Fish Life in Utila

I've been thinking of going to Utila this spring for a week. Just about everything I have read mentions how laid back the island is. The diving is great, and the coral is alive and healthy. But what I am not sure of is the amount of fish life. Most pictures I find are of the coral, not alot of fish. Has anyone here been there lately, and comment about the quantity of fish. Both large and small.

Thanks

A question that is asked many times- about any number of places.

The Bay Islands bear the brunt of this perception because, up until very recently, they were the last hold-out in the ongoing decimation of the Caribbean. There is still a lot to see, but not as much as last week, nor last year, nor as it was in 2004.

The area was heavily fished, and in terms of the Caribbean, this occurred very recently. Curious that very few ever pose this kind of question about Jamaica, or any of the other islands that were invaded in the 1950's. There are many places in the Caribbean that appear like a lunar landscape underwater, yet divers still show up.

So you wanted to know the quantity of fish. Enough to make it worth your while.

So, all these soft and hard Corals. Yep- I agree, not as exciting as a fish. But- what is hiding within those Corals? What creatures use this, what is regarded as the Caribbean's largest variety of Coral... what is hidden, right there in plain sight?

Any number of divers are frantically searching for their big Barracuda, a monster Parrot Fish, they're eyeing up the Lobsters. Utila and the Bay Islands offer something beyond the obvious. Slow down, be observant, stick with your DM.

It's obvious that any other advice you will get will probably not cause you to cancel your upcoming Spring trip- so use this to your best advantage. Look beyond the common and obvious. Someday, and unfortunately not too soon, you'll be able to say, "Utila? You shoulda' seen it back in 2014!"

fish stocks certainly aren't up to those in say, french polynesia and sharks sadly are a rarity but in comparison to most of the caribbean the fish are fairly plentiful.
i've been to most of the "places to dive before you die" type places around the world but i never tire of diving utila, especially the north side, blackhills and raggedy cay.

I just did the first two of what will be about 40 dives on Utila and I can't say there was a second when I wasn't looking at fish. The greatest challeng IMO is finding a divemaster who isn't rocket propelled and leading divers around in a frantic search for the "greatest hits", some of which Doc listed above.

Our experience in Utila actually was nice coral, very sparse fish life. In it's defense, we got blown out of doing a lot of sites when we were there, so maybe we missed the sites with the fish. Or the fish got blown out too.

Note that depending who is taking the pictures and where you're seeing them, you may see a lot more coral and macro pictures no matter what, simply because it can be easier to take a picture of (non-moving) coral than (moving) fish. Can you say fish butt?