Don’t go to Utila!

Yep, you guessed it, our next adventure is to Utila & it’s less than a month away! Utila is the smallest of the Honduran Bay Islands, also the flattest & the closest to the mainland. It’s also widely known as one the cheapest if not the cheapest place in the world for scuba certifications. The island has over 80 dive sites which is impressive for such a tiny island and it’s also a great place for a whale shark encounter. I hope we’re lucky enough to see one while we’re there, that would seriously make my year!

There are two ways to get to Utila, the Ferry from La Cieba or a short flight on a very small plane. We opted for the small plane and booked a flight with Captain Angelo of Island Air through Roatan. It will be so hard to fly through Roatan and not be able to spend any time there but alas we’re limited by our stingy US vacation time. The ferry is nicknamed “the vomit comet” & considering we both get seasick we figured that wouldn’t be the best option for us 🙂  I love the views from the small planes too & I’m looking forward to seeing Utila from the air.  I’ve come a long way since our friends dragged me onto a small plane from Belize City to Ambergris Caye 5 years ago.

While we’re there we’ll be taking the next step toward our dream of becoming scuba instructors and are taking the PADI rescue course. We chose Alton’s Dive Center for the class as well as some fun dives for a few reasons; they’re very close to where we’re staying (but really, everything is since the island is so small), they have great reviews & the shop seemed the best suited to our personalities. In researching the dive shops they all seem to have their own unique vibe so we’ll definitely walk around town and check them all out.

Other things on our hit list while we’re there:

• Walk to the top of Pumpkin Hill
• Coffees at Rio Coco
• Sunset drinks at Rehab
• Skid Row – and yes, we’ll be doing the guifity challenge. I need my shirt.
• The Jade Seahorse – a veggie restaurant with amazing decor & drinks at Treetanic.
• Paya Papaya – brand new veg restaurant & juice bar, yes please!
• Pizza Nut – homemade bagels & thin crust pizza, two of our favorite things.
• Yoga Utila – if there’s time
• Lots of chilling in various places gazing at the beautiful turquoise water!

As always, we’ll be scoping it out as a potential place for our departure where it’s warm only one year from now! I can’t believe in a year we’ll be ready to pack up and move on to the next adventure. We’ll spend time talking to locals, scoping out the dive scene & talking to people in the real estate business about rental options.

We’ve read a lot of good things about Utila (friendly locals, laid back funky vibe, great diving) and a lot of bad things (the main road has gotten congested, trash problems, non-stop party). If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years traveling, everyone’s opinion is uniquely theirs and no two people experience the same place the same way. So we’re going to see what Utila is all about for ourselves! Be on the lookout for posts about all things Utila in June.

As for the title of this post, you’ll need to check out this video on YouTube, If You Come to Utila. The song is pretty catchy & will probably get stuck in your head. You’ve been warned!

I’m pretty sure after our week there we’ll never want to leave either!

Tomorrow is May 1st and it will be raining & 55. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!

Warm thoughts to all!