trip report, Honduras, dive, raft, spanish school

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

coolazul

Registered
Messages
20
Reaction score
3
Location
sonoma county
# of dives
500 - 999
be patient, i am not new to diving but am a "neophyte" to this internet forum stuff.I am a multi-sport type person and enjoy interacting with other cultures. i had an interesting experience and wanted to share it. do have some good photos but don't know how to put them (or if i can) on this site.

Honduras: Spanish School, an Educational Addition to Dive Travel


A friend mentioned to me she was going to Mexico for one month to go to Spanish language school. This particular school included surfing as part of the program.
It was this conversation that inspired me to look into Spanish language schools in a country where I could dive, run rivers and or go surfing. Not only would I have a tax write off but also a chance to develop my (Spanish) language skills.

After spending several hours on the internet looking up language schools in different countries, I decided on Honduras. Honduras is a wonderful country. As stated in the Lonely Planet: Honduras is the original “banana republic”. It is a democracy with a developing economy. The national language is Spanish. However, English is dominant on the Bay Islands. It is a cheap easy place to travel. Honduras has incredible natural resources including, “world class” whitewater boating and some of the best (and cheapest) diving in the Caribbean.
Central American Spanish Schools seemed to have the most compressive program and a school on the island of Utila. They also were the only school to offer “medical Spanish” as my traveling companions., Viki, Dee and Lois were emergency room nurses and needed the Spanish for work. Rafael, the director, answered all my questions. He responded to my emails the same day I wrote them. Best of all the price was right. Cost was $185.00 per week including room and board.(room only on utila).

Our first week was in the coastal city of La Ceiba. La Ceiba is also the port for the “Bay Islands” and base for river trips in the Pinto Bonito National Park and Cangregal River. Every day we had different activities. Including, treks to the rain forest, river canopy (zip lines), dancing, and class on the beach. On Friday, we went to Oscar Perez’s Jungle River Lodge where we hiked through the verdant rain forest to a 600 ft high waterfall. The next day we went rafting through the precipitous drops of the Cangregal river gorge. I am a whitewater outfitter in California, Viki, a class V guide and Dee a Class V kayaker we were all impressed with not only the river but Oscars’ guides(Johnnie, Ricardo and Juan) and his entire operation.. Unfortunately, Lois had torn ligaments and could not partake on our adventure. The next morning we caught the ferry to Utila.

Utila

Utila is the smallest and flattest of the three major Bay Islands, and is the closest to the mainland. The island is 9.5 miles long and 3 miles wide. Land transportation on Utila is limited to a few pickup trucks, a couple unreliable taxis and a ton of old mountain bikes.. Utila is not only renown as one of the best diving locations in the caribbean it is also known as the cheapest. From mid February through March one can almost be guaranteed a whale shark experience. Subsequently, the streets are lined with dive shops. Because certifications are so cheap, many shops have reputations as “dive master factories”. For as little as $500. (Including lodging) One can spend a month on the island completing a dive master course. My 12 dives cost me $160.

I dived with Altons because that is the shop the school uses. They were fine. The dive masters were young, mostly inexperienced but competent and all were friendly. Dee did her certification course through Altons, they were able to work around her school schedule and she felt her instruction was proficient. I have heard very good reports about Deep Blue Divers.
The best diving in Utila is in the morning. This is when most dive boats go to the “north” side. Also morning offers the best conditions. Unfortunately, I had school in the morning and dived in the afternoon. By doing this I missed two whale shark encounters. There are no bad dive sites on Utila.

During my 12 dives, I encountered the largest lobster I have seen in the ocean (20-25 pounds) several barracuda, jaw fish, octopus, spotted drums, sea turtles, moray, scorpion fish, crabs, hog fish lizard fish, large sting ray, eagle rays, corals, sea fans, sponges and much much more. The dive sites included a spectacular seamount at Black Hills, Rons Wreck,: unimpressive as a wreck dive but lots of sea life- saw the green moray here. Airport reef,(a good night dive) Blue Bayou, where I saw 2 turtles, barracuda and the “giant” lobsters. Black coral wall (2 deep dives here-good), Jack Neil, Big Rock, and Cabanas. The visibility ranged from 60-100 ft. Though I did a couple of deep dives (36 miters) the best diving is between 12-20 miters.

