Another Utila VS Roatan thread but big animals please ...

Guys: I have some air-miles that need to be burnt soon and I am thinking of going to Honduras in April. In Utila, this particular month is marketed as the "Whale shark season" and some resorts raise prices to a good 200 USD more than Roatan. So far after reading a lot of reviews, the impression I am getting is that while both islands are fairly similar in diving, Roatan offers better topography and macro life but lacks the very occasional big animal encounters (dolphins, whale sharks, whales). Utila on the other hand is a tad inferior in terms of coral and landscape but offers better critter encounters and a very long shot for whale shark sightings in April. Yet that chance is such a long shot that it is really not worth spending 200 USD more for it and miss the better over all diving than Roatan.

Can anyone share their personal experiences of the two islands? My primary interest is wide angle photography so big animals and dramatic drop-offs would be my preference over macro life.

Thanks in advance -

CS

In ten days of diving on Roatan , 3-4 dives a day , I did not see more than 5 fish more than 6 inches long , Utila must be better ...

I can't speak for Utila, since I have not had the pleasure of diving there...yet. But after years of diving Roatan, I can say that I have had some of the most amazing experiences of my diving life there. There is something magical about Roatan. The reef formations, dramatic walls and marine life are still thrilling to me.

On one dive trip with the folks at Fantasy Island, we ended up in the midst of the largest pod of dolphins I could imagine. I kid you not...it seemed like there were at least 1,000. I know that number has to be too high, but it was hundreds. They swam along with our boat and broke the surface, checking us out as they looked up at us with one eye. It was phenomenal. Then a couple of years later while diving with Aqua Adventures out of Media Luna Resort, we came across a group of Pilot Whales. They were on the surface...sleeping! That was a first for me.

Yes, the thing I find MOST fascinating about Roatan is the amazing macro life...especially along the well-known sun-lit walls of the south side of the island. But if your primary interest is dramatic underwater topography, you would really enjoy diving the north side of Roatan. Consider Turquoise Bay Resort, Anthony's Key Resort or even some of the dive ops in West End or West Bay Beach if like to enjoy your vacation topside as well

The optimum month this year for spotting Whale Sharks this year is April according to Deep Blue Utila. They base their research program around it. Deep Blue Utila - swim with whale sharks at our all inclusive resort. Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras

2014 Whale Shark research weeks

March 29th - April 5th
April 5th - 12th
April 26th - May 3rd

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We were there a few years ago and they put us on 3-4 Whale Sharks every mid-morning for the first couple of days. Till the weather changed to flat calm and drove everything deeper - it's thought including their food source. We were there 3/28-4/3. Steve Fox, the owner, is considered one of the regional experts in the field. He'll also bring in an expert for evening lectures etc. And works with Ecocean - the whale shark database people.

I've never seen a shark on Roatan outside of the Shark Dive. Or Dolphins on the North side - except the Dolphin dive at AKR. We did find an occasional big grouper, barracuda, or turtle - once at Spooky Channel all three were wating at the deep side of the reef.

We sometimes saw a shark or two off Utila. Mostly off the north side, it's deeper. That's where we saw all the Whale Sharks also. Once off Black Hills, a seamount on the south side, we saw six 3-4' Grouper, the same # of 2-3 Oceanic Triggers, about 100 barracuda and two sharks moving up the wall just as we were leaving.

We spent a week and did around 20-22 dives on each island.

You can stay cheap on Roatan in the West End - options courtesy of Coconut Tree Divers - I recommend them - Roatán Accomodations Nightlife - bars, beach bars etc., shops and most restaurants are in that area also. West Bay has the better beach but is more commercialized - the cruise ships bring beach excursions there daily. The West End is 5mins. by cab from Anthony's Key if you stay there and need a change. You really don't need/want a car - there's a whole lot of liability issues if you hit something.

There's affordable accommodations in town in Utila also - only the AI's are more expensive since they're isolated by geography - and from what I've seen nicer. Utila is a backpacking mecca so there's a lot of cheaper options.

