Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras: April 22-29, 2000
Author:  Todd Hancock

In a word; WOW!!! One of the best trips I've been on. This is long, so if you just want to hear about the diving, skip on down to "DIVING". If you want the full scoop, sit back, grab a cold one (or a warm one, whatever it takes) and I'll fill y'all in:

TRAVEL: Definitely one of the smoothest trips we've made. Outward bound from SFO at midnight on Continental to Houston for a Continental connection to San Pedro Sula on mainland Honduras. We arrived, tired, but on time and checked in with the Honduran airline, SOSA, for the hop to Utila. Very typical of a small airline, slow check-in counter, no gates assigned to them, no definite departure time and no staff to ask. Just had to wait around in the lobby for gates to open and hand someone our ticket. Sooner or later, we figured we'd get the right flight. Fortunately, the waiting area had a bar so we familiarized ourselves with the local brews, Salva Vida (a lager, I think), and Port Royal (pilsner). Both were surprisingly good, but I'm spoiled in that regard, living in "micro-brew" central.

The SOSA plane finally showed up, and we crowded on. Since we were traveling in a group of 24, only 16 of us (plus some of our bags) got on this small, twin-engine turbo-prop. The rest made it, eventually, taking a following flight. The flight to Utila was only 30 minutes and the pilots seemed very confident, although the plane appeared to be Russian surplus and all the instruments were labeled in Cyrillic, they were able to get the thing in the air, the wheels up and pointed out to sea with a minimum of button-guessing.

The landing was, um, fun…or at least I though so. Utila is a small island. Very small. We approached from the West, gradually getting lower as we flew over the reefs and turquoise waters. The pilots lowered the flaps and gear as the water got closer, and closer. Just when I was POSITVE we were gonna make an unscheduled snorkeling trip, I saw an instantaneous flash of dirt and then the wheels hit the ground. The pilots then stood on the brakes as they tried to slow the plane. You could feel the wheels skidding on the loose gravel. When the plane finally stopped and turned, the other end of the "runway" (and the Caribbean Sea) was no more than 20 feet away. Wow!

On our departure (which was delayed because the inbound plane blew his nose-wheel hydraulics stomping the brakes while landing----always a comforting pre-flight moment) the pilots taxied to the very end, turning with the wing out over the water. He then stood on the recently repaired brakes and maxed out the engines before vaulting down the runway. About ¾ of the way down the strip, I reflected that there was no such thing as an aborted take-off roll here in Utila. Next thing I knew, the water was under the plane, and we were sort of airborne, although I swear I didn't feel the wheels lift up. I have a large amount of respect for these Honduran/Russian pilots. These guys are GOOD!

Anyway, the ho-hum Continental connections seemed boring by comparison.

ACCOMMODATIONS: The owners of the Laguna Beach Resort (Troy and his wife Edith) were waiting for the plane upon our splashdown. Nice folks. They loaded up the gear onto a truck and we walked into town to the docks where a boat was waiting to take us across the bay to the resort.

The town itself gives laid-back a whole new meaning. Total population is a round 2500, with the majority living in the one town. The street is only about 10 feet wide, but most of the traffic was foot or bicycle. There are maybe a dozen pick-up trucks on the whole island, maybe less by now, and a few mopeds and ATVS. As you walk through the town some folks are lounging on their patios or swaying in hammocks listening to the radio. Kids play ball, or swim in the bay. The entire place gives you a "don't worry, be happy" kind of feeling. Things just gradually slow down. No where to go and all day to get there. Lots of expatriates living on this former British colony. Especially well-represented were the Canadians, with a pretty good-sized crew down there. Only obvious industry, except for fishing, was the diving. One of the DM's we talked to said there were about 15 dive shops and they were all fiercely competitive. Most of the shops had "stores" in town and most offered instruction up to Instructor level. Apparently, dive staff turnover is a major problem here, as we saw numerous "help-wanted" signs for Dive-Masters. Pay is probably part of the reason, as a "well-paid" DM makes about $15.00 (US) a day. Of course, you're diving in paradise, but you sure wouldn't be getting rich doing it.

Laguna Beach Resort is located on a peninsula on one end of "lower lagoon" and can only be reached by boat. The 12 rooms are built on stilts on the lagoon side of the resort, with several perched out over the shallow water. Sunsets were spectacular, sitting on the patio, looking out over the lagoon as the sun slid down into the mangroves, reflecting orange-bronze off the tannin-tinted waters (practically prose-worthy ;).

This resort is a diver's paradise. Troy (the owner) built it 5 years ago, specifically with divers in mind. He wanted to fix all the problems he had experienced or heard about with other resorts, so he started from scratch and "DIR". He intentionally limited the resort capacity to match his dive-boats capacity, to ensure that no mad-cow disease would inflict his guests. He has two large, custom built 36' dive boats, and limits them to 12 divers each. The resort has a locked gear storage room with rinse tanks and fresh showers right at the dock. A small dive shop is there to take care of over-looked items, rental cameras, etc., and the high-capacity compressor kept the tanks filled to 3000 as fast as we could empty them.

An "all-inclusive" resort, the meals were all provided The central lodge served as dining room, meeting room, recreation room and bar. Food was plentiful, varied and well-made. Breakfast usually consisted of eggs, bacon, sausages cereals and fruits. Lunches and dinners were always different, ranging from fresh grouper or snapper, to chicken to spaghetti. We had a lobster feast on the last night. A full honor-bar graced the center of the large, ceiling fan cooled room. We usually managed to find our way here after diving, to share stories of fish encounters, both real and imagined.

