Commuter airline to Utila

[diversteve]

I didn't see any crime indications at the ferries, the Galaxy terminals are decent - w/security checkpoints and the Princess terminal is tiny - you'll see them load your bags. Pay for 1st class on the Galaxy - it buys A/C and a drink. Also the view is better.

Vern was recommended as an option by Coconut Tree - we dove with them previously. He moors on their dock. Longer trip over but more flexibility in scheduling. The cab ride from the West End <-> RTB airport is a little farther.

The others in our group flew from Utila to SAP - IIRC on Atlantic? - then onto the states. They had to leave early Sat AM - Steve's mum took them to the airport - it's 2mi from town and waited with them till the plane arrived - the terminal is tiny. One of the group was going to get back to Portland OR that night. From what I've read here - SAP is the place you want to get through asap.

 

[oreocookie]

We were planning on flying into RTB, but I just took another look at expedia, which has going to SAP $150 cheaper. Aboututila.com puts SAP to Utila via La Ceiba at about $76 each way on Atlantic, so about the same as just getting to RTB, and we'd arrive sooner. hmm.. gotta run this by my buddy who kinda wanted to avoid more planes.

On closer examination, no I won't. Apparently they've gone bankrupt.

 

[Damselfish]

old info. Don't think Atlantic has been running in quite awhile, like even a couple years?

 

[Doc]

old info. Don't think Atlantic has been running in quite awhile, like even a couple years?

From Wikipedia

Atlantic Airlines de Honduras was an airline based in La Ceiba, Honduras. It was established in 2001 and operated regional passenger services in Central America and extensive domestic services. The Airlines ceased operations in October, 2008, due several corruption cases and security problems, the service was reanudated for a short time from december 2008 to january 2009 and went to bankruptcy.

However: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islena_Airlines and of course http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupo_TACA

Neither of which will do you a whole lot of good if going to Utila in any sort of a hurry.

 

[itsjustme0770]

We were planning on flying into RTB, but I just took another look at , which has going to SAP $150 cheaper. Aboututila.com puts SAP to Utila via La Ceiba at about $76 each way on Atlantic, so about the same as just getting to RTB, and we'd arrive sooner. hmm.. gotta run this by my buddy who kinda wanted to avoid more planes.

On closer examination, no I won't. Apparently they've gone bankrupt.

its all about how you want to spend your vacation time. In my mind the extra funds, 150 or 500usd to rtb and then the flight over via guanaja air is well worth it. 6am departure from Dallas and on my beach by 2.

 

[Stout]

We were planning on flying into RTB, but I just took another look at expedia, which has going to SAP $150 cheaper. Aboututila.com puts SAP to Utila via La Ceiba at about $76 each way on Atlantic, so about the same as just getting to RTB, and we'd arrive sooner. hmm.. gotta run this by my buddy who kinda wanted to avoid more planes. .

It's either more planes or a night in either Roatan/SPS/LaCeiba

There is an option if you're flying on one of those days when there's no SAP->Utila flights.

Take Central American Airways flight from SAP-> LaCeiba. It's "supposed" to leave at 3:00 pm BUT, when I took this route in January, they told me it MIGHT leave at 2:30. Luckily it did leave at 2:30 and I Managed to grab a cab to the ferry terminal and board the ferry to Utila with minutes to spare.

A flight leaving early, who'd a thunk it ? Maybe it was because there was only three people on the plane.

Cost-wise it worked out to the same as flying SAP to Utila, $122
It was $80 for the flight from SAP to LaCeiba
Another $10 for the taxi
Another $23 for the ferry.
On Utila just in time for happy hour.:cool2:

One question you may want answered is, Can you land on Roatan and still make Captain Vern on the same day ?

 

[oreocookie]

Stout, I emailed Vern a few weeks ago, mainly to see if the info i got was still correct. He told me they normally leave around 1, but will wait for later flights. The flight we're looking at is scheduled to land at 12:14pm, so i guess it would really depend on how long it takes to go through the airport

 

[Stout]

If Vern will wait, then it makes it worth it to spend the extra cash to fly into Roatan and take his catamaran to Utila ( the extra $150 plus Vern's $55 ) otherwise, if you have to spend a night somewhere IMO it's worth pocketing the savings and doing the bus SAP-> LaCeiba, taxi then ferry.

Can you reschedule so your flight9s) land/leave on days when there are flights SAP->Utila ? If so, there's an outfit on Utila called Morgan's travel that might be able to book those flights for you. I had no luck trying to book from Canada and my travel agent just threw her hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender when I asked her to book them.

I was planning on just hopping a flight when I landed in SAP, but the plane was full, hence my discovery of the alternate route I noted above.

 

[oreocookie]

We picked the days we did based on airfare, and since our resort reservation isn't set in stone yet, we probably could still switch it, but it would probably need to save us a few bucks to make it worthwhile, because iirc, its a bit more expensive to fly into utila than get a ferry or 2 over. Something to consider though.