Utila - Day ONE

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You guys are going to be so jealous when I get back to Michigan with this rockin’ tan…….on my hands. That’s one downside to wetsuits – awkward tan lines.

We made it safe and sound to Utila; an island off of Honduras near Roatan (where we went to complete our open water followed by our advanced diving certifications). Utila is sought after by divers in hopes of getting a glimpse of the large whale shark beauties. It is a shark that is as big as a whale, but eats mostly plankton. It is the largest fish in the sea and can get up to 40 feet long!

Once we arrived in Honduras, we had to take a commuter plane to Utila. It was a small, I want to say 16 passenger, plane. Old planes with loud propellers are not really what I consider a “good time.” Fortunately the flight was short and uneventful.

We were greeted by a representative of the resort we’re staying at who had a handful of us cram into a shuttle van and the other half hopped into the back of an old pick up truck. There is one main drag through town that felt like you were cruising through people’s back yards. The road is very narrow and clearly has no rules. The shuttle driver blares his horn and half attempts to slow down so he doesn’t hit pedestrians or scooters who are also making use of the road. The buildings are butted right up to the road, no curbs, no sidewalks. People hit the shuttle as it passed and shouted as one of their limbs barely missed the close call.

We made it to our destination where we were escorted to a boat that took us to the island off the island. We’re staying at the Deep Blue Resort. It can sleep 22, but there are only 16 of us staying here. The owner is from London; his girlfriend is from Canada. Our boat driver for the dives is one of the few remaining Utilians.

Utila used to be a pirate island. Now the Dutch has replaced most of the native Utilians. Our boat driver, Schvinn (sp) had ancestors that were pirates. Svinnston Jackson is his name. How very pirate of him. The owner of Anthony’s Key Resort, where we stayed in Roatan back in 2007, has personally never done anything to do with pirating, but his ancestors allegedly did and apparently that is where his family’s money came from.

We got into the main dining/lounge area and over a cocktail; we filled out our diving paperwork and signed our waivers. The rooms are nice. Every room has a private bathroom, closet, and ocean view with a hammock. At dawn and dusk you have to load up with bug repellent because the Noseeums (sand fleas) are rampant. Even with the bug spray, it’s day three and I am already covered in bug bites. It comes with the territory though and we came prepared with all sorts of anti-itch products.

The first day we laid low. Exhausted from the travel we ate and went to bed.

Pictures to come. Can't upload here because there isn't enough bandwidth to support it.

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Comments

[kat]

awesome!
way to go snooze-ann! tell me more pirate stories.