La Ceiba

A quick visit on the way to Utila, La Ceiba is a big city that doesn’t offer much in the way of tourism. It’s dirty, busy, loud, and probably a little dangerous.

However, a quick tour outside of the city can bring you away from the cement and into beautiful verdant hills, alive with wildlife. Kyle, Eliza, and I took a tour in the morning, picking up snacks on the way, with our guide Joel.

Once in the park we traversed a river, holding our gear above our heads, and began the hike up through the bush. We were in “pursuit” of two waterfalls, one far larger than the other. The first we got to we enjoyed but we would be returning later, it was on the way to the big one. After more climbing, some more like actual climbing than hiking, using roots and vines as support, we reached the huge waterfall that towered over us and offered a nice mist from the splash of the cascade.

We ate our lunch and took some photos nearby before heading back down to the first smaller waterfall. THis one, however, had a small pool at the bottom that was deep enough to jump into and play in — even though it was cold. Kyle and I enjoyed crawling behind the waterfall, in a little air pocket/cave that let us breath while feeling the waterfall rush over us.

After about an hour, we retraced ourselves and came back to the van and into the city. We got dinner in the street, which wasn’t bad, but the ambience of a restaurant in a median of the street isn’t that great. THe next morning we’d head out to live the island lifestyle.

Utila

There’s not much in Utila. The island is decent sized but the only town takes up maybe a mile of space on the coast. It’s definitely a diving island, which is of course, why I’m here. The whole infrastructure is set up to accommodate travelers but it hasn’t gotten out of hand. One source online (unreliable) says it’s the cheapest place to dive in the world. I actually don’t doubt it though, even with my limited knowledge. Diving is known to be an expensive sport; I’m getting accommodation, my open water certification, and two extra dives for $350 USD -- honestly not bad.  

There are restaurants and bars, dive shops, and little stores selling snacks. That sums up the majority of the main stretch that enters the town and ends in a dead end. There is one public beach for swimming which is pretty nice but can get crowded or have its vibe blasted by a restaurant owner trying to play music for the whole island.

To better explore, one of the days (the first Sunday), Eliza, Kyle and I got a golf cart to drive around. We went through forested farms and back roads, where the ground is rocky and the potholes were intimidating. As the driver, I had the pleasure of weaving around trying to make the ride smooth but more importantly, not pop a tire or overturn us. I succeeded. We reached a few beaches, empty, but rocky and not very swimmable. The drive was the best part. Then we reached the beach that sits at the entrance of the city. Despite driving for a few hours, we had gone in a mini circle. This beach was pretty clean and quiet. The water is shallow and blue but there isn’t much to see. We relaxed there before heading back for one last drive around in the cart.

 I’ve noticed, I’m not one to want to just sit on the beach and do nothing. Sure, I’m happy to read in a hammock and rinse off every once and a while. But without waves, or more active activities, it feels like time is being underutilized. Maybe that’s why I call my travels trips, rather than vacations. Relaxing is something you can do anywhere. Sure it’s nice to get away from bad weather and your job, but if you can enjoy those things at home, you don’t need a respite from life, you need additional excitement.

My Diving Experience:

Day 1: Safety videos, no comments.

Day 2: First day in the water. We started in a small, contained area, not much deeper than a shallow pool. Breathing underwater is pretty tough; maybe it’s the mental understanding of what you’re doing or it’s the physical pressure you feel. Either way, it was super cool but just different from how I’d imagined it (more similar to snorkeling). I think it’s the fact that it’s clean gasses vs. a mixture of normal air and the pressure beneath the surface that changes things. We worked on basic skills; taking off your mask and putting it back on, going down and up, hand signals, etc.. Then after a little, we moved over to a slightly deeper area to practice a few more and link the other skills together. That was the morning. In the afternoon, we did some more, resetting up our gear, giant leaping in, and doing more difficult challenges: 1 min breathing w/o a mask, switching from snorkel to regulator, going up and going down with proper technique, and some more as well.

I’m mildly embarrassed to say that I didn’t make it past here in up-to-date descriptions of my days, however, I was fully immersed in the SCUBA world. Every day was several hours and filled with dives. Following the first certification, I also took an additional 5 dives to secure my Advanced Open Water certification.

On the whole, it was a great experience. An activity I had never cared to try became something I plan to continue doing through my lifetime travels. It’s amazing to see the underwater world that is unknown to much of the world. Also completely recommend Utila Dive Center — I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.