Utila, Roatan or Costa Rica?

[dizzydesi]

I'm looking to squeeze in a week long budget dive this June. I've been to Utila once before and, while underwhelmed by the fish diversity, I did appreciate the architecture of the reef. Bumping into a 36 ft whale shark was not disappointing, either!

I would appreciate feedback from others with respect to where I should head. Thank you all in advance!

 

[GoodKarmaKid]

of the three options you are asking about

1. Utila will probably be the cheapest (but you've been there already)

2. Roatan will be slightly more than Utila, there are lots of budget accomodations there depending on how low you want to set your standards. The diving is pretty cheap by most standards. Pick a shop and ask about a discount for 10 dives or 20 dives or whatever you had planned on doing.

3. Costa Rica is an awesome place, but I think it is going to be the most expensive of the three. Lots of cool land based stuff to do like: Arenal Volcano, Jungle Tours, etc.


I'd recommend going to Roatan, stay somewhere in the West End, and dive with Coco Nut Tree Divers. (I've dove & trained with them and they are great) but there are lots of great dive operators on Roatan.

Jason.

p.s. If you can afford to bump up your spending a bit and just want to do a ton of diving (and not much else) you should check out Coco View Resort on the south side.

Jason

 

[parrotman]

If you were underwhelmed in Utila your going to be really dissapointed in Roatan. I would suggest Bonaire if you are looking for fish. The airfare is going to be about the same as going to Roatan or Utila and there are plenty of options for a budget diver. Costa Rica can be awesome but the diving can be pretty hit and miss depending on conditions and it is going to be more expensive than the Bay Islands or Bonaire.

 

[rameus]

1. Utila: Been to Utila a few times (and did all my training so far there) and fish diversity is getting less and less. What is really great in Utila are the dropoffs in the north where you can go just all the way down. It woud also be a great place to get some tech-diving done because of these dropoffs. If you go there I would recommend the UDC, since they do the most Whaleshark-spotting. But just know that when you go to Utila there is not much more to do instead of diving. In maximum two days of non diving you have seen the whole island ;-)
So if you choose one of the two islands I would recommend Roatan
2. Roatan: Con: You most likely will not get to see a whaleshark, more tourists, not as cheap as Utila. Pro: You will have more fishlife and a real possibility to see sharks or at least a bigger diversity of fishlife in general, the island itself is bigger and has more to offer (rent a scooter and cruise around ;-)) The diving I did there was in West End with West End Divers. A place you have to go when you like a very good piece of meat is the Island Grill in West End. They also do have a hotel next to it which is not that cheap but nice and a bit quieter than the other hotels next to the "mainroad".
3. Costa Rica: The only place I have not been for myself but heard from friends that diving there is just great. If you are willing to pay a bit more Cocos Islands would always be a possibility to go and see big schools of hammerheads and maybe a whaleshark, too... But therefore I guess you'd need more than a week and the big wallet, too ;-)

Thomas

 

[vvitola]

I would go Roatan! Like it better than Utila... more life on each dive site, intresting dive sites.