also lots of fun. The boat had between 3 and 15 people on it, but averaged about 6 divers (not including instructors, divemasters). This was generally fewer than we saw on other boats, and a definite plus for Deep Blue! On a typical dive, it was just my boyfriend and I, and the divemaster. Divemaster Russell was also great really made an effort to point out wildlife and take us to sites where we might spot things that interested us (me flatworms and nudibranches!). And Gringo the boat driver was always helpful and super funny. Thanks guys!
Wildlife: Some of the creatures we saw included toadfish, pipefish, filefish, scorpion fish, porcupine fish, an octopus, turtles, rays, huge eels, flatworms and a hogfish. I actually preferred the south side which had more wildlife, though we saw something great on every dive. We made about 15 dives over the course of our stay. On one dive Gringo stopped so we could snorkel with a huge pod of spinner dolphins. We also saw tons of flying fish on the surface. No whale sharks at that time.
Accommodations: Theres a huge range. Since we are traveling for five months, our budget requires us to stay at less expensive places. We stayed at Roses Apartments for $12 a night. That included hot water and a private bathroom, a huge porch and a (not great, but functional) kitchen and a small fridge so we could cook for ourselves when we wanted. The best part about Roses was that it was up the hill away from the main street, so we werent disturbed by people zipping back and forth on scooters or people leaving the bars late at night.
Other stuff: The ATM can be temperamental. Try and get cash when you can from it and talk nice to it. Its cheaper to pay for diving in US dollars if possible, and theres an extra charge for using credit cards. We didnt find many mosquitoes (we didnt take anti-malarial) on our visit, though sometimes the sandflies were pesky. Treetanic is an amazing bar that shouldnt be missed great atmosphere!! We loved Daves BBQ for dinner. Have fun!
My boyfriend and I visited Utila between February 26 to March 11th. We had a fabulous time! Heres some details hope its helpful!
Dive Operator: We spoke with a few dive shops on the island and ended up going with Deep Blue (their regular dive shop they also have an all inclusive resort which is supposed to be good too). We took our advanced open water with them. Ian was very professional and knowledgeable, and was also lots of fun. The boat had between 3 and 15 people on it, but averaged about 6 divers (not including instructors, divemasters). This was generally fewer than we saw on other boats, and a definite plus for Deep Blue! On a typical dive, it was just my boyfriend and I, and the divemaster. Divemaster Russell was also great really made an effort to point out wildlife and take us to sites where we might spot things that interested us (me flatworms and nudibranches!). And Gringo the boat driver was always helpful and super funny. Thanks guys!
Wildlife: Some of the creatures we saw included toadfish, pipefish, filefish, scorpion fish, porcupine fish, an octopus, turtles, rays, huge eels, flatworms and a hogfish. I actually preferred the south side which had more wildlife, though we saw something great on every dive. We made about 15 dives over the course of our stay. On one dive Gringo stopped so we could snorkel with a huge pod of spinner dolphins. We also saw tons of flying fish on the surface. No whale sharks at that time.
Accommodations: Theres a huge range. Since we are traveling for five months, our budget requires us to stay at less expensive places. We stayed at Roses Apartments for $12 a night. That included hot water and a private bathroom, a huge porch and a (not great, but functional) kitchen and a small fridge so we could cook for ourselves when we wanted. The best part about Roses was that it was up the hill away from the main street, so we werent disturbed by people zipping back and forth on scooters or people leaving the bars late at night.
Other stuff: The ATM can be temperamental. Try and get cash when you can from it and talk nice to it. Its cheaper to pay for diving in US dollars if possible, and theres an extra charge for using credit cards. We didnt find many mosquitoes (we didnt take anti-malarial) on our visit, though sometimes the sandflies were pesky. Treetanic is an amazing bar that shouldnt be missed great atmosphere!! We loved Daves BBQ for dinner. Have fun!
