Instant Reader Report
on Utila Lodge / [same] in
Honduras / Utila on
2002/10
by
Bill and Karen Cousins , VA, USA
Report Number 021025122447395

 Caymans, Roatan, St. Martin, Florida springs, North Carolina wrecks, Fiji
(Nai'a), Cocos Island (UnderseaHunter) 

Dive Conditions

None  

[None]  

Overall Rating

The best parts of this trip were getting away from our intense jobs for a
week, water warm enough to dive with only a microprene vest, two frogfish
and one seahorse, and finding a beautiful-and-empty cowrie shell.  The
distressing parts will take a little longer to recount.  The two American
Airlines flights to Miami and San Pedro Sula were roomy and pleasant.  No
food though -- eat in the airports.  Also, we were missing a bag by the
time we arrived San Pedro Sula.  It took two more flights to get from
mainland Honduras to Utila -- no air conditioning aboard.  Utila is
unattractive, rundown, and poverty-stricken.  Utila Lodge was clean, and
very rustic. The staff was pleasant and courteous, and we appreciated
their efforts.  Showering was a daily challenge due to low water pressure
and unreliable water temperatures.  The food was hearty and tasty. 
No-see-ums and mosquitoes were bad, even in the dining room.  Our group of
14 experienced divers had one DM, who was adequate.  Nitrox was $6/tank;
our fills were rarely more than 2900.  The diving (17 dives), sadly, was
mediocre and uninteresting.  Reef destruction was shocking ... coral
rubble everywhere.  Soft corals were healthier, but not pretty.  We saw
skimpy numbers of fish ... tangs, parrotfish and an occasional queen
trigger, a couple groups of nice yellowtail snapper, 1 or 2 big Nassau
grouper, 2 morays, 2 scrawled file fish.  There were no big boys ...
sharks, mantas, whalesharks, but we did have dolphins twice surfing the
bow of the boat as we returned to shore. One dive blended into the other
with nothing outstanding to record in our logs.  Utila Lodge is located in
a cluttered, congested area of the town along a bay with several bars
nearby, playing raucous music until the wee hours.  We could hear the beat
and words to the songs even over the drone of the AC.  One night, at the
bar Coco Loco, a fellow diver suggested we check out the restroom. 
Lifting the commode lid, one finds the ocean below.  This is not a lovely,
tropical island.  Would we return to Utila?  No.  Would we recommend it to
others?  No.    

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