SCUBA Diving in Utila

I can't even to begin descibing what SCUBA feels like. For anybody who has thought about it (or not) you really have to give it a try. It is probably one of the easiest sports to learn. You don't even have to know how to swim well. If you can breathe, and are not chicken shit then you qualify. It may be a bit expensive, but the payoff is so very rewarding.

  Being in the reef is like being in a rainforest. You try to explore and search out aminals you want to see, or see animals you don't expect to see. It's all about being one with nature and really appreciating the wildlife that inhabits the parts of the world that humans can't live in.

I have had experiences here that are so amazing that they have become highlights of my life. I have so many stories that I want to share, but it would fill up a few pages of text. But below are the top stories that I just have to get in writing.

 

 

Top Ten Coolest Things I saw while Diving
10. A big ass sea urchin with its stomach hanging out
9. a Moray Eel
8. A 5 ft Nurse Shark
7. A Sting Ray the size of me
6. The Halliburton Wreck infested with crabs.
An eerie experience, sorry no dead bodies
5. Octupus (rare because they are hard to see)

 

4. Whale Sharks (the biggest fish in the world). My first encounter with a whale shark was pretty intense. After our first dive, we spotted signs of a possible whale shark feeding off in the horizon. We get on the boat and approach the area. Everybody puts on their snorkel gear and there are about five people (including me) hanging on the back of the boat while its slowing approaching the whale shark. Suddenly one guy says he sees it. The boat stops and we all let go!! I look in the water with my mask on and I see this gigantic 25ft beast right under us. Then I see it head directly towards me, and the next thing you know, I am looking at it face to face. It gets closer as I watch it slowly swim directly under me!! We were all so estatic after that. Especially me since I said to my self that a whale shark is something that I have to see before I leave. (That, by the way, was not my only whale shark encounter. Read the next story.)
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A Manta Ray (SUPER RARE!). This was the one thing that I thought I would never see, but...

One day during another whale shark encounter we were in the water admiring another giant whale shark when someone shouts out "MANTA RAY!!". I look around and see nothing. A few minutes later, I look down again and I see a manta ray (4-5ft) swimming directly under me and away. I said to myself, "HOLY SHIT!!, a whale shark and a manta ray on the same day." The funny part of all this is that there is a picture (seen on the left) in our office that depicts that day, except there is one less manta and it was much smaller. But in any case, it was amazing. Before that day, we would look at that painting and say, "Yeah Right!!". But now we tell people who come in the office, "We saw that one day!"
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A School of Dolphins (click here for story and awesome pictures)
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A Sea Turtle: One morning a divemaster persuades me to go to work later and go kayak diving (see picture on left) with him. The boss said it was OK, so we loaded up the kayaks with our scuba gear and headed out of the lagoon and into the harbour. We arrived at our dive site, Moon Hole (named because of the circular sand patch at the bottom) and started our dive. It was an "ordinary" dive until my my friend spotted a sea turtle. I had seen one before but from far away and in murky water. I thought about swimming closer to get a better look but was afraid of scaring it off (my friend thought the same).

But I went anyways, swimming quickly about 75ft. I get close enough that I was able to touch the shell. I stayed with it and eventually it ducks into a little opening in the coral. My friend joined me as we watch it sit there. He started to pet it and a few moments later it comes out. As it came out, I gently put my hand under its chin and neck as it swam by me. I stayed close and swam behind it. I could see that it was looking behind the whole time to see if I was there. I felt his shell again just before he swam further away.

The amazing part of this experience was the fact that the turtle was not afraid of us at all. I felt that it was actually "playing" with us. Even as we stopped following it, it didn't go too far away. It was as if it was saying, "Come on, aren't you gonna play with me anymore?" This feeling of closeness made this the #1 diving experience. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that not many people actually get to go kayak diving, which is a cool enough experience alone.

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