Karen and I, joined by good friends Mary and Bernie took a short break from Roatan, and travelled to Utila for a three night stay. Travelling to Utila from Roatan or mainland Honduras has been made simple when in 2015 the Utila Dream ferry started running regular services between La Cieba, Utila and Roatan. The ferry runs between Roatan and Utila daily, leaving Roatan at 2:00 PM and departing Utila at 10:15 AM, for a very reasonable L1,250.00 ($50 US)

The ferry ride over was calm, and fast, getting to the dock in Utila in about 50 minutes. This trip was a first in two ways, first to Utila and the first time I have booked through Airbnb, I booked three nights at L.A. Garden view, Jakob was at the ferry dock waiting for us with an island Tuk Tuk ferry to take us to our rooms. The drive through the very narrow, often steep streets (Paths) was an adventure in itself. We were all amazed when the Tuk Tuk made it to the top of the hill. We were very happy with L.A. Gardens, a fantastic place to stay.

In the planning process when thinking of where to visit, I often research using you tube, I had come across this interesting video, that definitely piqued my curiosity enough to add Utila to our bucket list. I had planned on going diving while in Utila, however since we were only on the island for two full days, I chose to spend more of my time in the company of my loving wife….(yes she was looking over my shoulder while I was typing)

With only two days, we were limited in how much we could see, next visit will have to be much longer. Our first spot was a visit to Bando Beach. This Beach is a private beach, but it was about $2 a person to have access to countless chairs and loungers and fairly priced beer. We spend most of the day relaxing and checking out the nearby reef.

Many comments I have read claim that Bando beach offers nothing special over the other free beaches available, I disagree, it offers one thing by being private….for $2 you don’t get crowds and do get a very peaceful experience.

We saw hundreds of iguana while at Bando beach, only one stayed still enough to be photograph. We had wanted to visit a local iguana station, but ran out of time. I guess we really will have to return.

The largest and only town on Utila has an amazingly unique and original name.”Utila town”, it is a very colourful town, with just one main street (yes I cant make this up…named “main street”). The primary modes of transportation on the island are bicycles, scooters, motorbikes and the ubiquitous Tuk Tuk, I doubt if there are more than a dozen cars anywhere on the island. This all makes for a surreal experience with entire families including young infants all piled onto a single scooter without helmets. We even saw a Harley Davidson (slight overkill for an island with a speed limit of 20 Km/hr)

Camilla’s bakery (it turns into the Pizza nut later in the day) was our breakfast spot each morning, with incredible bagels and fresh croissants, there is a lot of French savoire faire going on, and the service is top notch. Camilla is from Denmark, but has been here on Utila for the last 20 years, if you run into her at Skid Row bar…do not challenge her to a game of pool, unless you are prepared to loose..

Wandering around Utila, it didn’t take us long to realize what was missing, the rush of thousands of cruise ship tourists, there are no cruise ships docking on Utila, which makes for a much slower pace and more pleasant experience. As retirees we were outnumbered by the younger thrill seeking tourists, but were very happy at the island pace.

I had seen on Lonely Planet and other sites, that one of the best bars in the South America was a spot called Treetanic. So we had to check it out. We must have shown up on an off day, as nothing seemed to be open, and the owner/artist was more interested in our handing over an entrance fee (granted it was only a few dollars) than showing any kind of hospitality. I was looking forward to experiencing an amazing location…will have to try it out again in the future…hopefully when they are open.

Utila is not short on two things…bars and restaurants are found throughout the island. Skid row was a unique experience, very spartan in furnishings (brought back memories of old Army mess tents) but serving great food (pizza was very good) and a lot of tequila.

Our second day was hard to plan, considering how many things I was interested in checking out. Kayaking the channel to Rock harbour, the iguana research station, diving with Whale sharks, visit Pumpkin hill beach. We decided to visit a few more beaches, and leave the rest for our next visit, “always leave a little salt on the bread” (a quote for my Australian readers)

Being a Sunday, and a spectacular Sunday, Chepes beach was quite crowded with what looked like half the town out enjoying the beach. Karen and I kept walking down the road passing the “Blue Bayou bar and grill” on our way to Neptunes bar and grill, a short free ten minute boat ride away.

We enjoyed the swimming, and free use of beach loungers, that before long it was time for the return trip (the free boat ferry operates hourly, but last return is early evening) Neptunes is very worth the effort to visit, the beach is spectacular, the food good, but the most fun was diving off the end of the dock into the warm clear water.

Discovered in the last minutes of our stay was the ReThink coffee shop nearby the Ferry terminal. They serve some of the best coffee I have ever tasted. I am glad we found this spot.

Our short trip to Utila ended far too soon, we were soon back on the Utila dream heading back to Roatan. The return trip was not nearly as smooth, I think had the trip lasted much longer we all would have become a few pounds lighter and responsible for staining the sides of this pristine ferry. The first thing we saw as we returned was a huge cruise ship berthed at Coxen hole…yes we were back in Roatan. Karen and I are already plotting our return.

until our next adventure…..