If you’re like most divers, you love the idea of warm Caribbean water, lovely coral, and healthy marine life, and while there are many wonderful places that offer easy, lazy dives with great photo opportunities, Utila offers all that and more. Hovering above the Honduran continental shelf, and sitting on the Bonacca ridge along the Caribbean plate and a 1000 foot ocean trench, this beautiful island is uncrowded, and offers countless opportunities for exceptional technical dives. Here are just 5 of the more than 100 sites Utila has to offer.
The Maze
Located in the Turtle Harbor marine sanctuary area, The Maze begins on a shelving reef that starts in just 15 feet of water, leading to a wide canyon with sandy bottomed channels that wind their way toward a wall that starts at 45 feet and drops to a second wide shelf 200 feet below. There are moorings at 80 feet, west of which you’ll find a large cave called Willy’s Hole, which is occupied by glassy sweepers and the occasional tarpon.
With pinnacles and walls, all covered in splendid growth, the site is also home to goliath groupers, rays, flounder, and lots of brilliant tropicals. There is a narrow swimthrough at 150 feet, which extends to 180 feet, and this is an excellent place to encounter whale sharks, as are the rest of the sites on Utila’s north side. Watch for turtles returning from their own deep dives as you enjoy a slow ascent. Visibility here is excellent, sometimes reaching 100 feet.
Raggedy Caye
Raggedy Caye is an uninhabited desert island that perches atop a fringing reef wall which drops off toward the continental shelf below. An exceptionally beautiful site where you’ll find manta rays and whale sharks, especially between March and April, and August and September, it offers a splendid descent along a steeply sloped wall that ends at a ledge 150 feet below the surface. Some dive profiles allow for a descent into the abyss below. The walls are covered in magnificent deep water coral and huge sponges, and the cold water upwelling attracts countless pelagics, which are easy to spot, thanks to visibility in the 60 to 100 foot range most of the time.
Rocky Point
A beautiful reef that extends along Utila’s south side, Rocky Point begins along a shelf 30 feet below the surface. A second ledge at 100 feet, and subsequent drops to 160 feet, then 185 feet provide a wealth of magnificent underwater geology to explore. With ledges and overhangs, small caves, grottoes, and massive mounds of coral where huge groupers, tarpon, and lobsters hide, this is an excellent place to encounter soaring flights of eagle rays. During deco, you can simply enjoy a relaxing drift among pinnacles and coral heads, colorful sea fans and whip corals, brilliant gorgonians, and sponges in all shapes and sizes, all of which create a stunning backdrop for underwater photography. You’ll encounter French, Gray and Queen Angelfish, lots of little cleaner wrasse, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles, and countless jacks, spadefish, and others as you explore.
Whale Rock
Reaching above the surface, and shaped like a whale’s head, Whale Rock meets the seabed at 170 feet, although there are deeper areas to explore just a short distance away. Most divers though, prefer to enjoy a fun ascent up the whale’s head after about 20 minutes on the bottom, swimming through its eye at 150 feet, then through the “blowhole” at 130 feet. You’ll find shoals of jack and sergeant snappers, plus lots of glassy sweepers in the swimthroughs and colorful wrasse waiting to clean the rock’s larger inhabitants. The entire rocky reef is colorful, with brilliant coral and sponges where abundant macro life hides, and visibility tends to be very good, usually between 50 and 100 feet.
Pumpkin Hill Bank
Pumpkin Hill’s Inner Bank begins 100 feet beneath the surface, extending toward the abyss 1000 feet below. The site is washed by constant strong and steady currents, which attract groupers and horse eye jacks in abundance, as well as barracuda and schools of smaller fish. On the west side of the seamount, there are strong down currents, and while the dive profile calls for maximum depth at 160 feet, you can see well beyond that depth, into the mesmerizing blue beyond. Unlike most of the other technical dives on Utila, this site’s deco stops are drifts in open water, and as visibility is usually between 20 and 50 feet, you will need a good light to enjoy Pumpkin Hill to its fullest.
While these are simply a handful of Utila’s technical dive sites, they are a good sample of all that awaits. Whether you choose to enjoy the services of a liveaboard or prefer to enjoy a stay at one of Utila’s resorts, you are certain to come home with memories that last a lifetime – best of all, you’ll want to return again and again!