After a night in San Pedro Sula, securely locked in my hostel, I hopped a bus with another traveler heading in the same direction: La Ceiba. La Ceiba is a coastal town on the Caribbean, with ferries to the Bay Islands. We arrived in La Ceiba about 2 p.m., found a hostel and settled down for a bit. There were some other travelers staying at the same hostel, and apparently all of us were headed to the islands. Whew! Gotta say, I love meeting other travelers headed in the same direction! It sure makes getting around feel safer and more secure. A group of four of us took the 9:30 "ferry"
Utila island in Honduras is part of the Bay Islands. It's the smallest of the three main islands. It's supposedly less touristy and less expensive than Roatan island, but I can't confirm that because I'm not going to Roatan. Reports also say it has less to do if you're not diving (less beach space and less non-diving activities). Oh well. Everyone said I HAD to get to the Bay Islands and do some diving, so here I am!
I arrived on Utila after a ferry boat ride from La Ceiba (just about the only way to get here for a reasonable price). Still, the "ferry" ride was L472, which is about $24 (one way). I put "ferry" in quotes because it is not the type of boat you think of when you imagine a ferry boat. Rather, it is a small boat that seats probably about 50 people or so and it is a ROUGH ride. It's nicknamed The Vomit Comet for a reason. If you get seasick, you will probably want some Dramamine. Then again, they keep the darn boat at a "comfortable" (ha!) 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees) to help with the seasickness. I wasn't prepared for the chill!! Outside it was about 80 degrees and that boat felt cold!
I was grateful when we landed -- not because I was sick, but because I was so friggin' cold! Even the light drizzle outside felt better than the boat. We arrived at about 10 a.m. and were practically accosted by all the dive shops and hostels hoping to lure us their way. Fortunately, two of my travel mates had made reservations and there were signs with their names on them, so we were whisked away to the dive shop and hotel with a minimum of fuss.
On Utila, there is a dive shop about every 20 yards; they are all roughly the same price for the same service so choosing one is really a matter of the feeling you get from each place. Every guidebook, blog and "scholar" suggests that you check out several shops before deciding on one. However, I learned a long time ago to follow my gut: if I get a good vibe, even if it's the first place I go, I will select that place provided that they are price competitive.
Captain Morgan's Dive Centre is highly rated and listed in Lonely Planet's guide to Central America, which automatically gives me a sense of ease in selecting the right place. Besides, one of the guys I was traveling with had already used Captain Morgan's for his PADI certification course and was coming back for his advanced course. So Captain Morgan's gets a double nod. The staff are all very nice and they obviously love diving. We checked out the accommodations at Pirate's Bay Inn (the one connected with Captain Morgan's) and were very satisfied. The place is practically brand new, the beds are super comfortable and there's hot water! The place feels more like a hotel than a hostel. Fresh towels and soap! These are the things that excite me nowadays. LOL. In the end, the welcome we received, the awesome staff, and the price made it easy to get the warm fuzzies about the place. Captain Morgan's it was!
The first day we arrived, we got our study materials and began reviewing videos. A couple hours later and we were finished with the first day's studies. Our instructor, Max, met us later that afternoon to distribute our gear, which we set aside for our first dive the next day. The next morning we got started in the water.
Day two began promptly at 6:50 a.m. We went over some dive basics and how to operate our gear. After one dive that included the necessary basics, we went to another spot and had a short, relatively shallow dive (about 11 meters, or roughly 36 feet). The reef is alive! OK, so I've been diving once...in the Bahamas in December 1994, and I thought that was cool. But man oh man! That place can't touch this place! I wish I had pictures under water for all of you, but I'd need more than just your average underwater camera for those depths. I might talk to the shop about renting an underwater camera though. We shall see.
After the morning's dives, lunch was in order. Baleadas...mmmmmmm. A baleada is this plate-sized tortilla, folded over once, filled with your favorite filling and seared. O.M.G. They are scrumptious! Better yet, one baleada will leave you feeling full for only L30 ($1.50). Holy sch-nikes! That's a good deal!
Utila island isn't very big, but it sure packs a lot of punch! There are tons of great restaurants and roadside food carts to choose from. Food carts and small eateries cost a meager L20-L40 for lunch; restaurants carry everything from appetizers to steak to fresh seafood and, of course, charge much more. Even so, dinner in a restaurant will probably be less than L200 ($10 USD), including a beverage! The island has two churches (that I've seen) on the main road and a small cinema. There's a bank, at least two ATMs, many shops selling local ware, several grocery stores, a hardware store and several other shops...oh, and a tattoo shop. :)
Day three allowed us a slightly later start: 7:00 a.m. This morning stuff isn't so bad once you're used to it! Our second day of diving, we practiced some more dive skills and went on another reef dive. I think we went about 12-13 meters on the second dive (40-43 feet). We saw a sea cucumber, which was cool but sort of creepy for one of my diving mates. We also saw a Southern Stargazer, which is apparently quite rare so I'm pretty excited about that! Actually, I saw two! I tried to point out the second one to my instructor, but I guess that will be one of those fish tales. So far, the Parrot Fish is my favorite one and I'm seriously considering it for the next piece of art on my body!
