Útila, Honduras.

This was a destination that was never in our plans since we planned our whole trip because of the cost involved. People told us that we only went to Útila to dive and therefore we didn’t plan to spend US$300 on a diving course, we would rather spend that money on other destinations. But as we got closer and closer to Honduras our ears got filled with the experiences people were having in Útila and we just couldn’t help ourselves. We decided to change our route and start a new trip to the Honduran Caribbean, a destination we had high expectations of and it was no wonder; I had never dived before in my life.

I had always wanted to know what it would be like to dive sometime in my life and at that moment we were making that decision a bit quickly but very sure of what we were going to do.

We decided to leave from Copan Ruinas in Honduras to San Pedro Sula, one of the most dangerous cities in Honduras and the world, but we never left the terminal. Many people warned us how dangerous that city could be and we decided it was better to stay in the terminal, wait for our next bus and leave again. So we took the next bus to La Ceiba, another city we had not been told very well about but everything worked perfectly. We waited a couple of minutes for our ferry and then headed for the hour-long trip to the long-awaited (for the last couple of days) island of Utila.

There is another island in the Honduran Caribbean called Roatan, this island is a little further away and generally a little more expensive, although people who had been there told us it was beautiful.

Arriving on this island was a bit of a shock. You arrive a bit dizzy after being on the ferry for an hour and out of the harbour you are met with a lot of people SHOUTING at you to offer you to stay in their hostels and to do the diving course with them as well. We decided to do the diving course with “Alton’s”, a very good company that offered 4 practice dives and two free dives and in addition to this, they also offered free accommodation during the course and provided free kayaks. All of this added up to the conclusion that we should do the course with Alton. Most places charge the same US$300, so don’t worry about finding a better price.

On this island you can also find rumba every day if that’s what you want, there is a lot of variety of bars and clubs such as “Skidrow” (one of the most famous on the island), “Tranquila bar” (next to Parrots), “Rehab” (has a beach next to it and there is also a lot of partying), “Treetanic” (a lot of people start the party in this place). These are the places that people were talking about the most and where the party was going on.

The diving was magnificent. This is one of those experiences that fill you up mentally and physically, or rather, in every aspect you can imagine. To be in the water and to know that you can find another world that lives under the earth and that just like our world there is also another parallel life, much more beautiful, living in a more peaceful way than us. To be listening to just the sound of your breathing mixed with the sound of the oxygen produced by the supply and to see the way all those animals move is indescribable. After doing our last two free dives it was time to get out of the water for the last time and take off our equipment until a “distant” next time. I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to get out of the water, I didn’t want to get on the boat. I wanted to be a fish for a while longer but I couldn’t. I wanted to be a fish for a while longer but I couldn’t.

This was an experience that I recommend and it’s one of those things where you spend the money and you feel like you haven’t spent it, at least that’s how it was for me.