Live from Deep Blue Utila

[citydiver]

Hey everyone...
We just arrived at Deep blue Utila today..The flight from Newark to Roatan was relativley painless, however the immigration line was a nightmare. We must have waited in line for about 1hour 20mins..UGH!!! Then we took Roatan Charter over to Utila which was quick and easy. This is definatley the way to get her I think, two flights and that is it.

The resort is beautiful, rooms are clean and very nice, new nothing seems run down at all. The rooms have a private balcony with ocean front rooms, and the sound of the waves crashing up against the sound is just wonderful and tranquil. The staff is friendly and helpful, and they had cold beers waiting upon arrival, which was great after a long flight and day of traveling...Dinner was yummy...we are so tired and can't wait to go to sleep, and dive tomorrow. I will try and update as the week progresses...

I am hoping and praying for whale sharks...everyone send me good thoughts!!!

 

[jbeach69]

Sounds like you had a good trip down... enjoy your stay and keep the dive reports comeing in...

 

[citydiver]

Ok...so dives today were fantastic, I have dove in Roatan twice and it was great, but I definatly think the coral here is in much better shape. It's very diverse, one dive site is called the labyrinth..wonderful coral pinnacles with these swim throughs, and sandy area full of garden eels. It was so great today. The swim through is no Calvins Crack like in Roatan, but considering this is the dive site right outside of deep blue and I can shore dive it alot is great!
Dive operation is great...we put our dive gear outside the door on the first morning and it was wisked away down to the dock and set up on the boat waiting for us. The walk to the dock is maybe 1 min...

You literally don't touch your gear if you don't want to. The divemaster Matt is amazing...switches it over during the surface interval, which has fresh fruit, crackers and cookies a plenty. Then at the end of the day he rinses everything for you, stowes it in these great dive lockers and will set it all back up the next day. If you wanted to do it yourself you could of course. Swin is our capt and we hear he is the best whale shark spotter on the island...

Rooms are air conditioned...which works! Nice bathrooms, with a large shower with great water pressure, and lots of hot water....
Ok...so no whale sharks yet, but lots of talk about them! The search will continue tomorrow...
Till next time...

 

[sytech]

I plan to go down there within a month or two and will be leaving via Newark International.

I was in Roatan last year and stayed at Fantasy Island. The rooms and food were ok but the dive operation was chaotic and incompetent. A very sloppy and incoherent operation.

What's the name of the hotel & dive operation you are using?

Keep up the good fun!

Sy

Ok...so dives today were fantastic, I have dove in Roatan twice and it was great, but I definatly think the coral here is in much better shape. It's very diverse, one dive site is called the labyrinth..wonderful coral pinnacles with these swim throughs, and sandy area full of garden eels. It was so great today. The swim through is no Calvins Crack like in Roatan, but considering this is the dive site right outside of deep blue and I can shore dive it alot is great!
Dive operation is great...we put our dive gear outside the door on the first morning and it was wisked away down to the dock and set up on the boat waiting for us. The walk to the dock is maybe 1 min...

You literally don't touch your gear if you don't want to. The divemaster Matt is amazing...switches it over during the surface interval, which has fresh fruit, crackers and cookies a plenty. Then at the end of the day he rinses everything for you, stowes it in these great dive lockers and will set it all back up the next day. If you wanted to do it yourself you could of course. Swin is our capt and we hear he is the best whale shark spotter on the island...

Rooms are air conditioned...which works! Nice bathrooms, with a large shower with great water pressure, and lots of hot water....
Ok...so no whale sharks yet, but lots of talk about them! The search will continue tomorrow...
Till next time...

 

[DeputyDan]

Read the title of the first thread - and she's not on Roatan

 

[citydiver]

Ok...so two more days of great diving!! There is just lots of great stuff to see down here, it you stop and take the time...frog fish, toad fish, sailfin bleenie, parrot fish, turtles, octopus, flounder, barracuda, seahorse...really I could go on and on...but I can't remember all the names, must ask husband, he always remembers! I am really loving the diving here, it just has very diverse sites...and topography. I know I said that already, but it is just wonderful...

The dive sites are about a 20 to 40 min ride depending on where we go. You have two boat dives in the morning, and Swin the Capt usually takes us to the north side of the island in the mornings.. then whale shark searching during the surface interval. Then another boat dive, on the way back to the resort they radio in that we are on our way back and lunch is waiting! Then a third boat dive in the afternoon. You can shore dive as much as you want, they have a great reef right in front of the resort. You just have to tell Matt the DM you want to shore dive and they will bring your stuff down to the shore, you dive and then they take it back for you, rinse it and it is set up on the boat waiting for you in the am....
The dive operation here is amazing! Not only do you not touch your gear if you don't want to... but they are very thorough in the briefing they give you, and if you want to stay with the DM during the dive you can, and he shows you tons of stuff...if not just let him know you are going off on your own and off you go. No time limit on dives...The boat leaves promptley in the morning and afternoon, 815am in the morning and 245pm in the afternoon...they are flexible, yet safe and very aware of keeping the reef in good condition, no touching etc... The boat is a nice big boat with lots of space for everyone. I think it is fairly new! The only improvement on the boat I coudl see is a better ladder. The ladder is straight up with no angle and more narrow then I remember other dive boats. This is by far only a nuisance.

