Living in Utila, Honduras

A little over 2 weeks ago, I embarked on my latest adventure: Professional Scuba training in Utila. These first two weeks have been exhilarating and overwhelming, but now I have more time to post about the experience of living in Utila.

Getting to Utila

Plane view
The view during my flight from Belize City to Roatan

I flew Toronto to Belize City to Roatan (that leg in a small 12 seater plane), spent one night in Roatan, and ferried to Utila the next day. It was a pretty uneventful trip, despite a slight delay due to torrential rains at the Belize City airport. I even met a kind Canadian who spends his winters in Roatan whose friends were picking him up at the airport and offered to drop me at my hotel since it was on their way. Gotta like friendly travelers.

You can also travel to Utila from the mainland. Many people fly into San Pedro Sula and then take the bus to La Ceiba, a coastal city which has ferries to the Bay Islands. Sometimes you can catch a plane direct to La Ceiba and then the ferry, which would be preferable. Transport within the country is cheap, but the buses are not always fast or comfortable, as is common in Central America.

Roatan

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Diving Corn Island

We read in advance about the scuba diving in Corn Islands- big fish, uncluttered sites, nice reefs -and couldn’t wait to try it ourselves! We spent 5 days diving Corn Island, Nicaragua and this is what it was like.

Not A Great Start

It didn’t start out great – on Sunday and Monday,  the wind and waves were very strong – and even with Gravol, it was tough being on the boat. Below the surface, the waves affected visibility and moved us around a lot. But, we kept with it, and the last few days have been great!

Diving Corn Island dive sites
Dive map of Big Corn Island

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I Like This Place! Corn Islands

Brian and I made it to Corn Islands on Saturday morning, and it’s very relaxing. There are a few things to do here in Corn Islands: dive, drink beer and/or rum, eat seafood, relax in the sun and/or shade, repeat. That’s been us for the first two days of our stay here. We like Corn Islands a lot.

About Corn Islands

A country that encompasses the Pacific coast, impressive volcanoes and massive lakes, Nicaragua also has a Caribbean side. And Corn Islands are Nicaragua’s Caribbean islands, 70 miles east of the mainland coast. Nicaragua is a bargain for visitors, and the islands are a little bit more expensive. Still, they’re more affordable than other more well-known Caribbean destinations, and highly touted for scuba divers. Unlike the rest of Nicaragua, most people in the islands speak English.

There are two Islands: Big and Little Corn. We chose Big Corn to maximize Brian’s vacation time. The planes fly into Big Corn and then there’s a ferry to get to Little Corn.

Corn Island Accommodations
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