My dive buddy and I traveled down to Utila the week of April 4th to stay at Deep Blue Resort in Utila, Honduras. We picked the week of April 5th as it coincided with their Whale Shark Research weeks.
Getting there
To be honest, it was a royal pain in the you know what to get to Utila. Since we were paying a premium to stay at Deep Blue, we decided not to take the charter flight from San Pedro Sula to Utila to save some money. We flew from DC - san salvador - san pedro sula - La Ceiba. From Utila we took the ferry over with all the backpackers visiting the island. The ferry took about an hour and was really a breeze getting to the island (once we arrived in La Ceiba of course). I was quite glad we took the ferry and flew out of La Ceiba, because the rest of the guests missed their connecting flights as the Utila to San Pedro flight showed up 5 or 6 hours late. oops. So all in all it was worth the hassle.
Whale Shark Research Week
Deep Blue goes all out for their whale shark research weeks. They halve the number of guests that can stay at the resort during the research week, which is fantastic when it comes to space on the dive boat. They fly in shark researchers to lead seminars and discussions in the evening on shark ecology and conservation.
For diving all of the divers would go out on one boat and additional Deep Blue staff and shark researchers would be on a smaller chase boat looking for whale sharks, while we continued a regular dive schedule. During our surface interval after our first morning dive we would search for the sharks ourselves. And search we did... all frigging week. Apparently someone (I'm looking in your direction Neptune) failed to give the whale sharks our itinerary or remind them it was whale shark research week... thus no sightings. Apparently there had not been any sightings of whale sharks in the four to five weeks prior to our arrival. While this was very disappointing, we in no way let the lack of whale sharks impact our enjoyment of the diving in Utila.
Diving
This was my second time to the Bay Islands, having previously stayed at CoCo View in Roatan in 2006. I had some very good dives, a few outstanding ones, and like any trip a few not so good ones in Utila. My favorite was Little Bight. I spent the dive scouring the sandy areas of the site and saw some just fantastic creatures. Utila, like Roatan is a great location for macro photography.
Even after 18 years of diving, I love that I still see fish and creatures that I have not see before... which always gets me stoked. Utila didn't fail me in this respect. Most of the dive sites I visited had beautiful, healthy, and large swaths of soft coral and sponges, which made for some incredibly stunning views.
That being said, I did notice on some of the dives sites that the hard coral has been severely impacted (I found this on all sides of the island, not just at sites near town) -- with large sections already dead or well on their way. It was quite sad to see the former shells of some of the sites. However the incredible abundance of the soft coral and sponges made up for this. No clue why this is occurring, but I hope it will be addressed by the locals as Utila's popularity as a dive mecca continues to grow.
The divemasters for the week (Matt & Chris) couldn't have been nicer and more excited about their jobs. They went out of their way to make sure everyone had an enjoyable week. They even convinced Swin, the boat captain, to drop my dive buddy and I off on their house reef after our afternoon dive and even on one of our night dives. Once you know the location of the entrance and the path to exit the house reef from the shore, the shore diving was a relative breeze.
The Resort
I thought the layout of the resort was great. I loved having a room that overlooked the ocean and the great breezes that comes with it. Rooms were very simple and adequate, nothing fancy here. The staff was great about changing out the towels (when you needed them) and keeping the room clean. The common room/computer/dinning room/bar was housed in one large room that was kept oh so cool. Great place to relax and chat with your fellow divers between dives or after meals.
It was a quick walk to the dive boat and gear lockers. Gear was properly taken care of and stored safely in a locked room.
I think this is the first dive trip I've come home having gained weight. The food was simply fantastic. The portions were huge, so I recommend asking for a half portion of the salads at the very least (which were a meal in themselves) And for the love of god try the Tres Leche cake -- simply the best I have ever had.
The Town
The town was very quaint and had a great fun vibe to it. Seeing all the backpackers lounging around made me want to go on another long haul trip again... One doesn't need much time to see the town, but I would definitely recommend walking around the exploring for awhile.
Things that could be improved
I wasn't a huge fan of Deep Blue's dive boat. It was a little bit slow moving and the copious amounts of black exhaust from the engine was a tad nauseating. The ladder also needs to be extended higher so one can get a better grip to pull themselves onto the boat. On the plus side though, there were tons of room, lots of water and some great snacks to nibble on. It would also be nice if Deep Blue would create a path from the grassy area leading down to the beach, so one doesn't have to walk over sharp rocks and unsteady pieces of coral with your scuba equipment for shore diving.
