Bay Islands advice/scuba

Okay, thanks for the input everybody! I pulled the trigger on a oneway plane ticket, fly into San Pedro Sula on December 29th and plan on taking a bus from there to la ceiba. Looks like I should arrive on island on New Years day so hopefully I find a place to stay.

I suppose I'll shoot for Utila although I'm a bit concerned that I may be too old for that crowd. My 35th birthday is in January. Easy enough to jump over to Roatan if I feel that way though.

As far as books I found a nifty ipad app for Caribbean fish identification. I'm bringing the device to apply for jobs anyway and the thing is perfect for lightweight travel (much lighter than books). Hopefully it doesn't get stolen although it is passcode locked.

Looking forward to trading grey winter days for colorful coral reefs!

Cheers Sean

Try and grab a flight from SPS to Utila. Once you add up the cost of the bus, a hotel on Ceiba and the ferry fare, you're pretty close to that $125 that simply jumping on a plane will cost you.

There's no such thing as "to old" for Utila, that's a myth. I'm 50, I don't party ( that much ) and I'm more than happy with the crowd on the island. Roatan is all about package tourists. Fly in, stay at an all inclusive, dive your brains out, fly home a week later. Utila is one of those places where people show up, planning on staying four or five days and end up re-planning their travels because they're so enamoured with the place, especially when they compare it to the mainland.

Your ithing will be OK, just don't stay in the cheapest of cheap hotels

I'll probably run into you down there, I'm tentatively booked for Jan 6th. I'll be at the dive shop I mentioned above

I was in Roatan and Utila in May/June, and had a great time, and I am 52 and married. I was on Roatan when no cruise ships were docking, but imagine its a whole nother feel when that crowd arrives, so go to Uitla for sure.

I am not Mr Party anymore, but each night headed out with my advanced dive class, which ranged from 22 to 40, mostly 20 and 30 somethings, everyone just chilled out and goofed off, no worries, once the booze flowed into the scuba mask at the crazy tree house ceramic garden up the road, I bailed, normally around 12 midnight...haha

"Roatan is all about package tourists. Fly in, stay at an all inclusive, dive your brains out, fly home a week later."

Stout - Have you been to Roatán? We've spent about a month there total spread over 2 trips and haven't seen it that way. You can do as you say on Roatán and on Utila, too, for that matter, but there are options for staying on secluded gorgeous beaches and swimming to the reef for awesome snorkeling, and backpacker places as low as $10/nt.

We don't feel too old for Utila, either (mid 50s) but the hotels and restaurants are in a town that is lined with shops and doesn't have beaches or shore snorkeling without a bit of a hike and some good info; not much in the way of hiking, either, compared to Roatán. They're very different and we love both - heading back for a week each next summer - but I wouldn't classify either in terms of age or packaged tourism.

hopefulist, yes I've been to Roatan, it was 12 years ago though. I'm basing my current judgement on a couple of years or reading scubaboard where Utila is described as a "backpacker" island. I'd pick Roatan if I wanted to do the secluded beach/snorkeling and hiking thing for sure ( Actually I'd pick Thailand ) but for the living and diving thing, it's hard to beat what Utila has on offer.

No wonder you have that opinion of Roatán if that's where you're getting your information! I follow scubaboard, too, but when I've posted that I enjoy the mainland and non diving activities on Roatán it falls on deaf ears. Those guys don't come up for air long enough to see the beaches let alone the other things that Roatán offers.

Like I said, we love both, but the VAST majority of Roatán visitors, even divers, don't do the all inclusive dive-your-brains-out places. There's a ton of variety there, part of the appeal for us. You might want to check it out again sometime!

Roatan is defiantly on the list of places to check out. My wife and I have a young son, he's 5 and although I'm doing these trips alone right now, eventually I'll have to find a place that's more "family friendly" than Utila. I'm not knocking Utila in this regard it's just that right now, i feel my kid would be bored on Utila. When he's a little older, can swim properly and has the sense to watch himself on that racetrack they call mainstreet on Utila, then I/we can look at taking him places.

Funnny though, i thought I was sorted with repeated trips to southern Thailand, but I found if very difficult to find an apartment ( on Koh Lanta ) , a crappy beach bungalow is now $30/ night and they cranked up their diving prices. So bye bye Thailand and hellllllllo Utila.

Umm yea, scubaboard, The Bay Islands section seems rather dead this year. None of the posters there seem to leave their resorts and it's all about complaining about, not enough hot water, AC doesn't work properly, too many bugs, walls were too thin, pillow wasn't fluffy enough and, of course, the "unimpressed" with Utila proper. I'll admit this input has jaded my opinion of Roatan.

Thanks for the conversation here. Sounds like I'll start in Utila. I do like hiking to think and clear my head so there is a good chance I'll at least visit Roatan at some point.

It isn't that I don't like to party, it's just that it is so hard on me anymore. I'd rather spend the day exploring than horribly hungover. That said I'm sure I'll imbibe. My age concern is more that being a single man in his mid30s I don't want to be percieved as creepy hanging out with a bunch of folks ten years my junior. Good to hear there is a mix of ages. Also I think that idea was borne of winter mind funk. I'll just be my kind and happy self and hope for friendly people.

Looking around a bit I've noticed that the Utila/Roatan debate is not unique to this thread. Thank you for keeping it civil. Amazing the online arquments that can erupt and become personal. Thank you again for being polite to each other.

Hard to plan much for this trip because it ends when I get offered a job. Could be a week, could be four months. That said I'll probably want to explore the mainland as I am an avid birdwatcher with additional strong interest in butterflies and the birding/butterflying in Central America is truly exceptional. Time will tell. Finding a place to rent monthly on island could be really nice too. I'll just let things fall how they will.

At any rate I'm truly looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, Utila isn't the best place for hiking, there's a few walks for sure but once you've done those the voyage of discovery is over. the island is mostly mangrove i.e. flooded but there's always the option of heading out into the swamp for a shipwreck survivor adventure.

Utila has a reputation as a partying backpacker island and that's only somewhat true. Most people are there to dive and those morning boats leave pretty early, not to mention, diving with a hangover sucks especially if you're prone to sea sickness.

You'll find friendly people, after all, everybody is on holiday on a "paradise island" Even the locals are friendly which IMO is pretty impressive after decades of tourism.

If you're planning on spending anytime there at all, you'll defiantly want to find a monthly rental. I got a nice apartment, really nice, concrete construction, tv, internet, fully furnished including designer bed linens and floor to ceiling window treatments (lol), hot water, AC screens on all the windows, and it was huge....$450/month plus electricity. A comparable hotel room would have been over $50 a night and when you break it down that way, its by far your most economical option.