I woke up this morning around 7am to the sound of the rain still coming down. I was prepared for another night in La Ceiba after flipping through my Honduras Guide book for things to do. I went to the front desk and asked the owner to call the boat company to see if they were going to make the crossing to Utila. As he spoke with the person on the phone I could tell by his look of surprise that my luck had suddenly taken a change. I ran back to my room packed up my stuff and caught a taxi to the boat terminal. When I took my seat the "mate" of the ship came around handing out little plastic trash bags. My first assumption was that we might get wet, but they turned out to be barf bags and as the boat made it's way out into the waters I understand why. The entire crossing was a roller coaster ride up and over then crashing down the backside of the waves. I was able to hold my own, but had to look away when many of the other passengers proceeded to open their little white trash bags and make good use of them. After an hour and a half of this the motors slowed down and we coasted into the dock at Utila.
My friend's who worked on the island gave me a few suggestions as to which dive shops to consider as there are many shops competing for the business of the divers who come to the island. I feel good about my choice and find myself at a Alton's Dive Shop which is basically a dock covered in dorm housing and dive equipment. I ran into a friend a met briefly on the boat from Rio Dulce to Finca Tatin. It's quite amazing how many travelers find themselves in the same places so often.
Less than two hours after I stepped off the boat onto Utila I was getting onto the dive boat with my gear to experience my first dive in the Caribbean. The first dive was a wreck dive to a cargo ship that sits at about 100 feet. I was pretty distracted from the boat at the surrounding coral reefs and colorful fish. After so much diving and snorkeling in the kelp forests of Catalina it took me aback to see so much colorful life swimming through the coral. After everyone had returned to the boat we went a bit further up the coast to the airport caves from where we would drift dive about 100 yards to the moon ring, a circular open area of sandy bottom surrounded by coral. My favorite sighting was a huge green moray eel free swimming along the edge of the reefs. I've seen a few moray eels on Catalina, but this one was so much bigger.
Before coming on this trip I went to an aquarium in Myrtle Beach and saw a few tanks filled with the same colorful fish and coral I dove with today. I look forward to the 8 more dives I have ahead of me before I leave the island on Monday. Tomorrow morning if the weather permits we'll make our way around to the north side of the island. Whale Sharks are often seen out that way, but it's been a few months since one was last sighted...I have a good feeling.
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