Factor in another $150 or less to fly to Utila from Roatan or from the mainland. You also have to arrive at either early enough in the afternoon to fly on during daylight hours. There's no lights at the Utila Airport - not much of an airport either...lol.

My personal opinion is that to see Whale Sharks you really need to get to Utila. I asked our DM/Instructor about it once on Roatan - he said he'd seen about a dozen in 10 years of daily diving. It's snorkel only when one is spotted on the surface.

For Sharks and Whale Sharks you might consider Belize also. Later in the year off Gladden Spit you can dive with Whale Sharks legally. But it's hit or miss and priced as an add-on from many of the dive resorts since they're not close to that area. Splash Dive in Plancencia is one option - my friends dove with several daily twice during the week. Splash lists these dates as optimal - before/after the full moon when the Cubera Snapper spawn - it draws the sharks there. http://splashbelize.com/scuba-diving-packages-whale-shark-belize

2014 Belize Whale Shark diving package dates:

March 16th to March 25th
April 15th to April 24th
May 14th to May 23rd
June 13th to June 22nd

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diversteve:

The optimum month this year for spotting Whale Sharks this year is April according to Deep Blue Utila. They base their research program around it. Deep Blue Utila - swim with whale sharks at our all inclusive resort. Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras
We were there a few years ago and they put us on 3-4 Whale Sharks every mid-morning for the first couple of days. Till the weather changed to flat calm and drove everything deeper - it's thought including their food source. We were there 3/28-4/3. Steve Fox, the owner, is considered one of the regional experts in the field. He'll also bring in an expert for evening lectures etc. And works with Ecocean - the whale shark database people.

I've never seen a shark on Roatan outside of the Shark Dive. Or Dolphins on the North side - except the Dolphin dive at AKR. We did find an occasional big grouper, barracuda, or turtle - once at Spooky Channel all three were wating at the deep side of the reef.

We sometimes saw a shark or two off Utila. Mostly off the north side, it's deeper. That's where we saw all the Whale Sharks also. Once off Black Hills, a seamount on the south side, we saw six 3-4' Grouper, the same # of 2-3 Oceanic Triggers, about 100 barracuda and two sharks moving up the wall just as we were leaving.

We spent a week and did around 20-22 dives on each island.

You can stay cheap on Roatan in the West End - options courtesy of Coconut Tree Divers - I recommend them - Roatán Accomodations Nightlife - bars, beach bars etc., shops and most restaurants are in that area also. West Bay has the better beach but is more commercialized - the cruise ships bring beach excursions there daily. The West End is 5mins. by cab from Anthony's Key if you stay there and need a change. You really don't need/want a car - there's a whole lot of liability issues if you hit something.

There's affordable accommodations in town in Utila also - only the AI's are more expensive since they're isolated by geography - and from what I've seen nicer. Utila is a backpacking mecca so there's a lot of cheaper options.

Factor in another $150 or less to fly to Utila from Roatan or from the mainland. You also have to arrive at either early enough in the afternoon to fly on during daylight hours. There's no lights at the Utila Airport - not much of an airport either...lol.

My personal opinion is that to see Whale Sharks you really need to get to Utila. I asked our DM/Instructor about it once on Roatan - he said he'd seen about a dozen in 10 years of daily diving. It's snorkel only when one is spotted on the surface.

For Sharks and Whale Sharks you might consider Belize also. Later in the year off Gladden Spit you can dive with Whale Sharks legally. But it's hit or miss and priced as an add-on from many of the dive resorts since they're not close to that area. Splash Dive in Plancencia is one option - my friends dove with several daily twice during the week. Splash lists these dates as optimal - before/after the full moon when the Cubera Snapper spawn - it draws the sharks there. Scuba with Belize Whale Sharks|Scuba Diving & Accommodation|Splash Dive Center|Placencia Belize

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Useful information. Thanks. few questions:

a) Assuming that there were no whale sharks, how would diving in Utila compare to Roatan? I was told that the Roatan has more dive business and there is a reason for that. Much better more scenic with better reefs.

b) Is it not possible to land in Roatan and take a ferry to Utila? Has anyone done that?

c) Roatan and Utila do not seem to have open shore diving access for all like Bonaire does. If you stay in a hotel and arrange boat diving, does that mean you lose the option of shore diving? The only reference to shore dives that I have been able to find are the ones advertised by resorts on their home reefs like CocoView and DeepBlue.

