Introduction
In early 2023, my partner and I moved from the UK to her hometown of Sydney, Australia. “On the way” we decided to spend some time travelling through Latin America with as much diving as our budget could afford. After particularly expensive diving trips in Cozumel, Yucatan Cenotes and Belize, we were excited for significantly more affordable diving in Utila, Honduras. I don’t think I’ll ever pay less than US$36 for a dive!
Utila – a (very) brief history
Utila is the third largest of the Bay Islands, a group of Caribbean islands off the coast of Honduras. The islands were inhabited by a pre-Columbian peoples known as the Paya (now Pech) until the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century. Over the next 100 years, the natives were eliminated after being captured into slavery or killed and the Spanish and the British Empires fought over the lands up until the mid-19th century.
By the mid-17th century, Roatan – the largest of the Bay Islands – was a popular base for Caribbean pirates and Henry Morgan, the famous Welsh privateer used Port Royal on the island as his base.
In 1859, the British signed a treaty to hand the Bay Islands to Honduras and it has remained part of the territory ever since. Today it’s one of the most popular diving destinations in the Caribbean thanks to its beginner-friendly diving conditions and affordable prices.
Getting to Utila from Lake Atitlan in Guatemala
After starting our trip in Mexico, and briefly visiting Caye Caulker in Belize, we continued on to Guatemala. After a few weeks without any diving, we had set our sights on Utila. However we quickly discovered getting there from Lake Atitlan (around four hours west of Antigua in Guatemala) wouldn’t be a particularly easy (or short) journey. On any backpacking trip with a constrained budget, you’re faced with the constant cost v time trade-off. The addition of a mid-30s lower back problem meant we also added ‘comfort’ to the analysis – not something I had to worry about when backpacking in my 20s!
There are shuttles that make the trip from Antigua in one 15 hour journey – but we quickly discounted that thanks to my inability to sit still for that long. The two easier options appeared to be either heading north in Guatemala with an overnight stop in Puerto Barrios. Or heading east into mainland Honduras with a stopover in Copan Ruinas, and up towards the Bay Islands from there.
We’d already spent three weeks in Guatemala and wanted to try and see at least some of mainland Honduras so we opted for the latter with two nights in Copan Ruinas and enough time to see the ruins. However we first had to make our way to Antigua from Atitlan. The planning was somewhat complicated by the shuttles only operating on certain days.
A brief overview of our route – and a few tips
- Monday: 4 hour shuttle to Antigua
- Monday night in Antigua
- Tuesday: 4am shuttle from Antigua to Copan Ruinas (~6-8 hours, Q450 (£46) including the shuttle from Atitlan).
- Tuesday and Wednesday night in Copan Ruinas with a day to see the ruins
- Thursday:
- 6am bus from Copan Ruinas to San Pedro Sula bus station (160 Lempiras / £5)
- Bus from SPS to La Ceiba (the bus from Copan arrives into the same bus station from where the bus to La Ceiba departs, so it’s super easy to transfer) (180L / £6)
- Taxi from the La Ceiba bus station to the ferry terminal (240L/ £8 – this was undoubtedly a rip off but we were so late we didn’t have time to negotiate)
- Ferry terminal tax (25L / £1)
- Ferry to Utila (675L / £22)
Antigua to Copan:
The shuttle is supposed to leave Antigua at 4am to avoid hitting traffic in Guatemala City. We spent an extra 15 minutes driving around picking people up and left Antigua at 4:15 – which meant we spent an unplanned two hours in traffic. The driver told us that’s the difference between leaving at 4am and 4:15am. So if you can, get out of Antigua by 4am at the latest.
Copan to San Pedro Sula
We originally booked a shuttle transfer from SPS to La Ceiba but it was delayed in traffic. It turned out the bus station in SPS is modern, safe and easy to navigate. And it’s the main departure point for buses to destinations all over Honduras. So we cancelled the heavily delayed shuttle and booked onto a regular bus departing 30 minutes after we arrived (for significantly lower cost).
San Pedro Sula to the ferry terminal
Our bus was delayed on the road to La Ceiba (a common occurence). So we arrived at the bus station around 4:15pm, knowing that the ferry left at 4:30pm and the taxi to the terminal was about 15 minutes.
The six of us grabbed our bags off the bus and hopped in two taxis. In our taxi we told the driver our destination and he sped off, hands glued to the horn as he clocked at least double the speed limit through the tight residential streets of La Ceiba. After a couple of near misses we arrived at the ferry terminal in one-piece but with only minutes to spare.
So do everything you can to take the earliest bus possible.
Utila and topside activities
The island is relatively small at only 45 square kilometres with the majority of the population based on the east side of the island. A bay on the south east of the island houses the ferry terminal – the main entry point to the island. The island also has a small airport to the north-east of the main population centre.
