We get off the Utila Princess Ferry from La Ceiba in Utila, and we are immediately hounded and overwhelmed by dive shops, and the like. We pushed them all off, and found a small shaded spot we could discuss what we wanted to do. I had seen that Alton's dive shop got pretty good reviews from people on the lonely planet website, and we decided to check it out. They gave us a ride to the shop and offered a free nights stay just to give us time to figure out what shop we wanted to use. So the girl from Australia gave us a tour. She was really nice, and showed us a room, and we were less than impressed. The beds were simple wooden, with a 2 inch foam pad.

Getting a Golf Cart to Get Around

We dropped off our stuff, and decided to go into town to see what else there was. I just didn't make sense to stay there, and suffer on the beds if we didn't have too. After going to another shop which was better, we stopped off and rented a golf cart. The island has very few cars. Mostly motorcycles, golf carts, and ATVs run the streets. We do see the occasional Tuk Tuk.

Getting a Golf Cart to Get Around

We dropped off our stuff, and decided to go into town to see what else there was. I just didn't make sense to stay there, and suffer on the beds if we didn't have too. After going to another shop which was better, we stopped off and rented a golf cart. The island has very few cars. Mostly motorcycles, golf carts, and ATVs run the streets. We do see the occasional Tuk Tuk.

Our New Apartment

We couldn't believe our eyes! An apartment! This place had a full kitchen, couch, TV, and double beds, with balcony and private bath. Most shops couldn't offer 2 of these things together. So we talked priced to take the Open Water PADI Course, and Advanced, and it came out to around 500 dollars each, with housing included and all fees etc. 7 nights 8 days. BEAT THAT!!!! We took it, and are glad we did! This place is great! We had to return the golf cart at 5:30pm so we ran some errands.  Shelly bought a bathing suit for 20 dollars, and we explored the island a little more. We stopped off and swam in 80 degree water at a small beach.  We also got groceries and can cook in our apartment which will save us money too.

BBQ at Evelyn's

We sat out on the dock and watched a sunset then decided to shower and get something to eat. We will start our tomorrow morning and all in all, this place is unbelievably cheap, gorgeous, and friendly.  We ate at a place called Evelyn's BBQ, sat around talking to 3 men who live down here, from Chicago. And I had the Lamb done Jerk Jamaican style, and Shelly got the whole red snapper. !!! GREAT MEAL! With drinks, 33 dollars for the both of us. And we were stuffed!

Beginning Another Adventure

We are excited to start another adventure tomorrow and cannot believe how naturally beautiful everything is. The water is unbelievably clear here. We can see easily 20 feet below the surface, maybe further from the dock. Sea life is abundant. And the people seem great. Interesting thing is that this island is a native English island. So everyone speaks English! Shelly is happy about that. No more being lost in conversations and no more translating! It couldn't get any better.