Thanks for all this info guys.

I can't really say much about (a). In terms of (b), this link may help you: Travelling between Roatan & Utila, The Bay Islands, Honduras. With regard to (c), it isn't that staying in a hotel causes you to lose the ability to shore dive. It's more that the topography of Roatan is not as amenable to shore diving. There are a few spots like Coco View and also by Infinity Bay in West Bay where you can swim out to Mandy's Eel Garden. Other than that, the reef (while very close to shore) is just far enough to where you'd want to use a boat. But the boat rides are often just a few minutes to no more than 25 for the most remote sites that are typically served by the hotels. I'm not aware of a dive shop that would let you have a Bonaire-like experience and take some tanks for the day and go around the island. You'd also need to deal with the logistics of renting a truck, and more importantly driving on Roatan. I used to rent a car when I went to Roatan but I stopped. It was more of a hassle and I didn't feel like dealing with the roads and the cab drivers.

CAPTAIN SINBAD:

a) Assuming that there were no whale sharks, how would diving in Utila compare to Roatan? I was told that the Roatan has more dive business and there is a reason for that. Much better more scenic with better reefs.

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I actually liked Utila better. But we were there for the Whale Sharks. I wouldn't say that one is better than the other but overall the north side of Utila was a little more dramatic - deep drop offs in some areas. My two best dives were Texas off West Bay in Roatan and Black Hills off Utila.

Roatan has more dive business IMO because it's bigger and easier to get to since it has an Int'l airport. Also cruise ships. Anthony's Key is the cruise op, they devote a boat to it. Several other operators - Subway, West End, Barefoot Divers also do cruise programs. So more people - and those more likely to post on forums like ours, cruise critic or tripadvisor do.

There is a lot of dive training done in town in Utila also. Maybe more than Roatan - IDK.

b) Is it not possible to land in Roatan and take a ferry to Utila? Has anyone done that?

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It used to be possible. In fact we did it. Recently someone posted that the Utila Ferry - the Utila Princess - has been in drydock for months. Since it's the mainland to Utila option, all you can do now is take the Galaxy Ferry between Roatan and La Ceiba now. You can fly from La Ceiba but you may as well just fly from Roatan instead and save the time and $60. Deep Blue has details on their website.

Capt. Vern used to run his catamaran daily between Roatan's West End and Utila. He was killed last year by criminals off Utila - they caught them.

There's a Facebook page with current boat options for Utila. One was a fast powerboat from the West End to Utila for $350 R/T. That's 2-3X what it costs to fly from Roatan over. Check with the Utila travel agents in the link posted above for fares/booking.

c) Roatan and Utila do not seem to have open shore diving access for all like Bonaire does. If you stay in a hotel and arrange boat diving, does that mean you lose the option of shore diving? The only reference to shore dives that I have been able to find are the ones advertised by resorts on their home reefs like CocoView and DeepBlue.

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There's a total of 12 shore dives listed here: Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Honduras, Roatan, CaribbeanAll except Sandy Bay are private property. The Spooky Channel access no longer exists - BIBR is closed. Of all of them only SeaGrape might be an option. We walked over there once to look at the entry. They have a dive shop on-site - we didn't ask about tank rentals. Sandy Bay is too far out to swim unless you have a scooter.

The bigger issue for shore diving on Roatan is that there's nowhere to rent tanks. I've heard Sueno Del Mar might. It's discussed here periodically but no one has a good option. Most of the boat based or AI resorts won't let you remove them from the property. We don't drive on Roatan either - we walked around the West End and took cabs elsewhere. Besides bad roads and people/stray dogs wandering around, there are serious liabilities if you hit something. My buddy rented a scooter one day, he rides a high performance bike in traffic here daily - he said it was less dangerous.

