Utila in late April?

[Doc]

Some more info ...
Having read further, I'm wondering if perhaps Roatan (and CoCoView) might not be worth considering instead ... what do y'all think? The convenient shore access sounds appealing. But so does the remote location (and less chance of crowded conditions) of Utila. Does Utila offer shore diving? So far what I've been reading is about diving from boats, and that rather limits your options.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

CCV itself is about as remote as Utila... but you can take a launch and go to the main of Roatan and do restaurants, etc. It has excellent shore dive possibilities!

I read in Rodales RSD that Utila is rated in the top ten for shore diving- but I really can't figure out how, where, or why. No real easy access that would be comparable to CCV.

About the DM's... I'm sure that at any option in the Bay Islands they will leave you alone. Unless you're really adept at spotting the niche critters that are known to these waters- you'll be missing a lot if you don't follow them closely.

Best bet? Do the "two-fer" deal from Roatn Charter. 800 282-8932 and they'll put you in both resorts, 1 each week!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

About the DM's... I'm sure that at any option in the Bay Islands they will leave you alone. Unless you're really adept at spotting the niche critters that are known to these waters- you'll be missing a lot if you don't follow them closely.

I will happily follow a DM as long as they don't thumb the dive for the whole group when the first diver gets low on air. This happened to me in Maui and I ended up surfacing with 2,100 psi in my cylinder. Not much fun for the money.

Best bet? Do the "two-fer" deal from Roatn Charter. 800 282-8932 and they'll put you in both resorts, 1 each week!

Wish I could ... but just don't get that kind of vacation time ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I can stongly recommend Utila as a world class dive destination. If I were you I would check out Cross Creek Dive Center and Utila DIve Center, bith are PADI 5 Star resorts and both offer daily trips to the North side of the island. A must if you want to see whalesharks. Both of these centres also have great package deals with accommodation. The Mango Inn (Utial Dive Centre's hotel) is beautiful and has recently had the addition of a swimming pool. These dive centres also have packages to meet all budgets, rooms from $6 up to $70 per night depending on the level of luxury you desire. Actually, we saw whalesharks yesterday morning which was absolutley lovely.

Please feel free to PM me if you want more info. And for all the people wondering who I am, yes I am instructor on Utila and it shouldn't take to much more to work it out.

Thank you for the quality information ... I'll do some research, and probably PM you with some questions.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[vetdiver]

My husband and I went to Utila last year and stayed at Laguna Beach resort. It was amazing - we would do 2 morning dives (in between, we'd cruise for whale sharks), then an afternoon dive and/or night dive. We did one shore dive the first evening, and every other day, we had them drop us off on the way back to the resort for a "swim-in" dive. All in all, we did 22 dives over 5 entire diving days and 1/2 day of arrival. We had 11 whale shark encounters - we saw them every day but one. We were there in April, as well - coincidentally, during the full moon!

I don't see much on this board about Laguna Beach resort, and it is a shame - it was a fantastic value, and the couple that runs the resort is wonderful. Also wonderful are the boat captain (Wagner, who can see a whale shark from a kazillion miles away - we always had boats chasing us to see what he was after), and the divemasters, especially Raul. We had a fantastic time, and we will definitely go back - and we would not dream of staying anywhere else. I was actually saddened to hear that they are using spotter planes now, as it was all so quiet and easy when we were there (hope no one finds this offensive...).

You certainly can do shore dives from LBR - they will bring the tanks out for you (6 am, I think was the time), then pick them up at the swim-out site. Oh - and the DMs are very low-key. We did not dive together except during night dives. Just keep your compass handy. Not sure about the whole drift diving thing - there was little current when we were there - our one "drift dive" was really more of a "swim and have the boat pick you up somewhere else" dive.

We are both in our 30's - most other couples were 40's and early 50's, and there was also a camera crew there from a Latin American channel similar to ESPN - we were filmed during dives and with whale sharks. We all hung out together for meals and a beer or two after diving. We have kept in touch with a few of the people we met there - they were all down-to-earth and very nice.

LBR is on a little peninsula away from downtown, so if you want to go out a lot, it isn't the place for you - that said, you can get a boat ride into town (free during the day, small charge at night - we went in our last day) if you wish. It is quiet, small, and has a "you're home" feeling I don't think you could get from a big resort anywhere else.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

 

[Doc]

Wish I could ... but just don't get that kind of vacation time ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)

On their death beds, I've never seen a SCUBA diver say, "I wish I'd spent more time at work " Adjust your priorities.

 

[mjh]

Poor memory, sign of old age, congrats on being a instructor. I did some shore diving in Utila and honestly there is no comparison to what you can do at COCO View. About 50% of Utila diving is light drift and Ruth the DM was very good about letting you max bottom time, BUUUT at COCO View you have at least two self guided dives per day where you can really max bottom time.

 

[ScubaBurt]

Hello NWGratefulDiver,
Like you, my wife and I were looking for some place different for her birthday. We had read all we could about Utila. Had no idea where to stay, however we knew we wanted to have the ability to shore dive and the only one we found was Laguna Beach Resort. We had posted some questions in another thread and received a web site from a couple in Boston area, who have been to Utila twice before and are going to be there (staying at LBR for the first time) the same time we are (Feb 5-12). They had this website: http://www.sportdiver.com/client.js...r&contentID=38&destinationID=10150&format=242.
It has a very good video of Utila and LBR. We also are looking foward to seeing Whale Sharks. Hopefully they will be accommidating. LBR is away from the town, so party life is out, being 55+ means that is not as important as resting for the next days diving. Good luck on finding a great diving resort. Many to choose from.
Dive Safe
Burt & Flo

 

[bubblesdame]

I have stayed at Deep Blue Resort on Utila, which is a new resort opened this year, the rooms are right on the beach with beach access to 3 of the best south side sites on the island - Pretty Bush, Labyrinth and Black Coral Wall. All of these sites are awesome with a wide shelf at around 20ft abundant with life where you can just spend the whole dive just finding small stuff and then for those who want a bit of depth a nice drop off to around 120ft. Labyrinth is aptly named with a maze of swim throughs and channels - awesome diving.

 

[aquamann]

Bob,
Like you I live in the NW and spoiled by the incredible diving we have available to us. My wife and I went to CCV this feb. for our first time and fell in love with the place. When they say unlimited shore diving they aren't kidding. It's the easiest diving we've ever done and they make you feel like your at home. Like you we don't like the cattle boat thing and during our week there we only had nine divers on a 50' boat. The DM's are very cool as you can follow them or just go off on your own after a pretty thorough briefing of the site. The only thing they ask is that you limit your dive to 60 min. so some of the heavy breathers aren't waiting to long. But they are very laid back on that rule as we went longer than that on some dives and no one said anything. We have already made reservations for 2 weeks late March of next year and plan to do the day trip to Utila for 2 dives and hopefully see a Whale Shark. You won't be disappointed at CCV.

 

[tschehr]

I know your plans are for late april but since it is so far out I thought I would tell you to be aware of accommodation bookings if your travel turns into early/mid april. Still a great time to go, but after being on the island several times previously and being accustomed to just hopping off the ferry and getting accommodations without reservations I found the period of time around santa semana (easter) nearly completely booked. I had to really scramble and call on a few folks who remembered me from prior trips to find a hotel room.
Except perhaps for the resorts (I don't know as I don't stay in them) utila is a no-reservation required kind of place EXCEPT around christian religious holidays.