Utila, Bay Island, Honduras
Today we had another day in paradise. After moving from Guanaja to Utila we woke up this morning at Utila, which is one of the best (and cheapest) places for diving in the Bay Islands of Honduras. Indeed, this area is considered the country’s prime tourist attraction - Caribbean jewels of sand, coconut palms swaying in the steady trade winds, green and blue waters, and one of the most spectacular coral-reef systems in the Americas, attracting scuba divers from all over the world.
At the island the ship ducked at a rather small harbor and the maneuvering into position was worth seeing. After breakfast we had a chance to walk in to town and as we saw during our walk, the economy of the town is reliant almost entirely on the ocean. Previously fishing was paramount, but since the 1980s tourism, based on diving has become King.
Utila has the feeling of being lost in a tropical time warp, for the 2,000 or so inhabitants, life still moves at a sedate pace. Once we had walked through the pretty “island” town we needed to see the coral reef, so we had all morning to snorkel from one of our Zodiacs. The snorkel location was not far from the ship and was by far “one of the best snorkels I’ve ever experienced”, there were hamlet, butterfly fish, parrotfish, squid, and schools of surgeonfish. It was so nice, that it was hard to go back to the ship for lunch.
Later in the day the Captain repositioned the vessel to Southwest Cay, a “Gary Larson” cay, one of the 12 or so islets located off the southwest corner of the main island. Here we enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing in hammocks, scuba diving, and another great spot for snorkeling. Some of the snorkelers even saw a nurse shark. Another day in paradise.
