by JoAnne and Bill Harris
Last year we hauled our big liveaboard trimaran, Ultra, on the railway at Abel’s Boatyard in Rio Dulce, Guatemala, and spent 45 days making her beautiful again. Then we spent six months having fun at the amazing Nanajuana Marina. On December 21st, we experienced an easy checkout with the Servimar Agency in Livingston, Guatemala, and set sail for the beautiful island of Utila located in the Bay Islands of Honduras, about 110 nautical miles to the east. We had not been there in several years and were excited to return.
Utila is the smallest of the major Bay Islands, after Roatan and Guanaja. The population of a little over 4,000 is of African, Garifuna, English and Dutch descent. The island is 16 square miles (42 sq km) and sits on the edge of the stunning MesoAmerican Reef, second largest to the Great Barrier Reef. The main language is English, but Spanish can also be heard as well as their local island dialect. Legend says that the Welsh pirate Captain Henry Morgan’s treasure is buried on the island. The weather was fine as predicted for the first couple of hours of our passage, but it soon deteriorated and we had several squalls with strong winds and waves on the nose, and heaps of lightning that lasted for the next 20 hours. We are gun shy with lightning, since Ultra was struck in the wee hours of the morning while we were onboard in San Blas Islands, Panama, several years ago.
We arrived at Utila in early morning via the easy main harbor entrance and dropped the hook in sand. We were delighted to see our boat friends aboard Aleshanee and SeaBorne anchored nearby.
After resting up, we headed into town to do our check-in. We left our dinghy at the Bush’s Fuel & Supermarket dinghy dock and were quickly greeted by Dennie Bush and his family. They are super-friendly and always welcome cruisers to leave their dinghies at there. After a chat, we walked down the road to the government building to see Immigration and the Port Captain. We arrived to a brilliant surprise: our longtime friend, Port Captain David, whom we had not seen in six months, was there.
During the pandemic we had been locked down in French Cay, Roatan, where Port Captain David and his colleagues had been amazingly helpful and friendly to our “quaranteam”: ourselves and Paul and Sabina of S/V Chat-Eau. We caught up with him and how he and his family were doing. We also enjoyed visiting with the friendly immigration officer, Luz.
After a great visit and check-in, it was time to explore Utila once again. We remembered how charming and beautiful it was on our last visit, and we were delighted to see it still was. With friendly people, gorgeous clear waters teeming with life, several beautiful beaches and forests, no cars, the Utila Chocolate Company, caves, and more, this island has so much beauty and fun to offer. Since supply boats arrive daily with fresh produce and more, the shops are always stocked. We again had a blast exploring by foot, bicycle, golf cart, and underwater.
Underwater Fun
We always had swimming with whale sharks on our bucket list. We knew it could be done in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, but also knew that there it might be with 50 other people. We always prefer smaller groups, especially when there is nature involved so as not to overwhelm the flora and fauna.
Whale sharks aren’t whales; they are fish. These gentle giants, who feed on small shrimp, fish and plankton, can grow up to almost 40 feet (12 metres) long and live to be over a hundred years old.
JoAnne contacted Rebecca at Utila Lodge, who then put her in touch with Junior Williams to organize a whale shark adventure. Junior said the weather was perfect for the following day and he was ready for us to join him the next morning. Promptly at 10:00am on December 30th, 2021, Captain Junior of SunBliss Utila was beside Ultra in his lancha, Sea Ya Later, to pick us up. Divemaster Evans, a fellow Texan,
was there to be our in-the-water guide. While we were looking for whale sharks, we discovered why Junior looked so familiar — he had run for mayor of Utila and there were posters of him all over! We also discovered that Junior is head of the Search and Rescue Operations in the Bay Islands and for ten years he was the Utila Police Chief. On the north side of the island we began searching for the elusive whale sharks, looking for “boils” of tuna and groups of feeding birds, since there would likely be whale sharks feeding there, too. After an hour or so Junior spotted one. It was near the boat, and we were blessed to be the only ones there. The whale shark glided right up to the side of the boat and it was simply magical. We had looked forward to this moment for years.