All in all I had a great time and would recommend Deep Blue and Utila. Hope this review was informative and that you have better luck that I with the whale sharks. Here are a few shots from the week:
Utila Dive Trip - a set on Flickr
Getting there
To be honest, it was a royal pain in the you know what to get to Utila. Since we were paying a premium to stay at Deep Blue, we decided not to take the charter flight from San Pedro Sula to Utila to save some money. We flew from DC - san salvador - san pedro sula - La Ceiba. From Utila we took the ferry over with all the backpackers visiting the island. The ferry took about an hour and was really a breeze getting to the island (once we arrived in La Ceiba of course). I was quite glad we took the ferry and flew out of La Ceiba, because the rest of the guests missed their connecting flights as the Utila to San Pedro flight showed up 5 or 6 hours late. oops. So all in all it was worth the hassle.
Whale Shark Research Week
Deep Blue goes all out for their whale shark research weeks. They halve the number of guests that can stay at the resort during the research week, which is fantastic when it comes to space on the dive boat. They fly in shark researchers to lead seminars and discussions in the evening on shark ecology and conservation.
For diving all of the divers would go out on one boat and additional Deep Blue staff and shark researchers would be on a smaller chase boat looking for whale sharks, while we continued a regular dive schedule. During our surface interval after our first morning dive we would search for the sharks ourselves. And search we did... all frigging week. Apparently someone (I'm looking in your direction Neptune) failed to give the whale sharks our itinerary or remind them it was whale shark research week... thus no sightings. Apparently there had not been any sightings of whale sharks in the four to five weeks prior to our arrival. While this was very disappointing, we in no way let the lack of whale sharks impact our enjoyment of the diving in Utila.
Diving
This was my second time to the Bay Islands, having previously stayed at CoCo View in Roatan in 2006. I had some very good dives, a few outstanding ones, and like any trip a few not so good ones in Utila. My favorite was Little Bight. I spent the dive scouring the sandy areas of the site and saw some just fantastic creatures. Utila, like Roatan is a great location for macro photography.
Even after 18 years of diving, I love that I still see fish and creatures that I have not see before... which always gets me stoked. Utila didn't fail me in this respect. Most of the dive sites I visited had beautiful, healthy, and large swaths of soft coral and sponges, which made for some incredibly stunning views.
That being said, I did notice on some of the dives sites that the hard coral has been severely impacted (I found this on all sides of the island, not just at sites near town) -- with large sections already dead or well on their way. It was quite sad to see the former shells of some of the sites. However the incredible abundance of the soft coral and sponges made up for this. No clue why this is occurring, but I hope it will be addressed by the locals as Utila's popularity as a dive mecca continues to grow.
The divemasters for the week (Matt & Chris) couldn't have been nicer and more excited about their jobs. They went out of their way to make sure everyone had an enjoyable week. They even convinced Swin, the boat captain, to drop my dive buddy and I off on their house reef after our afternoon dive and even on one of our night dives. Once you know the location of the entrance and the path to exit the house reef from the shore, the shore diving was a relative breeze.
The Resort
I thought the layout of the resort was great. I loved having a room that overlooked the ocean and the great breezes that comes with it. Rooms were very simple and adequate, nothing fancy here. The staff was great about changing out the towels (when you needed them) and keeping the room clean. The common room/computer/dinning room/bar was housed in one large room that was kept oh so cool. Great place to relax and chat with your fellow divers between dives or after meals.
It was a quick walk to the dive boat and gear lockers. Gear was properly taken care of and stored safely in a locked room.
I think this is the first dive trip I've come home having gained weight. The food was simply fantastic. The portions were huge, so I recommend asking for a half portion of the salads at the very least (which were a meal in themselves) And for the love of god try the Tres Leche cake -- simply the best I have ever had.
The Town
The town was very quaint and had a great fun vibe to it. Seeing all the backpackers lounging around made me want to go on another long haul trip again... One doesn't need much time to see the town, but I would definitely recommend walking around the exploring for awhile.
Things that could be improved
I wasn't a huge fan of Deep Blue's dive boat. It was a little bit slow moving and the copious amounts of black exhaust from the engine was a tad nauseating. The ladder also needs to be extended higher so one can get a better grip to pull themselves onto the boat. On the plus side though, there were tons of room, lots of water and some great snacks to nibble on. It would also be nice if Deep Blue would create a path from the grassy area leading down to the beach, so one doesn't have to walk over sharp rocks and unsteady pieces of coral with your scuba equipment for shore diving.
All in all I had a great time and would recommend Deep Blue and Utila. Hope this review was informative and that you have better luck that I with the whale sharks. Here are a few shots from the week:
Utila Dive Trip - a set on Flickr
