Utila

Utila is the smallest and scruffiest of the Bay Islands and has built a global reputation on one thing: it is generally the cheapest place on earth to get scuba certified, with dive schools lined along a single main street and prices that undercut everywhere else on the Mesoamerican reef. The reef itself is good, with walls, wrecks and swim-throughs, and whale sharks pass through the deep water off the north side, most often in spring and late summer, drawn by bait balls. Beyond diving, the island is small, hot, mosquito-heavy and improbably sociable, with everyone cycling the one road.

What you actually see

• Dive certification - the courses that made the island's name.
• Whale sharks - offshore encounters, most likely in spring and late summer.
• The reef walls and wrecks - dive sites within minutes of the harbour.
• Water Cay and the small cays - day trips to sandbars off the island.

When to go

Whale shark chances are best around March to April and August to September. Diving works year round with the calmest seas in the drier months. The rainy season from October brings storms and rougher ferry crossings.

Honest expectations

The ferry from La Ceiba is notoriously rough and vomit-inducing on bad days - medication beforehand is standard advice. Sandflies on the beaches are ferocious. Very cheap dive courses vary in quality and safety culture; choose a school on reputation rather than price alone, and check instructor ratios. Whale shark encounters are unpredictable and no operator can promise them.

Nearby

Roatan and Guanaja in the Bay Islands, and La Ceiba on the mainland.