BootsnAll Travel Community

My fiance and I will be getting married next July and going on our honeymoon from around July 22 to Aug 8. We are most likely going to go to Honduras. I've heard a lot of great things about the diving in Utila. I'm scuba certified but she isn't. Does anyone know of any dive outfitters that offer nice package deals for diving/certification? We will probably spend about a week in Utila. After that, we would like to spend some time on the mainland, going on jungle hikes and such. Pico Bonito looks like a pretty good sized park, and it seems very accessible from La Ceiba. Has anyone been there? Does it have good trails? Does anyone know if it is possible to camp there?

Almost every shop on Utila will be able to offer concurrent courses and dive packages. Two years ago, 10 dives were $200, plus $2/day for reef fees. I imagine it's gone up a little bit since then, but probably not too much. Open water courses were also $200, often with discounted or free accomodations included.

Utila Dive Center is where I dove the last time I was there. There doesn't seem to be any variation in prices between the various shops, and I haven't heard of major safety issues with any of them.

We did that trip in March of this year. I dove with Utila Water Sports and really enjoyed their attention to details. However, there are several good shops on Utila. Just make sure it is PADI certified. I stayed at Rubi's Inn on the harbor -basic but clean and friendly.

We took the ferry to La Ceiba and bused to the Jungle Lodge on the Congregal River where we took several tours. Again very basic but we loved it. The Omega Tours Jungle lodge is in the same area. Another tour I would highly recommend is the Cuero y Salado. You can arrange that through any of the tour operators.

last year all the dive shops (in utila) got together and decided they would all charge the same price...so shopping around for the better deal is pointless...better to get into the water...
if you want a 'fancier' hotel in utila the Nightland Cabins are awesome!
or the Colibri Hill Resort

i got my basic and advanced at Ecomarine Gunter´s Dive Shop, i had a fantastic time and the instructors were great

All the dive shops in Utilla charge around $280 for certification classes. Problem is they typically compress what should be a five day course into four days so expect your wife to be doing homework for half of your honeymoon. Wouldn't recommend that, not so romantic. The snokling is pretty damn good too so diving isn't a "must". While your there I suggest hiring a boat to take you out to Water Caye. White sand island WITHOUT sand flies! Bring a bite since there's nothing on the island but palm trees. Decent snorkling on the far side too.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We are really excited about going to Honduras. I'll see if maybe my fiance can get scuba certified here in the states before we go to Utila.

Certification in Utila is $230. You might have your fiancee do the book work in the US and then do her diving in Utila. For a first time diver, the Caribbean sights and temperature is much better. By doing the book pertion first, she can save a lot of time.

You can easily get a diving cert in a week on Utila. You can go out with her. Sit on the boat with her. Then she can be doing her cert and you have a guy with you who's going to take you off on your own. I cannot recommend Utila highly enough. I'd like to live and die there.

I have gone to the Parrot Diving centre when I went there. Locally owned by a family that has been there since there were families there. Nice place. It has the Tranquila's Bar beside it.

Here's a pic.






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