Roatan or Utila?

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KLSanford

Registered
Messages
26
Reaction score
1
Location
washington state
# of dives
200 - 499
We love Roatan, but are thinking about Utila for the Fall. Can someone compare the diving and overall atmosphere to help us decide. Also, I know first hand about the bugs in Roatan and are able to tolerate them
(barely), so how does Utila compare in the bug department?
We plan to rent a 2 bed/2 bath condo or house so if someone has recommendations on that as well that would be great.
 
Never been to Utila, but if it's the little sand flea critters (not sure what exactly they are), they extend all the way to Belize. Not sure why Utila would be different....
 
Which zones of diving in Roatan have you previously seen so far? It’s important to know if you want a “comparison”, but it would be of u/w topography only. This would create some variation in critters and corals, but the dive op infrastructures can be quite distinct depending on your experience base/expectation.

Bay Islands no-see-ums are the best anywhere. Utila has more betterer ones. On Tuesdays, too. :wink:
 
Just remember that rainy season starts in late October and November is the wettest month of the year. The more rain, the more bugs and some years November can be positively monsoon like! That said September and early October are among my favorite times of the year on Utila, the water is a balmy 86f and the viz is the best it will be all year. As far as renting a place on Utila, Treasure Beach is beautiful and has 2-3 lovely rental homes. They are serviced by Utila Cays Diving which is a really good dive company. You can see Treasure Beach and the rental homes on this page :- www.facebook.com/utilabeach or look up the coral house and the pineapple house on Airbnb.
 
As I understand it Utila has two times, Bottom Time, and Down Time. Sometimes that seems ideal to me, but would be hard sell for the rest of the family, who generally want to do other things besides dive and slack on vacation.
 
Utila is definitely still low key but a number of nice restaurants have opened recently both in Utila town and on the south shore. As a part-time resident the lack of organized entertainment is a big plus for me, we fish, visit uninhabited islands, star gaze and spend social time with the locals. It's the way the rest of the Caribbean used to be 50 years ago, when cruise ships start coming, AI resorts and franchise fast food, we will sell up and leave.
 
Harder to get to than Roatan with less variety in diving. As a dive location it will remind you of Roatan but smaller walls. Not a bad place to go, but less to see. A small chance of seeing a whale shark led me to go and I did not see one there, although I have in Roatan. Guanaja was more interesting as a dive destination. Good luck.
 

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