Utila *Whale Sharks* and Freediving

[MahiMan]

I went on a trip to Utila, Honduras and it was an amazing experience to say the least. What a beautiful island full of wonderful people, good food, and beautiful reefs. The main focus was to go see whale sharks and scuba around the reefs. I opted to freedive the reefs with my buddy..... the reefs had wonderful canyons, dropoffs, and formations; not to mention the vis was great.

The reef would run for about 100-200 yards from 15-35ft and dropoff to 100+ feet with a massive wall running down to the bottom. I bested my deepest dive with 108ft 1min 21sec and my buddy improved to 96ft 1 min 15sec. After the dives we would search open water for tuna boils; the captain says the whale sharks follow the tuna to feeding grounds. We got very lucky and found several whale sharks along with a school of yellowfin tuna ! He placed the boat right over the shark and we dove in...... what an amazing animal, soo massive yet incredibly graceful and smooth in every movement. The shark began to dive only seconds after we hit the water, we were very loud and many of the snorkelers approach was too aggressive. Still we managed to see a few more. Had a great time with friends and met new characters along the way, needless to say I had a blast :friday

Here are some pictures, I'm still missing quite a few that I really like.. hopefully I get them soon so I can share.

Me

My buddy and I

My buddy

Whale Shark

 

[whucash]

The first photo for me is the best!
The shark..wow! Great stuff!

 

[aquaholic21]

Thats sick! Great shots! I went to Utila a few years ago and got to swim with a beautiful 10m shark! Our camera broke though and all we had was a shitty little disposal so we had to take like 10 pics and splice em together! haha Your pictures are way more legit.

 

[MahiMan]

The first photo I like the best as well :inlove... kinda wish I had my other fins on though lol... I will have a CD soon with the high res ones, the quality is amazing on those! Being that close to such a magnificent animal was very humbling.

aquaholic21 most these shots were taken by an underwater photographer who has been doing this for many years.... I believe he was shooting with a D300 for most of those shots. These aren't the polished versions either, those are insane! Hopefully I get the CD soon :head

 

[aquaholic21]

Yea I'd love to see the polished versions if you can get them! A D300 will def get the job done! Do you remember the name of the boat/agency you went out with?

 

[MahiMan]

Yea I'd love to see the polished versions if you can get them! A D300 will def get the job done! Do you remember the name of the boat/agency you went out with?

I'm actually good friends with the owner of the shop Bill at "Grove Scuba".. we are always planning trips every other month. If you are ever down by Coconut Grove swing by! Let them know Andrew sent you, they'll know