Lodging and food in Utila are as cheap as Thailand. We stayed at the Colibri Hotel, a new hotel with the first pool in Utila. We had a large room with 2 queen size beds and hot water for $25. Per night. Most meals are under $3.00. A fancy diner will cost about twice that. For non divers, Viki and Lois spent an afternoon on Water Caye-(a small white sand island with palm trees and no sand flys) an afternoon snorkeling, a hike to Pumpkin Hill and explored some of the caves. There is also horseback riding, shopping and people watching. But be prepared, the bay islands are renown for some of the most aggressive no seeums anywhere. Bring lots of repellent.

In conclusion, my only regrets about my trip is that my travel was confined due to taking the classes. I would have really liked to visit the ruins at Copan but that was on the other side of the country.
If you travel with Taca Airlines be prepared to have your luggage delayed. This is a common event of this airline. It was nice to have Rafael as an advocate to hasten the process of getting our luggage to La Ceiba. The cultural experience of not only, getting to know, but become friends with the Honduran people I met was priceless. In addition we made many international friends with other students. The entire experience was extraordinary. Highly recommended.

Website links

Altons Diving: http://www.divealtons.com/aboututila.html
Central American Spanish School http://www.ca-spanish.com/index.htm
Jungle River Tours: http://www.hondurasjungletours.net
Deep Blue Divers http://www.deepblueutila.com



www.rubiconadventures.com
 
Nice report, thanks. And Welcome to Scubaboard!

I go to Roatan for diving every year but I haven't made it to Utila for some reason. Maybe next year...
 
I went to La Ceiba for class with Central American Spanish Schools last August. I second comments about the school. Rafael was most helpful and all the teachers I met really knew the material and how to present it. We're looking to go back again this year.
 
great report. Hey, I need that spanish school too! Oh, and I need a month of diving too.............Darn, my wife won't let me go.
 
I also dive with Alton's. A nice, small operation owned by the mayor of the island, Alton Cooper. Utila is one of my favorite spots in the Caribbean, diving, hotels, food, price, the whole package is so laid back and not touristy. Everyone also needs to know, they have a great ice cream parlor!
 
KeyLargoBrent:
Thanks for an excellent report! Did you actually learn to speak Spanish in just four weeks?
hi key largo, actually I only had 2 weeks (10 days) of spanish school. One on one for four hours per day.--this will keep you out of trouble in utila. i had very little spanish--traveling spanish. what i did learn was how to conjigate verbs. my actual speaking spanish did not improve much. i would recommend if you had at least a year of recent spanish classes. you would start on a higher level and be much more profecient. also you do want to dive in the afternoon. getting up at 6:30-dive shop by 7:30 dive until 12-1. 20 minutes to wolf down a bunch of food, by 2:00 you are falling asleep in your one on one class and still have 3 hours to go.
next year i want to take my son. but he wants to go to a place where we can surf and dive. Utila is great. all the folks i met were a lot of fun. boy, do those guys like to party over there.
 
coolazul:
Honduras: Spanish School, an Educational Addition to Dive Travel


...Not only would I have a tax write off but also a chance to develop my (Spanish) language skills.

I'm curious how the Spanish language lessons went? Good school, good teacher, materials, etc
=Terry
 
terrydarc:
I'm curious how the Spanish language lessons went? Good school, good teacher, materials, etc

=Terry

hi terry, the spanish school was very good and the teachers were incredibily patient. i would recommend having at least a year of recent spanish, just so you don't spend so much time learning how to conjigate verbs and concentrate more on communication. starting from scratch you would need at least six weeks to be a good communicator. the cultural experience was well worth it. I also made some good friends. bill
 
Thanks, Bill!
I saw what looked to be the (?) school building on the inland side of the main st in Utila last year when we were there - forget the name of the school. My friend and I went to Tela to the Mango Spanish School there - it was only ok. Nice setting, but I thought a bit dogmatic on what my maestra thought an intermediate student should be studying. For example, there was an exercise book made up by the Academia Real in Madrid (for real Spaniards). We spent way to much time on 2nd person familiar forms, which I would not recommend for gringos under almost any conceivable circumstance, esp. while traveling.

My other experience was in Antigua, Guat. where I had a peach of a teacher and we simply conversed for 3.5 hrs per day and I learned enough in the 1st 4 days to go off for another 4 weeks in Central America. Real confidence booster.

Tip for anyone who's interested in 123teachme.com which rates
Spanish schools all over the world.

Now, back to diving. :bounce:
=Terry
 

Back
Top Bottom