A Day Spent Diving and Eating Peanut Butter in Utila

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Despite some cloudy and windy weather, we were able to get on the morning dive boat, heading to the south side of the island. Our first dive site was Diamond Caye. This dive began with a descent to a sandy bottom where we were greeted by a friendly angel fish with a dog's personality. When we put our hand out to it, it swam right up to us. We moved along to some beautiful coral formations that seem to be unique to Utila. You swim through channels of coral with sponges, sea fans and all sorts of plants swaying gently in the current. Small reef fish dart around looking for food or avoiding becoming food. A patient diver will be rewarded with sightings of juvenile fish, tiny hermit crabs, sea snails and perhaps an eel.

One highlight was the spotted filefish we discovered along the wall. It has a long flat shape. When it swims, its body ripples along creating different colors on its scales. Another very exciting find was the sea anemone. It had tentacles that fanned out with clear round balls at the tips. There was also a conch peeking out of its shell.

Our second dive site was called Jack Neil's Point. This site was the better of the two today. There was a sandy patch that we swam across, looking in small coral formations for seahorses. We didn't find any, but searching along the sandy bottom revealed garden eels, a pale little goby and these white snake like fish that poked their heads out of holes to eat. Maybe they are another type of garden eel. John found a huge hermit crab living in a conch shell. We saw a green moray eel poking its head out of a large crevice in the coral. We also saw a juvenile spotted drum which has long trailing fins on the top and bottom of its triangular body. It’s a very beautiful fish.

After our dive we headed back to our room to freshen up before meeting friends at Fidi's on the other side of town. We ate fish burgers, a Utila specialty, on the open patio and watched the rain clouds roll in and out. We had planned for a night dive and we pondered the likelihood of that event happening tonight. By the time we reached Bush's market we decided we would dine on crackers, cheese and peanut butter tonight to give our wallet and bellies a break.

We postponed our dive and spent the night relaxing at the Lighthouse. The wraparound porch is a perfect spot for watching the storm roll in. The high winds eventually chased us inside. So it's a night of blogging, Animal Planet and crackers, cheese and peanut butter. Hey, it’s Semana Santa in Utila and we all could use a break from the noise.

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