Utila and scuba diving

We arrived on the island of Utila just before dark, and Sarah had her usual task of running around the place scoping out sleeping options. When she got back I then ran around scoping out scuba diving options. The whole point of coming all this way was to take advantage of the world famous diving opportunities here. I knew it was low-season, and that the conditions wouldn't be great, but the Bay Islands are also famous for being one of the cheapest places in the world to get certified as a diver.

So Sarah's christmas present this year is to get qualified as a PADI scuba diver. The tiny town (more a village really) has got 11 diving operations, so I ran about checking out as many as I could as quickly as I could. It quickly became apparent that the various operators here have a price fixing thing going on, as every single place quoted identical prices for scuba courses and for individual dives - every place except one that is. Paradise divers was the only place offering cheaper options, and for some reason they were much cheaper ($229 instead of $271 for a course and $40 for 2 fun dives instead of $59). They also throw in free accommodation and 2 fun dives for doing a training course (most operators offered those freebies too, or slight variations).

So the choice of place to stay, and which scuba operator, was pretty self-evident. Of course I checked out the gear first, and although it certainly wasn't brand new or anything, it all looked in good enough condition and I got a good feeling from chatting to the guys running the place. So Sarah started her 3-day course the very next morning, as we are pretty much restricted in time now having booked a flight to Tijuana for December 18th. I spent the day exploring the town, buying and preparing lunch, strolling to the beaches either end of the town and checking out dive options for me in a bit more detail. It turned out Paradise Divers were the best option for my dives too, and the following morning I went diving with them.

Both my dives were pretty good, although being the rainy low-season the visibility wasn't great (about 10 meters or so). But it was immediately clear that this place must be amazing in good conditions. Both my dives were through fabulously varied coral gardens, and even in the overcast and chilly conditions (they didn't have a full wetsuit in my size, so I had to use a shortie - you get what you pay for I guess!), I could easily appreciate what it must be like in clear conditions. I did add a new entry on my ever growing list of crazy critters though, a mad looking toadfish.

These islands are also famous for spotting whale sharks, but again being off-season there is practically no chance of seeing them now (and I forgot about the free lecture on whale sharks the night before we left - d'oh!). So Sarah finished her course with flying colours, and the following day it was back on the road and catching the 6:20am ferry back to the mainland to make a mad dash for the famous Mayan archaeological site of Copan.