Laguna Beach Resort, Utila: Trip Report, March 15 - 22nd

[Sorrows]

p.s. I just posted the following report on Undercurrent. I hope this helps other divers interested in Utila!


How a diver feels about Utila, I think, depends entirely whether or not
they saw a whale shark. We did not. Well, a few in the group reported
seeing the outline and spots before the creature took off for the depths.
But, still, it was a whale-shark free trip and I can't think of any reason
to go to Utila other than to see--and swim with--the whale shark.

We not only didn't see the whale shark, we weren't even able to go looking
for them, due to high winds most of the week. We only made the trip out to
the North shore one day--and the diving is definitely better there.
Unfortunately, the resort makes you spend your first day diving locally
and then attending a whale shark information session that evening before
being allowed to go look for them. I appreciate the necessity and
educational value of the information session; I just wish they had given
it to us the night we arrived, as that first day we spent on the local
sites was a gorgeous and fairly flat day--perhaps the day we could have
seen the elusive whale shark if we had been allowed to go to the North.

In any case, we were mostly on the South side and East & West End.
Sadly, these reefs are in serious trouble. At some sites, we saw up to 80%
dead coral. Not a lot of fish and even fewer of a good size. (Except for one small section, the waters around Utila are not protected.) It was quite depressing.

The DMS were very good about pointing out unusual or hard-to-spot species.
We saw numerous seahorses, pipefishes, even a pipehorse! Other divers
reported seeing a short-nosed batfish. I found a juvenile trunkfish (tiny
pumpkin!) and various other interesting juveniles. (The indigo hamlets are
a treat!) To tell the truth, I preferred rooting around in the sea beds
than doing the usual back-and-forth on nearly-dead and nearly-empty reefs.
We decided to concentrate on quality rather than quantity--really, what
other choice did we have?

The resort itself is rustic and charming. Simple cabins with plenty of
room to spread out your stuff and very hot showers. Each has a porch for
admiring the lagoon whilst rocking in your hammock. The food is simple and
home-style and a bit lacking in variety. A bunch of people got some sort of
turista bug toward the end of the stay--my teenager was particularly sick,
with a fever, and missed two whole days of diving. The weather had turned
cloudy and drizzly by this point, so it wasn't that hard for him to stay
in bed and sleep it off.

The dive shop is well run. Nice staff. Valet service.

The resort takes its guests into town on Friday afternoon (it's a
Saturday-to-Saturday deal) Utila is, simply put, a dump. Dirty and filthy
with trash everywhere and lots of poverty. But it is cheap. We met at a
bar in town where the toilet was directly over the water. Of course, all
the sewage on the island goes directly into the water, so why should I be
surprised?

The sewage problem and over-fishing has obviously had a terrible impact on
the reefs of Utila--I'm not sure anything can be done at this point. There
were divers in our group who had been there the year or two before and
were shocked at the deteriorating conditions. It seems the coral reefs are
in a downward spiral. But the fisherman have to work and feed their
families, and I'm guessing the Honduran government doesn't have a lot of money
to spend on sewage treatment plants and the like.

The trip was not a total disaster--we had some good times and enjoyed some
of the diving. We liked the staff and the resort. But I'm sorry to say
that I won't be recommending Utila to my diving friends.

 

[itsjustme0770]

"We saw numerous seahorses, pipefishes, even a pipehorse! Other divers
reported seeing a short-nosed batfish. I found a juvenile trunkfish (tiny
pumpkin!) and various other interesting juveniles. (The indigo hamlets are
a treat!)"

Yep, nothing there to see.

Seriously, Utila does have its issues, but Utila Town filthy? Not sure I'd agree with that. You'll be pleased to know that a sewage system is going into place, I know I am although I am not sure I agree with digging up the middle of the road, but that's another story.:no

 

[UTLgirl]

Also keep in mind the dates listed... this was Semana Santa

Utila had well over 1200 people, in addition to it's regular visitors, over from the mainland to enjoy thier 'Spring Break'. So while I certainly agree Utila has trash issues to tackle (especially when people 'borrow' the darn community trash cans!), the week they experienced was not the norm & certainly not Utila at it's best.

As for sewage, not 'everyone' dumps in the ocean. Many places have private systems already in place, in addition to the new sewage lines going in. The bar described... and isn't it funny how, without it being named, we can tell exactly which bar they're talking about... does not. It's a great group of folks & a fun atmosphere, but I have to say I don't care for the bathroom situation myself.

Sadly (or not) Utila doesn't have the cruise ship dollars coming in to fund some of the projects we'd like to accomplish just yet, so it's small steps rather then giant leaps forward. Believe it or not, Roatan used to face many of the same challenges 11 years ago when I moved there and still has their share of growing pains.

I am really sorry they didn't get to go to the Northside more. It was a really bad week weather-wise with that Northern. It would have been nice for them to get to see the other side a bit more.

As they say, no one place will be all things to all people. Utila is sort of an 'aquired taste' with it's rustic accomodations & bohemian atmosphere, but we do hate to see anyone not enjoy their hard earned vacation.

 

[Sorrows]

Thank you for your kind words, UTLgirl, but my main concern was not with the town itself--I only was there for one short afternoon--but with the conditions I saw on the reefs. I mean, I can avoid the town easily enough, but it's hard to avoid the reefs when you are on a dive trip.

When you jump off the boat and there are gardens of white coral as far as the eye can see, it's more than a little disturbing. I loved seeing the unusual and individual specimens, but when you can count on one hand the number of snapper or grunts you've seen, it's just plain scary.

I've tried to be fair here; I've said that if we had seen whale sharks or been able to get to the north side more often and not seen all that dead coral, we would have undoubtedly felt differently. But I can also tell you that on the plane ride home there were a lot of disappointed and disheartened divers--both from LBR and also from the Aggressor.

