Utila: East Harbor

Thursday, June 24, 2004

016-5.460 N
086-53.640 W

Ahoy from Utila, Honduras!

We're at East Harbor in Utila and it's a pretty interesting place. This is basically the low-budget version of the West End of Roatan. Once again this is a diver's heaven as there are lots of dive companies spread along THE street and in the resorts. Competition has pushed pricing ridiculously low. You can get certified for under $100 and get air fills for $2 compared to $5 in the West End.

The diving around here is just OK. The coral on the S and E end was severely damaged during a storm and is slowly recovering. Visibility has been OK at best and there are very few fish. Lone Star Love took a dive boat around to the N side and said that the coral is in better shape, but visibility was about the same. I have a report on the dive sites that we've visited that I'll send out later.

Everywhere you look you see the streets filled with 20-something backpackers. The food reflects this too, where quantity seems to be more important than quality. We've yet to find a restaurant that we'd rate as good. Lots of "fair" or "OK" places, but nothing really good. Last night we ate at the Jade Seahorse which made me feel like I had popped out of the rabbit's hole in Alice in Wonderland. It's a restaurant/fantasy hotel created by artist/owner Neil. There's a tree house bar which is connected to other platforms, grottos, and sitting areas via spectacularly decorated bridges, tunnels and walk ways. The black light lit bathroom deserves it's own glowing report. It definitely needs to be seen to be appreciated.

The island of Utila is about 7 miles long on a E/W axis and about 2.5 miles wide. Everyone basically lives around the harbor which is on the SE end of the island. For all intents and purposes the main town consists of a ~1.5 mile road that wraps around the harbor and has short side streets running off of it. The road is narrow but has a lot of ATVs, motor cycles and bikes zipping along it at much too high rates of speed. I never thought that I'd say it, but they need speed bumps! Unfortunately the houses along the water front are so dense that it's hard to get a view of the water.

One of the more amazing things that I've seen here is that apparently you can fill in the beach front area with coral which is mined inland and build a house on it...even if there's a house on the beach! For example, there's a beautiful church that used to be on the beach but is now behind a large house that someone built in front of it. You see this all over. I can just imagine what a beachfront homeowner (or the EPA) in the US would say if someone tried that!

Friday night is the big night in town. Everyone seems to circulate on the main road between a set of streets. If you're having dinner at somewhere with a street view, you'll see the same people walk by over and over and over. At least you'll have something to look at as conversation is very difficult due to the incredibly loud music pumping out of huge speakers in various establishments or homes. I guess that I'm getting old, but I enjoy conversation with my dinner.

The anchorage is fair with the bottom covered with sea grass or thin sand over coral. You definitely need to dive you anchor to make sure that it's set. The biggest problem is that some of the ferry drivers blow through the anchorage throwing up huge wakes. We're talking 3 feet! I got into words with one the first time that happened to us and it got a bit better after that, but at a minimum they need to take some lessons in courtesy.

When we first got here the winds were calm which allowed us to explore by dinghy the dive sites within several miles of the harbor. All of the dive sites are on the N or S side, which basically means that they're exposed to the prevailing trade winds. After a couple of days of light conditions the winds pick up to 15-20 and even 20-25 which basically pinned us in the anchorage with the dinghies. Sue & I have gotten tired of just sitting around, so we're going to head to the W end of the island where hopefully we'll find better protection and we'll be able to explore the dive sites in that area. But that's a report for another day.

-- Geoff & Sue

For the cruiser:

Getting into Utila is very easy, especially with all of the dive buoys marking the reefs! The light tower marks the northern end of the reef which protects the W end of the harbor. There are some dive buoys which further mark the reef. Keep these 100' to your port and aim for the large radio tower. There's a shallow spot in the middle with about 10' of sand and coral heads, but the above course should keep you clear of that. The northern edge of the harbor is also clear of obstacles if you stay about 100 yards out.

The ferry dock is about 100 yards to the right of the radio tower. The channel that the ferries use is basically a straight line from the light house to the ferry dock. Do NOT anchor in this unmarked channel as the ferries will run you over or set you rolling with huge wakes. The wakes are smaller the further E that you anchor. The S side of the anchorage is plagued by dive boats zipping in and out, so it's tough to find the perfect spot.

Log ID: 513