I've been on the island of Utila for seven days. It has been a significantly different experience than Roatan. The entire island is dependent on tourism, there is nothing to do except diving and drinking. Dive shops abound, and every convenience store you enter (and there are many) has a wall of cheap booze. It is easier by far to get hard liquor than beer. Some of the local food is excellent, the typical baliada (spelling error probably) has onions, cabbage, a few vegetables, and beef, chicken, fish, or eggs. Usual total cost, about $1.75.
Unfortunately, the weather the last few days has been utter crap. The term "tropical rainstorm" has been properly defined for me. It means that it rains without ceasing for days. I heard from a local that this is the worst weather she has experienced on the island. A claim I don't doubt. A large number of stores, roads, bars, and access ways have flooded intermittently.
Despite the crappy weather, the only day that the dive boat did not go out was this morning (Friday) due to the wind shifting. I also missed Wednesday as I got up and was on time, and when no one else showed up, I went back to bed. Turns out, everyone else was rather late, and they still went out. Ah well. The diving here is different than Roatan, there is more to see from a geographical perspective such as underwater cliffs, and sand patches with large "islands" of coral. Not nearly as many fish though. Though I have video of the one divemaster reacting nervously to a friendly Moray Eel. There was also a brief sighting of a Nurse shark which was very cool, and I'm choked that I wasn't in the right place to see the octopus. We encountered a slightly unusual situation (for me) on Thursday's dives, the air temperature was about 24 C, but the water 28-29 C, meaning it was much more comfortable to be in the water than above it. I wore a wetsuit for the first dive, but the moment I got in I realized it was unnecessary. The Aussie and the Kiwi diving with me thought I was crazy.
While the weather has been abysmal, the company has been fantastic. I met a German the second day here who despite English being his second language has proven to be an entertaining conversationalist and skilled dive partner. Then there is a British/Swiss couple who helped pass the hours with card games, stories, and comraderie.
Other differences from Roatan include the insect population. My legs look like I have some weird disease due to the concentration of sand fly bites. Due to the rain, I havn't seen much of the island except what I saw flying in. It is pretty rudimentary, one main street about a mile long. The airstrip would be right at home with a typical Edmonton street. Not the most sophisticated place, but it seems to have charmed the residents. I though, find it a bit small and am glad to be returning to Roatan.
The room
The runway, notice the pothole
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