The Island of Scuba Divers
Honduras - March 16, 2006
On Friday, we took the ferry (a true people mover ferry) to Utila island. Upon debarking we were met with a wave of scuba instructors, each with the best scuba deal on the island. Utila Island is one of the Bay Islands off the eastern coast of Honduras. It's supposedly the cheapest place in the world to get certified in scuba diving. The islands draw crowds from all over the world not only for the price but for the quality of the diving. The reef system is part of the massive Belizean reefs. We took the open water course which lasted four days and consisted of in class lectures, homework, exams and of course, the dives themselves. Our days started at 6:45am and usually didn't end until late in the day which was always followed by the ever so lovely condensed book reading and homework. The first few "confined" dives were done in the bay which was amazingly clear. During our open water dives we took Tristan out to sea to one of the many dive sites surrounding the island. For both Lee and myself diving was an amazing experience. The first couple of days we had to stomach some rough seas out to the dive site. By the third day, I realized the beard I was sporting was causing my mask to leak far too much, so I cut it strategically to eliminate the leakage.
Our instructor Mike (left) convinced us to take the Advance Open Water course after our Open Water Certification. It was hard to pass up the offer, given that Mike was a phenomenal instructor and they gave us a great discount on top of the already cheap rate. So, our stay in the Bay Islands was extended by another two days. Those two days also included a larger textbook to do in less time. We had to focus on six fields of diving (navigation, multilevel diving, deep diving to 100 feet, wreck diving on a ship wreck, night diving and buoyancy control).
While on the deep dive to the Haliburton wreck, Lee suffered from "Mask Squeeze" as he forgot to equalize his mask. This resulted in his getting some very nice red speckled rings around his eyes. He lucked out in that mask squeeze usually results in monster raccoon eyes for a minimum of 2-3 days. The night dive was especially unique as we saw many various aquatic life (including an octopus and more) asleep. Possibly the most impressive sight from all our dives was when we covered our flashlights to create complete darkness. Shortly after doing this, the sea lit up all around us with firefly-like particulates called bioluminescence (the light that is the result of the chemical reaction that occurs in an organism). That in itself was worth the entire Advanced course. There was a lovely sunset too as we made our way out of the bay (as evidenced in the top photo).
-Lee and Patrick
Todd said...Did you guys see any whale sharks? I believe that Utila is one of the best places in the world to view whale sharks. It is amazing that you could get such high levels of SCUBA certification in such a short time. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
amy said...Hey, i am headed to utila in a few days to do a advanced course and was looking for a good place... whats the name of the place you used? thanks, amy