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.

History

Before the Europeans came, the Bay Islands were home to the Paya, now known as the Pech, and Columbus reached nearby Guanaja on his fourth voyage on 30 July 1502. Spanish colonisation began in the early 16th century, and by the early 17th century the islands' native people had been wiped out by slave raiding; Britain occupied the islands on and off between 1550 and 1700, buccaneers used them as a haven, and in the mid 19th century Britain handed them to Honduras as settlers of Caymanian roots began to arrive (Wikipedia, Utila).

Highlights

• 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.

Before you go

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.

Key facts