Hi there. This is my first post but I have been a long-time lurker. I’m early 30s planning a dive trip to Honduras with the husband. We are OW but think it would be cool to do AOW there as well as get a ton of dives in. We live in Florida so we do the keys, blue heron bridge, springs a lot. This would be our first international dive trip outside of the Bahamas (Bimini). Are the bay islands better than the keys?
There aren't a lot of posts that are very recent about Utila. We like to dive and we also like a more low key, character-y kind of travel, in other words, we’re not resort people and don’t really like luxury or big buildings, crowds. Utila seems like it would be cool, plus would love the chance to snorkel with whale sharks, dolphins, or pilot whales if we are lucky. We aren’t into partying tho, will we hate this island? We like a drink or two but we don’t drink really when we dive, I guess we are sticklers like that, but just want to make sure that the island won’t be disappointing vibe-wise.
Also— for dives and vibes— Alton’s dive school or Utila dive center? Worried UDC hotel (Mango) will be a loud party. Quiet beers and a bit of weed is no bother to us, just loud partying.
Thank you!
Hello.
I live on Utila 4-5 months a year and have done since 2007, so lot's of experience and opinions !
I like to say that "Utila is a tale of two islands", because there's the Utila Town experience, which is what 90% of visitors get (especially first time visitors). And then there's the south shore/rest of the island experience, that those "in the know" get.
One - Utila Town and the surrounding area:-
The only part of the island with roads, many people will say I went to Utila and you can walk/ride around it in a couple of hours, what they really mean is that they saw the area around town and completely missed the other 70% of the island (the beautiful part).
Lots of bars and restaurants, tons of dive operations.
The least attractive part of the island (noisy, hot and only two small beaches).
Ideal for people who want to dive all day and rub shoulders with other tourists at night. Some good restaurants and lots of boom boom music into the early hours every night.
My favorite hotels are Manurri Boutique Hotel and The Lighthouse.
Two - the rest of Utila; the south, west and north sides and the Utila Cays.
No roads, all transportation by water taxi.
Only a couple of bars and restaurants and only one dive op (Utila Cays Diving - they serve the rental homes on the south shore). No hotels, only rental homes.
The most beautiful parts of the island - miles of virtually deserted beaches with the reef never more than 50' from shore. These areas have perhaps 12-15 homes per mile of beach. This is where the expats living in town go for a break.
Ideal for people who want to dive, snorkel in front of their rental home. Not for people who want to party every night and hang out with other tourists, it's for those who seek peace and privacy.
My favorite rentals are The Coral House and The Pineapple House on Treasure Beach or for a real Robinson Crusoe experience the private rental island called Sandy Cay.