The resort is great, the rooms as I said before are very clean, spacious with lots of room store you stuff. Bathrooms are nice and clean, large showers with great water pressure! It feels like you are staying at a friends place, very homey and friendly. The food is good, everything is made fresh. Breakfast is buffet style with homemade bread, usually scrambled eggs, bacon and beans or fried plantains or some other side. Several different kinds of cereal and of course, coffee, tea and OJ. Iced tea and water are always available..and soda and beer is as well which is on the honor system, you mark how many you have next to your name. Lunch is different every day. The food is good, and we certainly aren't going hungry. Dinner is served and you pick what you are going to have from three choices the day before. Again the food is good, home cooked meals, not your usual buffet fare.
Free internet available 24 hours a day...and lots of games, books and a pool table to keep you busy while you are off gassing. Now Deep Blue is on its own inlet and they only way to get here is by boat. Its nice and quiet and if you wnat to go into town you have to get Eddie to give you a ride, which he will, however if you are someone who wants to be in town every night partying..then this might not be the place for you.

We are having a great time...let me know if anyone has questions! I will keep you posted, and hopefully you will be reading about my whale shark encounter...
Oh and the name of the resort is Deep Blue Utila....Utila is one of the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras...
We flew on a Saturday from Newark to Roatan nonstop via continental, then took Roatan charter from Roatan to Utila, which the resort booked for us! This is the way to go for sure!

 

[mississippidiver]

Wow....I may just change my destination from Cocoview on Roatan to Deep Blue on Utila for my group.

Can anyone compare the two? Pros/cons of each?

 

[Praxus]

When I was in Roatan in West End, the dive sites were a couple to a few minutes away; far from the 20-40 min mentioned in his post. In places like cocoview, there's dive sites a few feet from shore.

Also I spoke to a couple who had come to Roatan from Utila, and they preferred Roatan. They also mentioned that the sand flies were pretty bad on Utila.

 

[citydiver]

Well I have been to both resorts...lucky me! I have to say that they are both great destinations and you really can't go wrong. Deep Blue is smaller it only has 10 rooms and 20 guests max. CCV does have the front yard for shore diving which has a wreck and two great walls, which you just walk into. The shore diving here is a great reef, with different coral formations, and some sandy valleys. So you definatley have 3 distinctly seperate dives in the front yard at CCV, but you will dive them on your drop off dives each morning and afternoon back from the boat on CCV. One wall in the am..then the other in the afternoon. CCV also has a rope with tied off bottles hanging from it to find your way back in, and Deep Blue does not. It was easy enough to find your way back though, and I guess if you got lost you could just pop your head up and see where the shore is.

The dives sites in CCV are closer, but this is beacause they stay on their side of the island except when the go to Marys Place which is about a 30 or 40 min boat ride. Here at Deep Blue they go to the north and south side which is why the boat ride is so long. Let me asure you it is well worth it...The dive sites here are just amazing...I can't say enough about them, I really enjoy the different topography that is here.
As I said before you can't go wrong, I love both places and have been to CCV twice, and I will definatly go back.

It would be a hard choice between the two. How big is your group? What is the range of the diving experience? I think if you have less experienced divers they might not shore dive as much because finding their way back might be intimidating for them, though it is not hard... Also you get 2 boat dive sites in the am here and 1 boat dive site in the afternoon, except on Tuesday and Thursday there is no afternoon dive, but a boat night dive.

CCV has a boat dive site in the am then a drop off on one the walls, then a boat dive site in the pm...drop off to the other wall in the pm. You can do a boat night dive, but it is extra. You can night dive from the shore all you want at both places as long as the conditions are safe.
Food I would say is the same...
You get more personal service here, in terms of you gear and I just love Matt the DM...he is just wonderful.
CCV DM are great don't get me wrong, but I do prefer Matt...
CCV sets up your gear for you, but you schlep it back from the shore dives and have to rinse it yourself....

They are both amazing places and you seriously can't go wrong....
Oh and just to make it even more hard to choose....I was eaten alive at CCV...and I have not had any sand flea bites here...yet....they are here, but have not eaten me yet....

Ok..had to add after another yummy dinner, I do think the food is winning out here. Also I think the personal service you get here is better, the owners are on property and out talking with the guests, it is just such a wonderful relaxing atomosphere, very low key and fun.
You will enjoy where ever you go....
Happy Diving...two days left!

 

[citydiver]

Whale Shark, Whale Shark!!!!!
Swin found us a whale shark! We are the only ones on the island this week to find one...They did call the other dive boats over for a look though, our boat got 3 jumps in with the whale shark and it was just amazing! She looked about 15 or 20 feet long, and it was just unbelievable...I just can't find words to describe how amazing it was...It was so exciting and amazing...
They really are so big, it is unbelievable, we were so excited we were screaming after...One time we jumped in to cool off because it is hot just sitting on the side of the boat with your snorkel gear on waiting and watching the "boil" and waiting for the whale shark, so we jump in...now we have already had 2 jumps in with the whale shark...now its maybe 20 mins since the last jump and we get in just to cool off...we are chatting in the water, and Matt our DM says look whats behind you, well we think he is just kidding, and trying to scare us or something....
then he looks at all of us who are looking at him and he yells at us..."put your head in the water!" and we do and there she is again...right by us it was amazing. There was no boil or anything...
Usually there is what they call a "boil" where you see tuna jumping in and out of the water, the tuna are feeding on the same fish the whale shark feeds on...sometimes you will also see birds swimming around the top of the water...but no birds today but lots of tuna...so you wait and manuevar the boat and then when you see the whale shark you jump in and snorkel by him...of course you don't touch him, we weren't even close enough to touch him, maybe 5 to 10 feet away...
If you have not seen a whale shark it really is just the most breathtaking thing to see...
Needless to say it was a good day here!!!
When we left a couple other boats had come over after Swin had radioed them, but I don't know if they were able to see her or not, they dive down and you have to wait and see if they come back up....

The dive prior to the whale shark was amazing, huge canyons of coral...lots of swim throughs...just really beautiful
Ok..must go dream of whale sharks! My husband got a small video clip of the whale shark on his camera...when we get home we will download it to youtube and I will post the link...Maybe I will another one tomrrow!!!