We waited for the whale shark to pass and slipped into 2,000-plus feet of water to swim a safe distance around him as not to cause him stress. He just kept swimming and feeding and couldn’t have cared less that we were there. After a wondrous time swimming with this whale shark, we got back into the lancha to explore more. Then to our surprise, we saw another boil of tuna, several birds feeding, and soon another school bus sized whale shark was beside us. Awesome! After he passed beside the boat, the two of us again slipped into the water to swim
with him. It was gorgeous and simply stunning to watch such an enormous creature glide gracefully through the gin-clear water and dive up and down to feed on the fish surrounding us. Spectacular! (If you wish to see more, check our YouTube video at https://youtu.be/GyNmqVWRrmE.)
The scuba diving and snorkeling in general around Utila are spectacular and there are so many sites around the island to explore. The reef is full of life and makes for an excellent underwater experience. If you wish to get Open Water certified, Underwater Vision Dive Center in Utila offers a three-day course with dormitory accommodations. They also offer more advanced courses.
Cruiser Island Fun
We organized a Christmas party for cruisers at Bando Beach’s wonderful beach and pavilion — a fun event with ten other boats, complete with a cruisers’ potluck, great conversation, and volleyball. In the evening, we all went to the Circle K Street Party hosted by Dennie Bush, Sr., with several cruisers and locals. It was great to all dance together and enjoy celebrating an island-style Christmas complete with ten gigantic
booming speakers playing lively music. For New Year’s Eve, we attended the Circle K Street Party once again, and it was packed with locals and several of us cruisers.
One day, along with S/V SeaBorne, we rented a six-passenger golf cart from Ronee Golf Cart Rental and drove all over the island. We explored and swam in freshwater caves, saw lots of beautiful beaches and did some off-roading. On our way back on Cemetery Road, we got a flat tire and had to be rescued by Ronee, Jr. After repairing the tire, we were on our way to explore some more. Due to the lost time that it took
to repair the tire, Ronee, Jr. gave us an extra two hours the following day, so we had time to see the Utila Chocolate Company.
With bicycles, we got great exercise riding from one end of the island to the other. Chepa Beach, the free public beach, has restaurants, but you can also take your own picnic there and spend the day.
With a dinghy, there is lots of exploring to do back in the mangroves as well as along the coastline to visit the other cays.
We hope you visit Utila and enjoy all it has to offer. It is the ultimate, since it has something for everyone!
We also hope you take the time to visit all of the Bay Islands and enjoy what each has to offer — they are all very different. There is one of the most diverse populations of coral in the Caribbean around them. Located approximately 30 miles from the mainland, the Bay Islands consist of Roatan, Utila, Guanaja, three smaller islands, and nearly 60 tiny islets and cays. Be sure to explore the many anchorages, too. If you have any questions, we are happy to help you.
Bill and JoAnne Harris are the Seven Seas Cruising Association Cruising Hosts and the Ocean Cruising Club Port Officers for Honduras. They are in their 15th year of cruising full time aboard their homebuilt trimaran, Ultra. They help families in need in the Bay Islands through ULTRA Community Projects and SSCA Clean Wake Projects. You can contact them at bjharrisultra@gmail.com.
Services & Restaurants in Utila
Bodden Rentals and Mechanic Services: +50499829217
Bush’s Dinghy Dock: Supermarket and fuel dock: WhatsApp +50489210045
Ocean Petroleum: Fuel and Propane: WhatsApp +50498674337
Ronnee’s Golf Cart Rental: WhatsApp +50488100873
SunBliss Utila Tours: WhatsApp +50433431528
Utila Lodge: WhatsApp +5045081181
The town’s not huge. Walk around and find:
ABC Bakery – homemade breads, cookies, cakes, pies, cinnamon rolls and more
Camelia’s Bakery – fresh bread, croissants, bagels and more
Che Pancho – Argentinian grill
Captain Willis Bistro
Mango Tango Restaurant
Maria’s Café – famous for baleadas (tortillas with beans and cheese)
and Pollo Chuco (Dirty Chicken)
Mermaids Restaurant – café, pizzeria and mini-market
Neptune’s Restaurant
Pizza Nut
Rosa’s Bakery – bread, empanadas, cinnamon rolls
Trudy’s Café at Underwater Vision – karaoke night, live music, pizza night,
barbecue night, Asian food night, trivia night and more
There are also lots of amazing mini-markets and street foods available, too!
