Hi all 
Currently on a IDC MSDT internship in Utila, Honduras. Have had a bit of time on my hands so have been taking to the ocean surrounding this small but charming island of Utila.
The sea here is warm, with good visibility, plenty of eagle rays & marine life to keep the apnea enthusiast more than happy.
I freedive solo so don't tend to push my depth beyond 12-14 metres. I start seeing things float around even on the ascent from this depth, and prefer that I wake to dive another day. So, being a prolific chain smoker and rarely breaching 7m I am by no means an expert. More formal training is probably my next step. In fact I do make a point of tethering myself to my float that limits my depth to 7m, and really just snorkel around at this depth.
But, I have had some great free diving in my time spent here so far. With no boat and the island being so small there are really only a few locations to effectively free dive from shore. There is something quite blissful about diving without students and crowds.
Private Beach entry, lighthouse - buoyed dive sites.
There is a beach to the East of the main tourist drag. Nicely set up with a bar where you can leave your excess gear. It's a $3 charge to be on this beach but it is blissfully quiet.
It is not an ideal entry point since this part of the bay is very very shallow to the point of walking over dead coral - not recommended.
UDC entry, light house - buoyed dive sites.
Someone stated an interest in freediving so agreed to meet them at the dive centre dock to freedive the dive sites around the small lighthouse, someone with CPR training would of allowed me to push my depth a little further, but it was a no show.
It is a long surface swim from this entry point, but the bay attracts barracuda, tarpin, rays, baitfish and what I thought was a lemon shark but could have been a nurse shark, although I have read nurse sharks wouldn't tend to approach but lemons do, looked down to see a flick of a black tail on the punishing swim back.
It is really very shallow on the tip of the bay, so would think its best to sweep round the whole tip to the lighthouse, I guess to avoid abrasion and potential stings from rays skulking around. The sandy bottom on the swim out gradually descends from 3m to 7m then back up to 3m to some nice coral formations (marked by two buoys) before you sweep left to the drop off.
The drop off really is there if you swim out far enough, and there is some really nice corals and reef life. With 10 - 13m depth close to the reef descending deeper on a sandy bottom; but this was really out of limits for my adventures at the moment.
The Coral is relatively healthy here, the dive boats moor up on buoys on a deeper site straight ahead from the drop off, so the bubble blowers sent an eagle ray my way
Public Beach (West from tourist drag)
The surface swim is not too bad, and there is a shallowish drop off that yeilded a pair of eagle rays. There are nice rustic beach bars to retreat to and deposit keys & valuables for time spent out at sea.
Coral View Jetty
On Wensday I will be joining Operation Wallacea for their Project in Cayos Cochinos The Coral View is their hideout, so had to take a quick gander of their house reef which does join up with Blue Bayou right at the far end. It is quite nice diving with 10-12m depth close to the reef.
Blue Bayou Jetty
Have to say that so far, this has got to be my favourite entry point. There is a Jetty, a roughly constructed seating area and a bar type area that you pay 30 lempiras at and can stash gear, for the free diver, it's worth every lemp. This is really the end of this part of the island unless you go by boat to the cay across the way, or if your like me, you can swim it.
The jetty takes you out about 25 metres to a deep enough entry point that is full of baitfish and an increasingly confident barracuda.
Its safe to say that the swim over to the other cay has been rarely dived or snorkelled, the coral is pristine (subjective statement) and there is loads of marine life, an eagle ray charged at me on one occasion, and a big stingray was huffing about in one of the sandy patches.
Since it was quite choppy today I stuck around the buoy dead ahead from the jetty, you can make the out without kicking coral if you follow the topography. There are plenty o' fish to gawk at, not sure if it was my ears but I swear I could hear dolphins today. I have seen them off the dive boat but never managed to be in water with them, I hung around hoping they would come from the blue but no such luck.
North Side
This side of the island is not nearly so sheltered so I havn't managed to get out there. This side of the island is accessible from the road to the airport, you then follow a dirt track road that takes you to a nice beach walk, despite the significant amount of plastic.
I think this is the bit where you would find whale sharks, perhaps sharks and deeper water. There are powerful currents so i've heard. I have been a couple of times to try and get in but with 1.5 metre waves smashing onto volcanic rock I feared it wouldn't be dissimilar to throwing myself into a meat grinder, and of course the currents bear concern as well, but with my cressi GARA professionals and hod carrying quads I'm sure I could propel myself back to rock should I need to.
To conclude...
Free diving here is great, it's hard to get on boats since liability and all the red tape, and freediving isn't all that common.
