Bay Islands advice/scuba

Greetings! Being unemployed I've decided to move anything worth keeping into storage, shoulder a daypack and head to warmer climates. I'd like to get my scuba cert, open water at least, but also want to keep things light for general traveling. Will I be able to rent gear? Is there any gear I should really own? Again I would like to go with only a daypack. Also this will be a trip of unknown duration. I'll need to get online occasionaly to continue getting job applications out. Is wireless available on Utila? I was thinking I would just show up and find a place to sleep when I get there. Is this likely to be a problem?

And importantly I am always open to general advice and recommendations. Any spanish classes worth taking down there?

Thinking of heading out sometime in December, I am a 34 year old male, for what thats worth.

Bring money

Yes, Utila is a cheap place to get certified, $300 for open water but you'll still be paying to dive after you complete your course. $25-30/ dive. Living expenses on the island amount to about $800/month without diving and you can't realistically count on making any money on the island.

IMO, if you're planning on spending any time there a good course of action would be to do your divemaster. Call it $1500 for tuition and you'll be busy and occupied for at least two months. Otherwise, there's not a heck of a lot to do on the island, save party. and that, too costs money.

What equipment should you own ? At the minimum, your own mask, snorkel and come cold water fins with booties. Those slip on warm water fins suck, and suck hard. On Utila all gear is included in the course fees but I'd seriously consider your own 2-3 mm wetsuit as well. Gear on the island is competitively priced but if you can find a deal at home, consider it, as scuba gear is lying in basements and garages all over Oregon.

Wifi..no problem.

Just showing up and finding a place to sleep...no problem unless it's close to Christmas. Apartments start at $300/month a real nice one will cost you $500.

Utila is generally English speaking, Spanish would be helpful but it's not necessary, there is a Spanish school on the island.

So a couple of months on the island, doing divemaster, $4000 should about cover it. You may not spend it all but it would be nice to have it "just in case".

I've been diving for 8 or 9 years and always pack my beloved mask and snorkel; I take my fins if we're checking a bag for other reasons because I also prefer to travel really light. My favorite shop on Utila is Alton's. Many of the shops include lodging in the price so I'd just arrive and see which shop/lodging combo fits your style. If you're actually going to spend months then that would give you time to look around for a long term rental, maybe shared with other divers. You can do a bit of research on aboututila.com and there are lots of photos with info links below.

Utila is a lousy immersion environment for Spanish study (you're likely to hear more German than Spanish) but I had a great teacher at the Central Am. Spanish School there. Happy trails!

Thanks for the responses! I think I'll start out with just open water cert and take things from there ( need to know that I like it before going for divemaster). Also good to know that prices for gear are competitive on island. I really don't even know where to start with choosing a mask and snorkel.

Not sure when I'll head down. On one hand it would be nice to see family at Christmas so might wait until just after to go. On the other hand I'm not really a big fan of Christmas and might leave sooner.

I'm a biologist/naturalist but it has been mostly land and air based ( birds, butterflies, bats, amphibians). I'm excited about the prospect of learning more about sea creatures. Any suggestions for particularly useful reference books covering the mesoamerican barrier reef fauna? It would be nice to learn the fish, mollusks, corals etc. Suppose with an ipad and wifi I can look things up..

Also, how is the birding on Utila?

Thanks again folks.

Sounds like a good plan. Make sure you CAN dive and don't have any annoying ear problems that may keep you ashore before you make any decisions.

A mask and snorkel can be found at any local dive shop. Failing that they're available on the island. It's the sort of personal gear you want to own so you know it fits well and won't leak. Same with the fins and booties, you'll see what I mean after you spent a day diving in too small fins, They're kind of like rented ice skates.

There's a series of three books, most dive shops will have them, that cover pretty much anything you'll run into underwater. I can't for the life of me remember what they're called but it took me a month to just get through two of them. There's one on fish , one on non-fish and one on marine organism behavior, But, yep, Wikipedia is your friend as are divemasters who you can usually plump for some good info on critters.

There's a few marine biologists on the island and quite often there's lectures. I went to one on "the lionfish problem" and it was very informative. Look up a guy named Andrzej , you can get a hold of him through Deep Blue Divers, the shop in town, not the resort.

Check out the Utila Centre for Marine Ecology

Here's the set by Paul Humann and Ned Loach that stout is referring to. There are lots of options for mask but in general you want silicone and low volume. I hugely prefer a black mask because I see more clearly with less glare with them. Some snorkels are truly dry - they have a flap at the top that keeps the waves out and don't leak when you swim down to see things more closely. Keep us posted!

Totally agreee with stout38 but would add, you will not be allowed to fly into Honduras without a return ticket, and the maximum length of a tourist visa is 90 days before you will be required to leave the C4 area.

You can't enter Honduras without a return ticket? I was planning on flying into San Pedro Sula on a one-way ticket. Is this a situation where I can give someone $5 to look the other way? Or is this going to be a problem?

Edited by: ryan_thomas

I had the same idea (one way ticket to san pedro sula). A search online indicates that one does need either a return ticket or evidence of onward travel. I can think of some easy ways to provide evidence of "onward travel". Oh, and Beize is not one of the C4 so the 90 day limit isn't so bad.

What do you all think of traveling with an ipad? I am hoping I can bring it to facilitate job hunting while abroad. Of course the thing would be very easily stolen by someone unfamiliar with the need for a passcode to open it.

Edited by: SeldomSean

Edited by: SeldomSean

It is the airline that enforces the "Onward Travel" requirement, so when you check in, you will have to show the proof of return, as the airline gets fines, immigration in Honduras rarely checks-

Go to American Airlines website, make a reservation for the return, place on hold, print it, white out the HOLD, make new copy, and present this copy to airline for proof, they down have time to check other airline reservations, so thats the best way, otherwise, a fully refundable ticket, but make sure its refundable not just a credit towards future travel...

Now, did you have Measles?

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.