I'm not complaining here as a consumer--any dive trip is a gamble to some degree and I knew that going in--but as someone who really loves coral reefs and has just seen one in serious trouble. Getting them back to healthy seems to me a herculean task.

 

[hopefulist]

Can you share with us the names of the dive sites that disappointed you? We had a wonderful time on Utila and are looking forward to a return trip this summer. The flyfishing and diving were both excellent imho and we found the town itself interesting and friendly. I probably won't see a whale shark until I retire as I don't visit during the peak season for them, but we'll keep heading back. It's always a bummer to only have a week and then have poor weather.

 

[booth22]

Sorry for your downside, but glad to hear you had at least some highlights on your trip. Who were your captain and DM at the resort?

I too am curious about which sites in particular had the white coral as far as the eye can see. I feel bad the weather didn't cooperate as the north side has some great sites, but we enjoy the dives on the south/west end- sites like The Maze, Raggedy Key, little little bight, etc. I would suspect most of the poor sites your referring to were close to town? And FWIW, most reviews of Utila will mention the fact the diving is going to be quality, not quantity on dives. Several reviews online make mention you likely won't see large schools of fish, but rather have to do a little digging to find the very things you mention- seahorse, pipefish, juve trunkfish, all the macro goodies, frogfish, batfish, etc.

We've been a few times and go back for the people we've met in addition to the diving. Despite the lack of money on the island, the locals we've met have all been very generous and we feel comfortable in town. I'm not sure I understand calling the town a dump- I suppose it's all relative, but I'm not sure what you were expecting?

And did the resort mention when they started the whale shark orientation? They weren't running that last August when were there last...

Thanks for the candid review and sorry you don't plan on returning!

 

[Sorrows]

Well, I'm looking at my log book right now. We found significant amounts of dead coral at Lighthouse, Raggedy Caye, Spotted Caye, West End, and the LBR house reef. There was a dive group there that week who were all taking the PADI Coral ID class--their instructor was shocked by the condition of the reefs, and I think he had good reason to be.

That said, I absolutely LOVED Little Bight! Awesome dive with lots of the weird and wacky and wonderful. Also really enjoyed Blackish Point--noted that it seemed healthier and "fishier" than other sites we'd been to; Black coral hills has some lovely coral formations--a cascading "waterfall" of lettuce coral was particularly striking--but not so many fish.

Booth, I didn't feel uncomfortable in town or notice any unfriendly people. I speak Spanish, and a lot of the people there are from the mainland. Perhaps the town was just extra-trashy because of the holiday; I'm not sure. The one place I wanted to visit was the Robinson Crusoe exhibit. I read a book once with a chapter devoted to the many people who claim their island is THE island described by Daniel Defoe. I believe there is a man on Utila who has devoted a fair portion of his life to advocating Utila as RC's island. I would have loved to have met him and spoken with him; unfortunately, nobody was around the day we were there. (Good Friday)

The one thing I forgot to mention about the town was the fantastic and not-to-be-missed Jade Seahorse. This place has to be seen to be believed--it seems as if every square inch has been covered in mosaic--not sure I can describe it adequately, except to say "GO!" The owner also has a colorful and mosaiced house in town which we first mistook for a church.

 

[Sloeber]

Utila is, simply put, a dump. Dirty and filthy
with trash everywhere and lots of poverty.

I took several photos of the dirty, filthy, trash everywhere town streets. My photos are from the week of the carnival and Sun Jam, one of the busier times for the island is my understanding. Trash must've been at an all-time high.

That's the main strip. Careful to not trip on the beer bottles.

That is in front of the grocery store. Surely they could pay an employee to remove all the trash from the entrance.

Once you move away from town towards the housing it clearly only gets worse.

Okay, okay, /sarcasm.

Seriously though, if the "dead corals everywhere" is similar to the "trash everywhere," I'm guessing that someone likes to use adjectives that are not exactly appropriate for describing what they are seeing.

 

[Sorrows]

You know what is interesting? You focusing on a few words I said about the town of Utila, while ignoring the real meat of my post--which was about the conditions of the REEFS. I wonder why you did that? It's almost as if you don't have anything positive to say in their defense so you go after the messenger instead. Work in politics, do you?

BTW, is it only my use of negative adjectives that are "not exactly appropriate" or does that apply to the many positive adjectives I used as well?

Seriously, is someone out there going to tell me there ISN'T any dead coral on the Utila sites I mentioned? Is someone going to claim that the reefs are healthy and teeming with fish? You got any of those photos, sarcastic guy?

Look, I spent some time and effort writing a detailed report for those who are interested in Utila. I've gotten a lot of good information from reading other divers' reports, and thought I would return the favor. I don't have a secret agenda, other than concern for the condition of these reefs and the eventual impact on the people of Utila. Hiding your head in the sand whilst taking pot shots at anyone who dares to utter a criticism isn't going to help the situation.

BTW, if those photos really are from Carnival, then obviously it isn't that big a thing on Utila. Where are all the people? Where are all the vehicles? It certainly was a great deal busier on Good Friday, the day I was there.

 

[SoSiouxme]

Way to elevate the informational value of the post -- call the OP out as a liar.

Evidentially, you and the OP had a different experience with the town. Why not just say that? Your pictures were admittedly not taken while the OP was in Utila and thus you have no idea what the town looked like.

The OP has been very active on this post explaining his opinion. It's not like he flamed Utila and then has been ducking responses since.

I think sharing information works best when you acknowledge that different people have different ideas of the meaning of subjective words (i.e. dirty, a dump, etc).

Doesn't mean the OP was lying or engaging in hyperbole.

I think that post was just counter-productive and mean-spirited. But, as always, YMMV.

--Sioux