PeterNBiddle
Contributor
We're staying at Mango Inn and diving Utila Dive Center. Probably will take some Eco classes, maybe AOW.
Very much looking fwd to the downtime.
Very much looking fwd to the downtime.
Utila bound in one weeks time!
- Thread starter PeterNBiddle
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robint
Contributor
please do a trip report with tons of photos when you get back!
robin
robin
OP
PeterNBiddle
Contributor
Oh I will take (far too) many photos. I just bought a new dry-land camera too!
make sure you get out of town sometimes, its so much prettier. "paddle utila" does a great kayak trip through the mangrove canal to rock harbor a beautiful deserted beach on the northside. also head out to the southwest end of utila for a visit to the fishing village at pigeon cay and for miles of empty beaches with great reefs for snorkeling starting in waist depth water. and head to water cay an uninhabited cay that looks like a perfect "desert island".
OP
PeterNBiddle
Contributor
We've been wondering about which of the "other things to do" are worth it. The kayak trip was on our short list so thanks for the suggestion!
LiquidDivingAdventure
Contributor
There is some horseback riding upcountry. Utila Dive Center can probably get you to the horses. The folks who own Laguna Beach Resort (Troy and Edith) have a ranch in the hills. Pretty cool. If you have not been to Utila before, be sure to take powerful bug spray. Buy the ocean and mangroves you will find no-see-ums that will either not bother you or eat you alive. Mosquitos can be brutal in upcountry too. I use stuff from Buggspray.com. Check out the Jade Seahorse too, quite a tripy place. Had some friends just back and they had lots of whale shark encounters. Trip report is on our FB page.
Facebook Liquid Diving Adventures | Facebook
Facebook Liquid Diving Adventures | Facebook
OP
PeterNBiddle
Contributor
Day 1: got on island via Island Air. Angelo was a super pilot and great host.
Napped.
Took a walk to check out downtown.
Dinner at Mango Inn was pizza for me and tuna for Heather. I will do fish next, it was good.
Met our dive pros at dinner (Brett and Susanne) they both were nice and professional. Susanne has lots of tats which funnily enough i find reassuring and reminds me of home. Brett sounds so much like another friend of mine that if I closed my eyes I might mistake one for t'other.
Today we go diving and then to a massive party.
Napped.
Took a walk to check out downtown.
Dinner at Mango Inn was pizza for me and tuna for Heather. I will do fish next, it was good.
Met our dive pros at dinner (Brett and Susanne) they both were nice and professional. Susanne has lots of tats which funnily enough i find reassuring and reminds me of home. Brett sounds so much like another friend of mine that if I closed my eyes I might mistake one for t'other.
Today we go diving and then to a massive party.
OP
PeterNBiddle
Contributor
Day 3 - or something. I can't remember. Island time and all that.
We're nearly done with AOW I think. PPB was a bitch. My mask was a bit leaky and I got water up my nose early on and then felt like I was being water boarded the whole time. But it was good.
Based on what I've seen so far there's far fewer adult fish here as in Coz. I presume this is due to over-fishing as pretty much anything bigger than 18 inches is remarkable and there are small fishing boats within shouting distance of the dive sites. On the flip side the corals are spectacular, there's very little current, everything is cheaper and there's no locals-trying-to-shill culture because there's no cruise ships so the people who are here don't want cheap local trinkets imported from China.
There's TONS of baby fish though. Like clouds of them everywhere. Presumably the reef could recover to decent sized fish in a shortish time if given the chance. Sea horse pic is a good example.
We did 4 dives yesterday. The third was a splendid little run, just lovely. Night drive was crap, no fault of anyone's, just was.
Because of silt and all those damn baby fish the pics tend to run to the macro, but I've gotten some decent shots.
We're nearly done with AOW I think. PPB was a bitch. My mask was a bit leaky and I got water up my nose early on and then felt like I was being water boarded the whole time. But it was good.
Based on what I've seen so far there's far fewer adult fish here as in Coz. I presume this is due to over-fishing as pretty much anything bigger than 18 inches is remarkable and there are small fishing boats within shouting distance of the dive sites. On the flip side the corals are spectacular, there's very little current, everything is cheaper and there's no locals-trying-to-shill culture because there's no cruise ships so the people who are here don't want cheap local trinkets imported from China.
There's TONS of baby fish though. Like clouds of them everywhere. Presumably the reef could recover to decent sized fish in a shortish time if given the chance. Sea horse pic is a good example.
We did 4 dives yesterday. The third was a splendid little run, just lovely. Night drive was crap, no fault of anyone's, just was.
Because of silt and all those damn baby fish the pics tend to run to the macro, but I've gotten some decent shots.
OP
PeterNBiddle
Contributor
Damn. 4 dives yesterday and one was "crap".
Four dives today and every one was freakin' awesome. Saw some bigger fish, and squid and sea horses and a pair of pretty massive parrot fish, one of which actually seemed to want to get up in my grill some, and and and and...
(I'm quoting myself on the "crap" dive because it's not entirely fair to use that term. More on that later. I'm glad I did it and Lessons Were Learned.)
A few psuedo-random teaser pics:
Four dives today and every one was freakin' awesome. Saw some bigger fish, and squid and sea horses and a pair of pretty massive parrot fish, one of which actually seemed to want to get up in my grill some, and and and and...
(I'm quoting myself on the "crap" dive because it's not entirely fair to use that term. More on that later. I'm glad I did it and Lessons Were Learned.)
A few psuedo-random teaser pics:
DivinRich
Registered
Awesome, I'm headed down in 10 days...
Trying to decide whether to take my own snorkel gear...any thoughts (without hijacking your thread too much)....plan to dive 2 times a day, with several days of "rest" over about 3 weeks.
TIA and thanks for posting pic's.
Trying to decide whether to take my own snorkel gear...any thoughts (without hijacking your thread too much)....plan to dive 2 times a day, with several days of "rest" over about 3 weeks.
TIA and thanks for posting pic's.
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