Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - April 2022

ULTIMATE UTILA
by JoAnne and Bill Harris
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.)
APRIL 2022 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 18
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.
Clockwise from left:
A welcoming seaside spot to relax.
The authors cooling off in one of the island’s freshwater caves.
Swimming with a whale shark.
WIKIMEDIA
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.
—Continued on next page