On Utila:
Laguna Beach Resort has access to two sites - Laguna Beach and one west of it. They also have a snorkel dock that extends pretty far out into the water. I've read of people muck diving in the Mangrove Lagoon - but it's so shallow we'd scrape the boat at low tide going thru there.

Deep Blue is on the Pretty Bush divesite. To get out there you enter at a specific point and go out thru an opening in the coral wall. You can't enter off their beach or the coral will rip you to shreds.

Utopia Village farther along towards the west also has a shore dive off their beach. IDK anything about it except I've seen pictures.

Afaik that's all the shore diving off Utila except maybe a training site in the harbor. Along most of the southern coast is shallow fringing reef. The north side is uninhabited so even if you could get out, there's no roads.

Captain,

Utila can have seasons like a lot of dive destinations. Look at Costa Rica and you may find regular season, "green season" (low season), and high season (various holidays). Some Caribbean destinations have high, low, mid, and shoulder seasons with varying prices. Understand that the difference between the costs of Utila and Roatan may not be whale shark season but the $200 R/T air from RTB to Utila.

My wife and I have been to Utila about 15 times (got married at Laguna Beach Resort) and Roatan a few times. There are those who love Roatan because it is inexpensive. Some of the Roatan resorts are well reviewed but you need to like red beans and rice every meal…. ; >)

Utila Lodge is an inexpensive option on Utila but I have never stayed there. As mentioned in the thread, the big three are Utopia Village, Laguna Beach Resort, and Deep Blue. Deep Blue is up on a hill a bit, hotel style place. LBR has a number of cabins (single & duplex units) with title piers on the lagoon. I have never seen anyone swim in the lagoon. Utopia has multiple units on the beach.

Typically the Utila dive boat captains make radio contact when whale share are sighted. Yes, it can be catch-as-catch-can but I have seen whale sharks throughout the year, not just "the season." At LBR, the captains will cruise the ocean looking for signs of the whale sharks, most often bait on the surface with birds circling overhead. This is usually surface interval time between the two morning dives. You kind of have to decide for yourself if a whale shark sighting is worth the difference in resort costs. Remember, you will not be diving with them, but snorkelling. To me, even if I didn't see a whale shark, I'd rather go to Utila. I have seen other critters on Utila that I have not encounter on Roatan like the midnight parrotfish.

Personally, I prefer Utila over Roatan as it is just a bit more laid back. I also find the dive resorts on Utila a bit more personable and friendly but others may disagree. We were treated like family on our first trip to Utila but never received that kind of personal treatment on Roatan. I don't get into the dive comparison game. I have divers who have been to Fiji and say it is the best, others have been to the same resort and dive sites and we unimpressed. On our last trip to Little Cayman, post-dive conservation might lead you to believe some of the folks on our boat were diving some other ocean. To me it is all one person's perception. Start comparing and you set yourself up to be disappointed before you even get to the resort.

Can't you rent tanks from Coconut Tree and/or Native Sons and shore dive from Halfmoon Bay to West End Wall?

I have never seen anyone swim in the lagoon.

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Me either and I wouldn't...except someone posted a photo of a fish shot on Scuba off their LB cabin and wanted an ID. I'm surprised they could see it...lol

Can't you rent tanks from Coconut Tree and shore dive from Halfmoon Bay to West End Wall?

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They offered to drop us out there after boat diving so we could swim in. Anytime during the afternoon - we never did it though. Although the captain did point it out just as we crossed over it to give us some idea of the distance - it certainly seemed doable.

At one time you could rent tanks at Seagrape and do the drift around the east point of Half Moon Bay and get out at Half Moon Cabins and walk back. There's a road that cuts thru there back to Seagrape/Cocolobo - it's the private road to Sea Lodge - the big decked house on the point - we stayed there. IDK if Seagrape would let you take their tanks elsewhere.