Utila trip report - Jan 2008

[bgrindberg]

Just wanted to share experiences from my recent trip to the Bay Islands. The trip was intended to be a low to medium budget trip. I had a little more than three weeks to spend in Honduras.

Travel to / from
Flight from Frankfurt via JFK and San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba took about 26 hours including long layovers.
Flight from La Ceiba via Roatan and Miami to Frankfurt took about 16 hours.
Flights were a bargain at just 650 Euros (I am not going to calculate the price in US$ for you!) which explains the long layovers.

Beware when flying via Roatan: The guys at customs tried to collect the departure tax twice. I had already paid in La Ceiba. Did take a bit of arguing from my side.

Morning ferry, to Utila ran at 9:30 and was 300 lempiras. Back 6:15 same price.

La Ceiba itself is not really worth spending more time than absolutely necessary. An exception are the ecolodges outside of twon, where you can do rafting, etc.

Dive Shops
Upon arrival all the dive shops try to lure you into their business. I dropped my bags at Cpt. Morgans right at the pier and took my time to check out a few shops.

Prices are pretty much the same anywhere: 50 for a two tank fun dive, 10 per cent off when diving 10+ tanks. Open Water courses were $180, I think, but definitely the same anywhere. Some shops offer free accommodation in a dorm or discounts at some accommodation to their divers.

Cpt. Morgans looked very nice to me, but they did not offer afternoon trips and the morning boat would pick up people at the cays and therefore leave 6:45 from Utila town.

Utila Dive Centre: Did not take a close look at their operation, but it seemed a bit too big for my liking. This, however, is just my first impression and I cannot say anything about their quality. People I met who dove with UDC seemed happy with operation.
Discounts at Mango Inn.

Alton’s Dive Center
I dove with Alton’s and was very satisfied with what I got there. Rental gear is good. DM’s were overall very good. Fast boats, give you some more sleep in the morning, even when heading out to the northside, which was pretty much every day except for one day. They set up groups of fun divers with the same skill level, I think 5 persons + DM was the biggest group, but they also took me on an afternoon dive as the only paying customer.
I did not do any courses (I am certified up to rescue diver) but from what I have seen while at the shop, the teaching seemed to be excellent. At least better than the place where I got certified. Another hint into this direction was that Gunther from Gunther’s dive shop send his daughters over to get certified there.
Laid-back atmosphere at the shop, Adams weekly fish talk is not to be missed and open also for non Alton divers. Free dorm accommodation for divers.

Accommodation:
Stayed at Ruby’s Inn, off the pier to the right, which I can also recommend. $15 a night for single (hot water / no air con). Air con is another $20 per night. A double is $20 with slight variations depending on the room. Mr and Mrs Ruby are very nice people and rooms are cleaned every day, with fresh linen and towels.

Food and Nightlife:
Very good: RJ’s Barbecue, Mango Inn (a bit pricy maybe), La Piccolina (a bit pricy maybe)
Good: Bundu Café, the other barbecue place off the pier to the left
Not so good: The Chinese place off the peer to the right

Going out is good but options are limited. You will know everybody after a couple of nights. Make choice depending on day. Treetanic is a legend in itself. The guy must have spend years landscaping and decorating it. Besides there are Tranquila, Poco Loco? and Bar in the Bushes.

Miscellaneous:
If you get sick, pay a visit to Dr. John. An experience in itself… But treatment was good and cheap.
We rented a golf cart from Rita’s boutique one day. The lady did not give us any hassle when we brought back the car in a terrible state, but instead offered us a free half day for the next day, because the battery broke down during our mud adventure in the mangroves.
Sandflies suck, luckily no moscitos when I was there.

Dive Sites
The dive sites were okay-nice, especially northside, but I believe there are so many threads on this topic here, that I wanted to give you some information on what's happening on the surface.

I know it is not very readable, but maybe of some help to someone. Feel free to ask any specifics or correct me in any points.

Sad to be back in the office
Bjorn

 

[Sin Fronteras]

Hi Bjorn,

Thanks for your excellent report. I lived in Honduras 1999-2002 and I was completely hooked on Utila and kept going back. For some reason I didn´t care too much about the vibe on Roatan . I´m planning to go back to Utila after several years and you're post was very helpful.

One of the aspects of Utila I liked best (besides the diving, of course were sunsets on a very rickety but incredibly cool bar hanging over the water, good but not too loud music, people jumping off the pier, a giant 10-person netting hanging above your head... I forgot the name of it but the names you mention don´t ring a bell. Does something like that still exist?

 

[hopefulist]

Yes, thanks for sharing!

 

[bgrindberg]

...
One of the aspects of Utila I liked best (besides the diving, of course were sunsets on a very rickety but incredibly cool bar hanging over the water, good but not too loud music, people jumping off the pier, a giant 10-person netting hanging above your head... I forgot the name of it but the names you mention don´t ring a bell. Does something like that still exist?

Finally someone travels they same way I do. :14:

Don't think so, probably a victim of Hurricane Felix. YouTube - MOVIE: Hurricane Felix

The only bars on the water which I remember are Tranquila and Coco Loco or is the name Poco Loco (can't remember). They are right next to each other. However, no jumping into the water which also serves as the gents and people tend to go there (the bars) after sunset.

Some dive shops have their own little bars and decks, from which you can jump. I know Alton's has both, UDC has at least a nice deck, don't know about the bar, because they are connected to Mango Inn, where they have a bar. But that's up the hill.

 

[wiac]

I am planning on heading to Utila around begining april for about 4-6 weeks. While surfing the net came across a few blogs (not on SB) that mentioned crime and thefts on Utilia. I tarvel with quite a bit of electornics and kite surfing gear, but not really inclined to lose these things. Is there any advice on whether the crime is as stated (drugs, thefts, island thugs) or is it blown out of proportion? I realize these occurences can happen anywhere, but just trying to get a sense of environment on Utila?

 

[bgrindberg]

I personally didn't have any troubles and felt quite save.

Ruby's and Altons employ "nightguards". They probably don't do it for no reason.
Yes, I have been offered drugs, but it did not bother me, but that happens over here as well.
I have also heared that the pool place as well as one or two bars are not necessarily for foreigners.

Having said all this, I felt very save daytimes as well as nightimes, so I guess those reports are a bit exaggerated and shouldn't keep you from going.

 

[UTLgirl]

Most places in the Bay Islands, and Honduras as a whole, employ their own guards. Not necessarily because the crime rate is high (I lived in Dallas, TX & Utila is nothing like what I considered 'normal' there), but rather because the police to population ratio is so low. I think we have about 1 Focep for every 800 residents these days - when they're all on duty. It's just the responsible thing to do. They can only be so many places at one time and as hotel, dive shop, and other visitor oriented businesses, we want everyone's stay to be safe and enjoyable.

I've lived in Utila a little over 2 years now (9yrs in Roatan before that). Pretty much anywhere around the main parts of town I feel perfectly comfortable, even walking home at night (or early morning as the case may be). Some areas, such as the pool hall, I usually only go to when I'm with one of our employees. I've never had any problems there, I'm just not fluent enough in Spanish to understand everything going on around me so it's not as enjoyable.

Basically it's like any place else. Don't advertise or brag about valuable belongings around town, lock your stuff up when you're out, don't get so intoxicated at the bars that you make yourself an easy target for some nefarious person, and get to know your neighbors. We're a pretty small community & we tend to watch each other's backs.