So some time ago when I did my Advanced open water course I got recommended this little island of the coast of Honduras should I ever want to do my Divemaster Course.
It seems like there is very little info that is up to date on SB so I thought I would share my experiences and recommendations.
November 15th I flew out of LA destined for Roatan, an easy stop in El Salvador and we landed in the Bay Islands. There are a few ways of getting to this little island, ferries run from La Ceiba on the mainland but for some reason it was cheaper to fly to Roatan and take a boat over to Utila. We hired the services of experienced sailor and regular water taximan, Capt Vern. It was a 4 hour trip on his 40ft Cat but was comfy enough and also allowed me to catch up on some rest.
We arrived at sunset and was greeted at the Utila Dive Centre dock by our Instructor, Kevin. He runs the UDC sister company called Cross Creek Divers and this is where I would call home for 5 weeks. After a tour of the hotel, Kevin showed us the boats, living areas, shared Kitchen and bathrooms and introduced us to the Divemasters and Instructors. All I can say is that from the start I was made to feel welcome.
Utila is a tiny island and the town itself is even smaller, very easy to walk everywhere and for the most part locals are friendly. I would touch up on your Spanish as some places dont speak any english.
Food is pretty cheap, ranging from Baleadas and Pastalito's (my favorite) running you about 50c US to $2.00 for a Super Baleada from Big Mamma's, which I highly recommend. Other places to eat include Main Street where the lovely Sara, Nicole and Siobahn will make you feel welcome, Munchies for the best Chicken Fajitas, Zanzibar for a good burger...if you dont mind waiting for ever... Thompsons Bakery is an institution, get there early in the AM, about 7am for still hot, melt in your mouth cinannamon buns! Mermaids restaurant is good for more varied meals like roast chicken and lasagne. So good!
Opposite Main Street cafe is a lovely local lady who makes real good Baleadas as well!
There are 11 dive shops on the island so you are spoilt for choice, Utila Dive Centre has just been voted the number one IDC training facility in the world. The utilities are nice there but I still prefered Cross Creek even though they are run by the same people. Underwater Vision looked like fun too, with a Volleyball area and nice bar which hosts Pub Quiz nights once a week. In all fairness I dont thnk you could go wrong no matter where you went, the island is small and competition fierce so anything bad said would go a long way.
Diving in Utila: timing played a huge part and while I would normally not go to any place during its wet season because of Viz and hey we all want the sun right? So Nov, Dec and Jan are wet season months but even though it rained, we had copious amounts of Sunshine and the visibilty for the entire 5 weeks was awesome, granted the last few dives where down to about 10m or so of clarity.
Eagle rays, Turtles, Stingrays, angels, Butteflys, huge morays all abound here, huge sponges and sea fans are everywhere and the north side diving was breath taking. They have a big wreck, the Haliburton which is host to some great macro life, and caves and swim throughs around Red Cliffs and Airport Caves. Cj's drop off is a huge wall dropping down to 300ft or so and the blackness of the abyss is definitely something to see.
I highly recommend Utila for a cheap getaway, with its more expensive and larger Island of Roatan easily accessible should you want more. Cross Creek Divers treated me well and the staff are great. Stop by and say hi and see for yourself, I am biased though having done both my Rescue and DM course there, oh and by the way. They have the best boat Captain, named Cookie. An absolute legend!
Lastly diving is not the only thing to do on this little island, there is a crashed drug plane in the jungle to see, Bat Caves, Freshwater caves with swim throughs, Kayaking through mangrove swamps oh and lets not forget the craziest Mini golf course you will ever see... Ask around people have all kinds of Adventures out there, remember though it is safe enough but dont go around doing things you wouldnt do in your own country.
Thanks for your time...
It seems like there is very little info that is up to date on SB so I thought I would share my experiences and recommendations.
November 15th I flew out of LA destined for Roatan, an easy stop in El Salvador and we landed in the Bay Islands. There are a few ways of getting to this little island, ferries run from La Ceiba on the mainland but for some reason it was cheaper to fly to Roatan and take a boat over to Utila. We hired the services of experienced sailor and regular water taximan, Capt Vern. It was a 4 hour trip on his 40ft Cat but was comfy enough and also allowed me to catch up on some rest.
We arrived at sunset and was greeted at the Utila Dive Centre dock by our Instructor, Kevin. He runs the UDC sister company called Cross Creek Divers and this is where I would call home for 5 weeks. After a tour of the hotel, Kevin showed us the boats, living areas, shared Kitchen and bathrooms and introduced us to the Divemasters and Instructors. All I can say is that from the start I was made to feel welcome.
Utila is a tiny island and the town itself is even smaller, very easy to walk everywhere and for the most part locals are friendly. I would touch up on your Spanish as some places dont speak any english.
Food is pretty cheap, ranging from Baleadas and Pastalito's (my favorite) running you about 50c US to $2.00 for a Super Baleada from Big Mamma's, which I highly recommend. Other places to eat include Main Street where the lovely Sara, Nicole and Siobahn will make you feel welcome, Munchies for the best Chicken Fajitas, Zanzibar for a good burger...if you dont mind waiting for ever... Thompsons Bakery is an institution, get there early in the AM, about 7am for still hot, melt in your mouth cinannamon buns! Mermaids restaurant is good for more varied meals like roast chicken and lasagne. So good!
Opposite Main Street cafe is a lovely local lady who makes real good Baleadas as well!
There are 11 dive shops on the island so you are spoilt for choice, Utila Dive Centre has just been voted the number one IDC training facility in the world. The utilities are nice there but I still prefered Cross Creek even though they are run by the same people. Underwater Vision looked like fun too, with a Volleyball area and nice bar which hosts Pub Quiz nights once a week. In all fairness I dont thnk you could go wrong no matter where you went, the island is small and competition fierce so anything bad said would go a long way.
Diving in Utila: timing played a huge part and while I would normally not go to any place during its wet season because of Viz and hey we all want the sun right? So Nov, Dec and Jan are wet season months but even though it rained, we had copious amounts of Sunshine and the visibilty for the entire 5 weeks was awesome, granted the last few dives where down to about 10m or so of clarity.
Eagle rays, Turtles, Stingrays, angels, Butteflys, huge morays all abound here, huge sponges and sea fans are everywhere and the north side diving was breath taking. They have a big wreck, the Haliburton which is host to some great macro life, and caves and swim throughs around Red Cliffs and Airport Caves. Cj's drop off is a huge wall dropping down to 300ft or so and the blackness of the abyss is definitely something to see.
I highly recommend Utila for a cheap getaway, with its more expensive and larger Island of Roatan easily accessible should you want more. Cross Creek Divers treated me well and the staff are great. Stop by and say hi and see for yourself, I am biased though having done both my Rescue and DM course there, oh and by the way. They have the best boat Captain, named Cookie. An absolute legend!
Lastly diving is not the only thing to do on this little island, there is a crashed drug plane in the jungle to see, Bat Caves, Freshwater caves with swim throughs, Kayaking through mangrove swamps oh and lets not forget the craziest Mini golf course you will ever see... Ask around people have all kinds of Adventures out there, remember though it is safe enough but dont go around doing things you wouldnt do in your own country.
Thanks for your time...
, hehe. I guess before I went I didnt look hard enough, oh well.
