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Published: October 27th 2011
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Rain greeted us as we arrived in La Ceiba port, which was our gateway to the Bay Islands. We were warned that rain would be very much a part of our stay here at this time of year, and since it was rainy season, this wasn’t shocking news, but we took the positives, and figured at least it wasn’t cold when it rained here.
We decided that out of the three Bay islands Utila would be the best choice for us, as it is the island generally frequented by backpackers like ourselves for the main purpose of diving. The reason most backpackers come here to dive, is because it is rumoured to be the cheapest place to dive in the world….. a statement I have no back-up for, however it is pretty damn cheap compared with other places I have looked at.
The boat that took us to Utila was supposed to take around 1hour and 45mins according to our trusty guide book (getting less and less trusty by the day we have found and is close to being swapped for a Stephen king novel at the moment!). It was half way through the journey when the guide books
time estimate of the trip started to play on our minds as due to the rain, the boat was all over the place and both Donna and I were too close to seeing the lunch we had consumed a little earlier that day for a second time! Thankfully the boat turned up at the Utila dock after only an hour, and therefore lunch stayed where nature intended.
Once in Utila, we were greeted by the usual crowd of taxi drivers (in golf carts), kids that wanted to ‘help’ you with your bags for a small fee, along with several hotel representatives hoping to secure your business for the length of your stay on the island. But, getting into hardened traveller mode is becoming increasingly easier, and we managed to hold firm, grab our bags, and head straight through the crowd with a few grunts of ‘No gracias’ and a lot of looking at the floor pretending not to notice the melee around us. We managed to make our way to a little café to sort ourselves out and decide where ‘we’ wanted to stay as opposed to being sweet talked into some craphole that we would have regretted immediately
after agreeing to stay there. So, after looking at a few flyers, I left Donna with the bags, and went in search for a couple of hotels we liked the look of to see if they could accommodate us. The first hotel I went in search of wasn’t the easiest to find, and after 30 mins of searching, I decided in my head that it had closed, and therefore decided to go straight to the next one. Fortunately, I found the second one OK, or so I thought. It wasn’t until walking into the reception and asking for a room for the night, that my mistake was noticed, as the guy behind reception replied ‘This is a dive centre fella, not a hotel’
Zero for two on the quest to find a hotel … Donna will be wondering where I was by now, and I hadn’t even established the difference between a dive shop and a hotel….she will be pleased! However, it turned out, in a round-a-bout way, to be a rather handy mishap, and walking into Utila Dive centre, was probably the best mistake I could have made. Not only are they a great dive school, which I
found out later, but they also had their own hotel a little way from the centre. Which Hotel was it?....... it was of course the hotel that I couldn’t find earlier on, and had assumed was closed!
Fate moves in mysterious ways!
It turns out that after a quick chat to some of the guys from the Dive school, they could do us a deal because I was planning to finish my Open water PADI course (that I had started and not finished 3 years ago). They could get me a few free nights in their hotel and sort my course out all for one price…perfect!
So after securing the deal for the diving and the lodging, I received some decent directions to the hotel, and I was back on track, finally. All that was left to do was go and tell Donna the good news, which I’m sure she was eager for in that she had now been waiting about an hour and a half whilst I was striking up this deal of the century!
The rest of our time on Utila consisted of either chilling out, eating and drinking and with me learning to dive
(Donna didn’t feel the urge to learn to dive, so soaked up some very welcomed, and very unexpected rays for the duration of the stay here)
So after 2 days of getting to grips with diving again, I managed to pass my PADI open water course, and therefore I am now a qualified PADI diver, thanks to the great instructors Dec, Frank etc of Utila dive school….cheers chaps! In my eyes I did nearly die a couple of times trying to perfect some of the emergency skills , however apparently this was an over exaggeration on my part (which I almost never do!) and I was never actually close to death at any time (I of course still vehemently deny this!) But all in all, it was a great course.
During my last dive we saw an array of cool fish and coral, and I also managed to spot a seahorse which everyone seemed pretty excited about as seahorses were pretty rare apparently. ‘Seahorse Sculfor’ was therefore my new nickname for the rest of my stay there, which I quite enjoyed to be honest, as it’s certainly not the worst nickname I have had in my time!.
That night we went back to Utlia Dive school for their weekly BBQ, which was great fun. The evening spent chatting to a lot of the dive masters and instructors as well as a few people we had met since arriving there. The evening was then topped off by a crazy Mancunian who was attempting to fly off the top of the jetty’s roof with a full scale home- made hand glider! Needless to say crowds gathered to watch this amazing attempt, but unfortunately, although not very surprisingly, there wasn’t really much flying involved, however it was hilarious to watch!
After the course, I dived again in a fun dive the next morning, and due to mix up, I was put on a boat that I wasn’t due to go on, which seemed a shame as a few of the guys I had got to know where on that boat. It turned out to be a bit of a god send in the end though, as the boat I was due to go on broke down, and therefore they only got to dive once instead of twice. It was also another dose of fate coming my way, as the boat I went on ended up right next to both a Devil Ray which was awesome, and also the elusive Whale Shark! Upon seeing this, the dive master and the driver of the boat were yelling at us to get ready to get in, and to be quick in order to see it, and when it finally came close enough, we all jumped in from the boat and snorkelled towards the Whale sharks direction. It was then the shark double backed and swam straight underneath us all no more than 5ft away! It was an absolutely amazing experience, and one I am so lucky to have had, especially so early on in my diving career! After talking to everyone back at the dive school it seems I was more than a touch lucky to see one as a lot of the guys who had been there months were still waiting to get their first glimpse of one. Beginner’s luck I suppose!
So, after a great time in Utila, it was time to head to our next country, Nicaragua. Getting there was going to be less fun than we imagined, but how can we moan aye….. This really is a trip of a lifetime, and taking the rough with the smooth is all part and parcel of it. Actually, whilst listening to Frank Turner on my IPod recently, I heard a lyric that would probably slot in hear a treat….
‘And if your all about the destination, then take a f*cking flight’
Adios Amigos!
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