The island itself is stunning. Close your eyes and picture the caribbean: most of Utila looks like that. But there isn’t a whole lot to do other than scuba dive and relax. We rented a buggy to drive around the island one afternoon, which was fun. Otherwise we were diving or chilling out.
Where to stay and what to eat
Our dive centre offered discounted accomodation with the Mango Inn Resort. At the time of our trip (February 2023), dorm accommodation was free (if you also booked diving) or you could pay US$42 a night to upgrade to a private room.
The private rooms were clean, air conditioned and comfortable. The hotel is a little further out of the main part of the ‘town’ but still only a 10-15 minute walk to the dive centre.
What to eat is going to be short: but you have to try baleadas. They’re so cheap and actually pretty tasty. Though after a week of eating them we were happy to leave them behind.
The dive shop: Utila Dive Center
We chose to dive with Utila Dive Center (UDC) – as in the run up to arriving on Utila, we had many recommendations for them from friends and other travellers we met along the way.
On the whole they’re a good diving shop. The rental gear is generally good quality. The shop and dive center has an onsite cafe and bar and it’s a good spot to hang out after a couple of dives. And the boats are large and spacious (though they’re some of the worst boats I’ve been on for exposure to thick diesel fumes).
The only downside to UDC is they’re very much geared towards training new and inexperienced divers. That’s not a bad thing if you’re looking for a great dive center to learn to dive, but if you’re heading to Utila for fun dives, they might not be the right center for you. The other downside of this is it’s very cliquey – and if you’re not on one of their courses you can feel a little like an outsider at times.
The diving
We did 11 dives over the course of one week. The diving was very easy and I can see why it attracts so many beginners. But if I’m completely honest, I wasn’t blown away by what I saw. There were some good dives with lots of healthy coral but it didn’t really compare to Cozumel, Belize or Costa Rica. Though those spots are not nearly as affordable.
Generally on most dives we saw some good patches of coral reef (though there was also a lot of damaged coral) and schools of various fish. We spotted a couple of turtles over the course of the week, and swam with two schools of dolphins on the surface interval (UDC allow you to jump in with your snorkel gear, though you do have to pay an additonal fee to the captain).
Most of the diving is shallow (<20m) which is another reason it’s great for beginners. We did make one deeper dive on the Halliburton, a 30m ship sunk as an artificial reef in 1998. The deck is at 20m depth and the deepest point is a little under 30m; so still well within recreational limits. I’ve been lucky enough to dive on some incredible shipwrecks, and it’s not quite at the same level, but it did make a nice change to the week of reef diving.
So overall, Utila is a great place to dive if you’re in the region or on a tight budget. If I get a chance to come back to the region, I’d love to dive Roatan and see how it compares. But if you have limited time (and the luxury of a higher budget), I’d go to Mexico or Belize.
Summary Stats
- Dates: 17-24th Feb 2023
- Dive Log: #73-83
- Max depth: 28.5m (though this was on a wreck and is an outlier. Excluding the wreck max depth was 21.9m)
- Max water temp: 29C / 84F
- Min water temp: 26C / 79F
- Exposure protection: 3mm long wetsuit, 3mm booties (helps protect feet against blisters from slip on fins)
- Dive Shop: Utila Dive Center
- Price per dive: US$36.50 / dive (including reef tax)
| Dive # | Date | Dive Site | Duration (mins) | Max Depth (m) | Avg Depth (m) | Temp High (C) | Temp Low (C) |
| 73 | 17/02/23 | Sting Ray Point | 47 | 18.4 | 10.5 | 29 | 26 |
| 74 | 17/02/23 | Airport Caves | 47 | 17.6 | 12.2 | 29 | 26 |
| 75 | 18/02/23 | Spotted Bay | 51 | 19.3 | 13.1 | 27 | 26 |
| 76 | 18/02/23 | Silver Gardens | 46 | 21.9 | 12.7 | 28 | 26 |
| 77 | 20/02/23 | The Maze | 49 | 18.9 | 10.2 | 27 | 26 |
| 78 | 20/02/23 | Big Rock | 46 | 18.3 | 11.6 | 27 | 26 |
| 79 | 21/02/23 | Halliburton Wreck | 34 | 28.5 | 18.4 | 27 | 26 |
| 80 | 21/02/23 | Lighthouse Reef | 51 | 17.9 | 11.2 | 27 | 26 |
| 81 | 22/02/23 | Black Coral Wall | 43 | 19.7 | 12.8 | 28 | 26 |
| 82 | 24/02/23 | CJ’s Drop Off | 50 | 20.7 | 11.2 | 29 | 26 |
| 83 | 24/02/23 | Moon Hole | 45 | 14.7 | 8.5 | 29 | 26 |