The resort had a ton of activities on-site. Volleyball, billiards and games. Sailboats and kayaks were available for the energetic, as were lounge chairs and hammocks for the non. Not too many energetic folks, because, as I mentioned, this is a DIVER's resort. By the time we finished two-tank morning dives, two afternoon dives and frequent night-diving (not to mention unlimited shore diving) it was usually "lights-out" by 8:30. The staff, especially the managers Rose and Tania, were fantastic and did everything possible to make sure our needs were met. If something didn't work, they fixed it. If you wanted something they didn't have (one of the girls got a Pringles craving) they went into town and got it for you. Advice on dive-sites? No problem. Fish/critter id? Been there, seen that. These girls were great.

A word about bugs. Yes. They have bugs in Utila. Lot's of 'em. Big ones, small ones, invisible ones. They got scorpions and spiders you don't want to even think about. Cucarachas the size of VW's (the old style). Flying beetles and mosquito's. But the one's that wreaked the most havoc, were the "no-see-ums". Now, understand, I'm a relatively tuff guy, but everyone has an Achilles heel, and bug-bites are mine. I get huge welts when a mosquito gets me, and when everyone else is sunning themselves, or sitting around half-nekkid drinking martini's, I'm getting the blood sucked out of me. Forewarned is forearmed. Sooo, in addition to the normal precautions (hydro-cortisone, calamine, whole blood) I got some bug stuff. I'm not talking about that girlie skin-so-soft junk with it's measly 5% DEET content. I brought the Big Guns. 100% DEET. This stuff will literally melt plastic (I'll get to that later). I also pre-treated my long-sleeve shirts and long pants, and socks with (sp?) permethrin, which is supposed to repel anything living, and as far as I know (judging by my wife's reaction to it) works great. Grand total, maybe a dozen bites, little-to-no romance and a melted Aquashot. I got a little over-enthusiastic with the DEET spray in the vicinity of my open camera, which truly did melt. Yeah. wow…

DIVING: This is the good part. Actually this is the WOW! part. There are about 80 dive sites surrounding the island of Utila. These are marked by moored buoys and tended by the Utila diving association, a group of dive-shop owners. Water temps ranged in the low 80's and visibility averaged 70-80 feet. Our morning dives typically went to the North (far) side of the island, where there are some dramatic wall dives. The reef fringing the island usually start as about 30 feet and gradually deepen to the edge of the walls at about 60 feet. There they drop off to never-never land and the deep blue. There is something about hovering off a vertical wall with 1000 feet of water under you that just gets me going. As close to flying as I think you can get.

Dive profiles are extremely generous if you have a computer with bottom times limited to 60 minutes if you have the air-discipline (and I do, heh heh heh!). I really racked up some down time, with 21 dives totaling just over 19 hours (almost one whole day of my vacation was underwater! Now THAT'S a dive trip!) Dive supervision is lenient. Sue, our Canadian DM, was relatively new to the island and a newish diver anyway. She wasn't very familiar with the reefs, and could be seen getting the scoop from Wagner just prior to briefing the divers. But she's cute and perky, and with a little more experience will be a fine divemaster.

The surface interval after the first dive is spent whale shark "hunting". Our boat captain, Wagner, was awesome! He would spot the churning water of thousands of Bonita feeding and head for it, knowing that whale sharks are attracted to the feeding frenzy. SCUBA diving is not allowed with whale sharks, so we all sat on the swim step in snorkel gear until Wagner spotted the shark. Then we'd try to stealth-slip into the water so we wouldn't scare the behemoth. Sightings lately have been rare, but we hit the jackpot! First time in the water, I saw a 20 footer slowly diving away from me. I was mesmerized by the SIZE of this beautiful creature. How fluidly and gracefully it glided through the water. Wagner called us back into the boat as he saw another "boil" nearby. Again I slid into the water, this time right on top of a 35 foot whale shark soaring right underneath me. I swam over and with this enormous shark for over a minute, turning with it, entranced. A third and forth dive with smaller whale sharks followed and allowed me to get some great (ihopeihopeihope) pics with my pre-melt Aquashot. As Wagner maneuvered into position for a fifth sighting, I couldn't imagine a better fulfillment of my pelagic-fetish, so I slithered into the water again. When the bubbles cleared, I was face to face with a 35 foot monster, his gaping maw no more than 3 feet away from my wide-eyes. Now everyone knows that whale sharks don't eat divers. We KNOW that, right? Right about then, I was certain that I would prove the exception and the whale shark would inhale me without even burping. I brought up the camera as we stared at each other, figuring that I'd at least get some evidence of my demise before I became lunch and took a picture that (ihopeihopeihopeihope) will show this incredible encounter. As the shark swam past with a flick of his giant tail, a manta ray swam by in a graceful arc, and I was in heaven.

Like I said, Wow. I still get chills (possibly because of the near-death experience ;) Other notable sightings include, but are not limited to: Spotted Eagle rays, black tip reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, sea horses, porcupine fish, morays, spotted eels, spotted drums, scorpion fish, and colorful reef fish galore. The reefs themselves reminded me of the old submarine ride at Disneyland, with the castle-like formations, caverns and corals. Sea fans, brain corals and sponges were everywhere. Coral bleaching as well as the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch have left their mark here, but the reefs are rebounding rapidly, and show astonishing new growth.

OVERALL GRADE: A+ I would highly recommend Utila in general and Laguna Beach Resort specifically to anyone looking for an inexpensive, high-dive-quality vacation. This is not a place for night-life, or fancy restaurants, and I wouldn't bring small children. But if you want to dive, dive, dive with some of the most incredible sea life on a quite, pristine tropical island, this is for you!

I'll post some shark-lunch photos if they (ihopeihope) turn out. Hard to beat this one!

Wow!

See ya down under, Todd

PS, if anyone has a camera for sale, I'm in the market.

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