In the Heart of the Caribbean

Did you know there are five different types of malaria that can be found on one island alone in Honduras?   And that antimalarial medicine should be taken two weeks before arriving at a malaria infected area?  Joee and I had either missed or forgotten these facts until we were well on our way to the Bay Islands in Honduras.  

Our initial impression of the country was unpromising to say the least.  We checked into our Hostel in San Pedro Sula late and there weren’t many dinner options.  We walked to a cafeteria-style restaurant and ordered a random chicken dish off the menu.  Apparently there are multiple words for “fried” in Honduras because that’s what came out, fried chicken.  The look on Joee’s face was priceless.  Fried chicken was the last thing he wanted.  I told him to, “Wipe that damn look of your face.”  We laughed, continuing laughing over what was one of the most disgusting meals we’ve eaten, and went back to the hostel hungry.

The next morning we boarded the boat to Utila, one of the smaller islands in the Bay Islands.  Other travelers told us only to go if we planned on diving.  Neither one of us had been scuba diving before, and I had a rocky relationship with the ocean, but we decided to go for it.  And I have to say I’m happy we did.  The week we spent at the Utila Dive Center (UDC) was by far the highlight of the journey.  

Sunset of the Trip

As we stepped off the ferry from La Ceiba a guy in a mohawk and bright pink classes handed us a flyer for UDC.  He seemed cool, as did the guy on the scooter next to him with the islands shaved into his chest hair, so we decided to check it out.  Utila is one of the cheapest places in the world to get PADI certified.  Our $300 a piece covered 4 nights at the Mango Inn with breakfast, classroom sessions, two closed dives, four open dives, two fun dives once we were certified, and access to kayaks and snorkeling gear during our down time.  

The course started Monday afternoon so Joee and I decided to kayak out to a nearby lighthouse for snorkeling that morning.  After we (mostly Joee) paddled out to sea, we realized we had forgotten the rope to tie the kayak to the buoy.  After some ingenuity we managed to transform the ribbon on my dress into a makeshift rope.  The snorkeling was easy and water crystal clear.  No coral reefs, but lots of small fish offset by huge starfish.  I sincerely doubted Joee’s kayaking abilities on the way out, but turns out that’s only because I was in the back of the boat.  We switched seats for the trip back and I took care of tanning in the front while he handled the rowing in the back.

We spent Monday and Tuesday in the classroom watching scratched PADI DVD’s full of bad acting and theatrical music.  Tuesday afternoon was our first time in the water.  It was shallow, only five feet, but I still panicked.   I was under for maybe 90 seconds before I stood back up.  My weights weren’t keeping me down, I was flailing my arms to stay under, trying not to hyperventilate, and it was just all too much.  Our instructor Maddy came over, put some weights in the pockets of my vest, and I tried again.  

At first I hated it.  I didn’t trust my equipment, my eyes stung from salt water and I couldn’t rub them, the air from the tank was too dry and I wanted out.  I’m happy I didn’t though.  Our other instructor Fernando led us in a symphony of breathing, conducting our breath in a slow, steady rhythm.  Wednesday morning we finished up our book work and headed back out for our second confined dive after lunch.  I was nervous and afraid I would panic again, but went for it anyways.  Luckily the second time was easier.  All of the ailments that bothered me on the first dive became tolerable and then completely went away.  As we worked through our underwater exercises I got more comfortable and started to enjoy being underwater.

By Thursday morning I was excited for our first open water dive.  The Bay Islands run along the second largest reef in the world so the diving is spectacular.  Underwater we saw hundreds of fish (including barracuda which was often on the menu for dinner), eels, sting rays, jelly fish… The coral reef dropped off quickly into the big blue where other members of our diving group saw eagle rays, but we were too slow to get there.  

Joee and I Diving with the Brits

The sights at the surface of the water weren’t bad either.  As we got out of the water after our second open water dive the instructors started rushing us on the boat, telling us to hurry up.  Whale sharks had been spotted on the other side of the island.  As we raced around the island we got our snorkeling gear ready, and sat ready to slide off the back of the boat at a moment’s notice.  Upon Maddy’s orders we all piled out of the boat, careful not to splash and scare away the whale shark.  I slid off the back as quickly and carefully as I could, and opened my eyes to see a 45 foot behemoth of a whale shark only yards in front of me.  It stuck around for a couple of minutes before swimming away into the big blue, but it was still pretty spectacular.  

Later that afternoon Joee and I rented bicycles and took snorkeling gear down to the southern tip of the island.  We stopped at a bar with a sign advertising the best snorkeling on the island.  We promised to buy a beer on the way back and headed out for what was in fact the most amazing snorkeling I’ve ever done.  It competed with the views we'd seen diving that morning.  Slowly but surely I was falling in love with not only the island but being in the water.  Friday and Saturday boasted similar diving experiences as we dived through a shipwreck, and swam with a pod of dolphins.  The entire week was straight out of the Discovery Channel.

Dolphin Swimming with the Boat

When we weren’t exploring the local aquatic world, we were dining on its bounty.  The seafood was fresh, abundant and most importantly cheap.  When we first arrived Maddy told us one of the local fishermen had caught, or rather wrestled in, a 300 lb marlin which we ate for the rest of the week.  My favorite spot was RJ’s where a full fish or steak dinner ran $5 or you could upgrade to lobster for an extra $3.  Other than the stifling heat and ridiculous bugs, I loved Utila.  I have every intention of going back and anyone who has any interest in diving should put it very high on their list.