Jah, Peace, Namaste
Currently on a IDC MSDT internship in Utila, Honduras. Have had a bit of time on my hands so have been taking to the ocean surrounding this small but charming island of Utila.
The sea here is warm, with good visibility, plenty of eagle rays & marine life to keep the apnea enthusiast more than happy.
I freedive solo so don't tend to push my depth beyond 12-14 metres. I start seeing things float around even on the ascent from this depth, and prefer that I wake to dive another day. So, being a prolific chain smoker and rarely breaching 7m I am by no means an expert. More formal training is probably my next step. In fact I do make a point of tethering myself to my float that limits my depth to 7m, and really just snorkel around at this depth.
But, I have had some great free diving in my time spent here so far. With no boat and the island being so small there are really only a few locations to effectively free dive from shore. There is something quite blissful about diving without students and crowds.
Private Beach entry, lighthouse - buoyed dive sites.
There is a beach to the East of the main tourist drag. Nicely set up with a bar where you can leave your excess gear. It's a $3 charge to be on this beach but it is blissfully quiet.
It is not an ideal entry point since this part of the bay is very very shallow to the point of walking over dead coral - not recommended.
UDC entry, light house - buoyed dive sites.
Someone stated an interest in freediving so agreed to meet them at the dive centre dock to freedive the dive sites around the small lighthouse, someone with CPR training would of allowed me to push my depth a little further, but it was a no show.
It is a long surface swim from this entry point, but the bay attracts barracuda, tarpin, rays, baitfish and what I thought was a lemon shark but could have been a nurse shark, although I have read nurse sharks wouldn't tend to approach but lemons do, looked down to see a flick of a black tail on the punishing swim back.
It is really very shallow on the tip of the bay, so would think its best to sweep round the whole tip to the lighthouse, I guess to avoid abrasion and potential stings from rays skulking around. The sandy bottom on the swim out gradually descends from 3m to 7m then back up to 3m to some nice coral formations (marked by two buoys) before you sweep left to the drop off.
The drop off really is there if you swim out far enough, and there is some really nice corals and reef life. With 10 - 13m depth close to the reef descending deeper on a sandy bottom; but this was really out of limits for my adventures at the moment.
The Coral is relatively healthy here, the dive boats moor up on buoys on a deeper site straight ahead from the drop off, so the bubble blowers sent an eagle ray my way
Public Beach (West from tourist drag)
The surface swim is not too bad, and there is a shallowish drop off that yeilded a pair of eagle rays. There are nice rustic beach bars to retreat to and deposit keys & valuables for time spent out at sea.
Coral View Jetty
On Wensday I will be joining Operation Wallacea for their Project in Cayos Cochinos
The Coral View is their hideout, so had to take a quick gander of their house reef which does join up with Blue Bayou right at the far end. It is quite nice diving with 10-12m depth close to the reef.Blue Bayou Jetty
Have to say that so far, this has got to be my favourite entry point. There is a Jetty, a roughly constructed seating area and a bar type area that you pay 30 lempiras at and can stash gear, for the free diver, it's worth every lemp. This is really the end of this part of the island unless you go by boat to the cay across the way, or if your like me, you can swim it.
The jetty takes you out about 25 metres to a deep enough entry point that is full of baitfish and an increasingly confident barracuda.
Its safe to say that the swim over to the other cay has been rarely dived or snorkelled, the coral is pristine (subjective statement) and there is loads of marine life, an eagle ray charged at me on one occasion, and a big stingray was huffing about in one of the sandy patches.
Since it was quite choppy today I stuck around the buoy dead ahead from the jetty, you can make the out without kicking coral if you follow the topography. There are plenty o' fish to gawk at, not sure if it was my ears but I swear I could hear dolphins today. I have seen them off the dive boat but never managed to be in water with them, I hung around hoping they would come from the blue but no such luck.
North Side
This side of the island is not nearly so sheltered so I havn't managed to get out there. This side of the island is accessible from the road to the airport, you then follow a dirt track road that takes you to a nice beach walk, despite the significant amount of plastic.
I think this is the bit where you would find whale sharks, perhaps sharks and deeper water. There are powerful currents so i've heard. I have been a couple of times to try and get in but with 1.5 metre waves smashing onto volcanic rock I feared it wouldn't be dissimilar to throwing myself into a meat grinder, and of course the currents bear concern as well, but with my cressi GARA professionals and hod carrying quads I'm sure I could propel myself back to rock should I need to.
To conclude...
Free diving here is great, it's hard to get on boats since liability and all the red tape, and freediving isn't all that common.
Jah, Peace, Namaste