More baleadas for lunch (aka the tourist wopper). A beautiful sunset over the water. A delicious dinner at Munchies. Day three over. Well, almost. As I sat outside working on my blog, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing extremely loud, somewhat harmonious karaoke from the bar next door. I suppose that Friday on Utila gets a little raucous. They sounded like tourists though; I'm not sure what all the locals were doing. I, for one, did not join in. It's not good to get smashed, stay out late and then go for an early dive. Day four (third day of diving) would start bright and early at 7:10 a.m.!
Day four on Utila and third dive day brought rainy skies, a slight breeze and choppy waters, but that didn't stop us from diving! We headed out to sea around 7:15 a.m. We had a fun dive to about 13-14 meters (45-48 feet) and saw loads of fish we hadn't seen on other dives. We finished up with some final lessons on our second dive of the day, completing our diving class! Yay! In the afternoon, we got our logbooks and our certificate of completion. So cool! The last day of diving would be the next day, with just two "fun dives," which are optional but included in the price of the dive course. I'm wondering if anyone actually skips the free, fun dives. They'd have to be either fed up with diving or idiots!
Honduras is in the middle of elections. As much as I relished getting away from the American elections and all that hype, it seems I didn't get that far away from it. On the second and third days on Utila, there were caravans of tuk-tuks, quads and motorcycles parading down the street for the red party (whatever that is). The blue party, not to be outdone, decided to do similar parades several times on the fourth day on the island. Ugh. What's worse is that they blare music and horns and rhetoric as they go by. I had to plug my ears on several occasions. All I know is that I want to be out of Honduras before Election Day!
The big decision after completing the dive course was whether to do the free, fun dives the next day or take a day off and go the day after. My group (three of us) decided to take a day off and do the fun dives a day after we completed the course.
The next day started off absolutely beautiful. The sun was out for the first time since I arrived on Utila (remember, it's rainy season here). I quickly donned my swim suit and set out for the beach in front of our hostel. Sadly, after just about 15 minutes, the sprinkles started. Undaunted, I toughed it out for a little while, until the drops became more of a nuisance. Sigh. Back into "real clothes" and off to find something to do. I found a place showing American football, which was a huge treat, and I promptly plopped down in a seat to have my own personal Sunday Funday. My Falcons may have lost, but I got to watch the game! On the big screen. With at least six Saints fans and one other Falcons fan. It was a good Sunday...at least until I got some bad news from back home that a friend of mine had passed away. Well crap. It's times like that when it's easy to miss home and the connections there. The road can be lonely at times. I'm meeting lots of new people and making friends, but it's not the same as being able to get a big bear hug from my brother.
The next morning I awoke somewhat melancholy. I wasn't even excited to go diving. Truth is, I thought about skipping it, but realized that I would just be wallowing and my friend wouldn't want me to do that. So, off I went for two "fun dives." I don't know if it was pure good luck or because we pushed our dive day back a day, but the two fun dives that we did on Monday were FANTASTIC! We went to the north side of the island, which typically has rougher waters but less-explored dive sites. The boat ride was about 45 minutes to the first dive site...I assume that the long boat ride (aka lots more gas) is the real reason that not all the dive shops head to the north side. It was our first sunny day of diving and we were sitting on the front top of the boat, feeling the wind in our faces and the steady rise and fall of the boat as it ascended and descended with the large swells. There is a level of peace when sitting on the top of the boat staring out over the endless sea. It's easy to feel like you are alone with God and the ocean.
The first dive site of the day was at a spot called Turtle Bay. With a name like that, we were bound to see turtles, right? Well, we did. Almost immediately after entering the water, we came upon a large sea turtle that seemed to want to swim with us. He or she kept up with us for about 5 minutes before venturing off elsewhere. So cool. I hadn't seen one since 2006 off the coast of Maui, so it was great to see one again. Throughout our two dives, we saw fish we hadn't seen before, a large nurse shark, a moray eel, HUGE lobsters, a lion fish and an angel fish that tried to eat our bubbles. About halfway through the second dive, I looked under me and back a little bit only to discover that a moray eel was hot on my tail and chasing me. WTF?! Yep, you guessed it...I panicked. Who wouldn't, especially if your instructor just got done telling you a story of how another diver got his finger bitten off by a moray eel. Ack! I raced to my instructor, who had somehow gotten to be about 20 yards away from me, tapped her on the shoulder with a look of fear through my goggles and gave the sign for danger. She squared off with the monster (and later told me that she thought it was going to bite her fin) until it went away. Well, we had a good laugh about it all at the end of the dive, but my instructor understood why I was panicked. LOL. I swear...only me.
I shared my dive stories with some local expats later that night. I was somewhat relieved to hear them say that they, too, would've freaked out a little if a moray was chasing them. I was also delighted when my roomies confirmed that the size of the darn thing wasn't just in my imagination. I thought about going fishing while I was on the island, but decided against it to save money. I also thought about going to Water Cay (one of the smaller islands nearby) for a day of sun and fun with the locals, but decided against that too. Instead, my last day on the island was a day of relaxation, sleep and writing. It was nice to just chill for a bit.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), after a week on Utila, I leave for Honduras. I met another traveler heading the same way, so at least I won't have to go it alone. I must say, that's a huge relief because Honduras is not exactly the safest place (Utila is pretty safe, but the mainland isn't). Two is always better than one. We still haven't decided whether to head back through San Pedro Sula or through Tegucigalpa. Guess we'll figure it out tomorrow!
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