Island Pearl West Bay

... to sail to Utila due to bad seas leaving some people stranded. As I could think of no place worse to be stranded than Banana Republic I was quite glad how it had worked out! Luckily the rains had stopped and when we got to the port the next morning the ferry was leaving as per usual. It was very strange to see these salty seamen waiting to board the ferry - they sounded just like extras from Pirates of the Caribbean and we could barely make out what they were saying to ...

... to do the advanced. The sweetener was I could have my room for free until I left and I could get an extra 4 fun dives, this meant that I had negotiated for 8 fun dives and free accommodation for 2 weeks, not bad for a day&#8217;s work.<br><br>That Friday night, I went out on the town, well to the little village that constitutes as a town on the island. As I arrived at the coolest bar in Utila, Treetanic I got accosted by two guys ...

... br><br><br><br> Day 4 was the final two open water dives as part of our course. Again on the south side of the island, we descended to 18m, which is the limit for divers with our certification. Unfortunately we didn&#8217;t spot any whale sharks, but we did see two more giant turtles, a manta ray, several strange-looking flounder&#8230;erm&#8230;floundering on the sea bed and lots of colourful fish and coral.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Back on dry land, we ...

... whale sharks comming buy. I was not able to see one though. I took the Advanced Diving course and did seven dives total. I now can dive up to 100 feet. We did a night dive, deep water dive and photography dive. The coral reef is a beautiful thing. Saw tons of fish, eels, king crab, lobsters etc... I was able to stay at the dive center free during the course. I stayed for four nights in a dorm ...

well it my last day in Utila, id hope i have some luck but we went out for 4 hours and traveled around the island but no sharks.. oh well im glad i stuck around and at least try.. and the captain did let me on for free.. the weather was pretty rough similar to Monterey bay in Cali, 11/12 rollers a good fishing day in Cali but bad whale ...

... tour of the camp where some local guerillas lived, we saw the makeshift huts they lived in and the bombshelters they had dug out. And then we were shown unexploded mines that were fenced off - a bit worrying! We were also shown various bombs that had been dropped there and were told that both the weapons they used and those that were used against them were all sold to the parties by the USA. Another success there! We moved on the next day and started our long trek up La Ceiba. In Honduras ...

... is famous for its diving, so we got stuck in early. Our first dive was on the north side of the island where the reef is a sharp wall with a drop of over 1000ft. You obviously can't see the ocean floor so that was a bit of a first for us. I tried not to imagine what creatures (jaws) were lurking underneath. The reef itself was quite similar to Belize and we didn't see that much new in the way of fish or wildlife either. I enjoyed the dive on the south side of the ...

... WHICH HAD COMPLETELY DESTROYED THE BEACH!!! It was gone lol So on to the next town of Tela, the book described it as a number one tourist destination. Yes in fact it was... for the people of Honduras. There were no hostels so we ended up in a cheap motel. It wasn't fancy but it was raining and it was a dry roof over our heads. In the morning I went to get in the shower and discovered there was no running water and in its place was a bucket full of water and a bowl. So ...

... scuba diving, but it is nonetheless stunningly beautiful. White sandy beaches fringed with palm trees, crystal clear water and amazing coral reefs. We could have satyed here a lot longer, except that it is very expensive and we have too little time to do everything else we want to do!

... water dives were great! We saw a few octopuses, many beautiful and colourful fish, heaps of sea urchins, a few turtles... I went from being a little apprehensive of diving to being absolutely in love with it!!! And after we got our certificates we went on a NIGHT DIVE! The moon was nearly full and we could see it through the water from the bottom (20 meters down). OK....Need to rush off now...but will finish later!