I spent another awesome weekend in Utila to finish off my scuba open water certification. This time I took the Friday evening ferry and returned on Sunday afternoon. Throughout the week, I made it known that I was planning the trip to Utila and I had 2 people request to join me. First, was Humphry, a student at the spanish school from England. Second, was Beth an older women who is here for 2 weeks volunteering at the Hogar (an orphanage near La Ceiba) and living with Humphry.
As we approached the ferry ticket window at the La Ceiba port (muelle), we noticed that it was closed. This was the beginning of a long frustrating journey. We waited in line with many other patient people as 4:00 (scheduled departure time) came and went. Eventually the window opened and tickets were sold. The only hitch being that they needed exact change because they didn’t have any cash to dispense change. That caused a lot of rustling and money shuffling, but eventually everyone worked it out. Next, we sat on the ferry dock for roughly an hour and a half waiting for the ferry, during which time it began to rain and when I say rain, I mean torrential down pour. As the rain slowed down everyone began cheering as the ferry came into sight. At this point, I wasn’t feeling very good about getting on the ferry in that weather, but my desire to get on the island trumped my fear. As we boarded the ferry, Humphry decided it was a good time to tell us that he gets ill on boats: not good in that weather.
As the boat exited the dock and set out into the open sea, it took a big wave head on and I would have sworn we were on a rollercoaster. The bow of the boat went straight (maybe a small exaggeration) in the air and then straight down. My stomach dropped, which usually I love, but in this case I felt like my life was in serious danger. Everyone on the boat screamed just as if we were at Cedar Point. The rest of the hour long tripped pretty much followed that pattern. Humphry had to lay down a quarter of the way through, but he was a champ and didn’t get sick. Unfortunately, there were many other people that were not so lucky. I would say there were about 6 people within my line of sight throwing up in bags the entire trip. I attempted to talk to the Beth throughout the trip, but the conversation took a bad turn when I decided to reveal the source of my fear being that I knew someone who died in a ferry boat accident. I couldn’t help but jump and grab the nearest person or object every time the boat was tossed. I began to think that maybe the rum and sprite that we had on the dock prior to leaving wasn’t such a great idea. Finally, the boat made it to the dock guided by a hand held spot light (Did I mention that the boat had no lights?). Typically, I love boats and the ocean, but this time I have never been so happy about getting off of one. I did not get close to throwing up, but that was the first time I have ever felt sick to my stomach on a boat and I was happy to be alive.
As we got off the boat, we were finally told that the reason for the delay was that there were so many people the ferry had to make an extra run that day. As a result, the island was very full and there were not many rooms available. Super, we were looking for at least 2 rooms. Eventually we found a hotel that had a dorm room for Humphry ($8) and a private room for Beth and I for $20 each, which was much more than I was planning to spend, but the hot shower in the morning made it all worth it. As we left our rooms to explore the night life scene, it was apparent that we some how had happed on one of the most popular hotels on the island. The “bar” area was full of young, attractive people (mostly male, yippee!) who were staying there as part of the hotel’s scuba diving package. We had one beer and then ventured out to find a place to eat. Again, we somehow managed to find, what I would say was the coolest and best restaurant on the island, Evelyn’s BBQ. You will have to see pictures to get the full effect, but the best way to describe it concisely is to say that it was a shrine to Bob Marley with awesome food and a beer bellied, Birkenstock wearing German guy with dreads manning the grill out front. I chose to branch out from my usual grilled fish and got grilled conch in coconut broth. This was a great idea; it was amazing. After dinner, we followed the music and the crowd to Tranquila Bar (although spell check doesn’t like this name, I have spelled it accurately; it is a play on spanish words). This was a bar out on a dock with a great young crowd and finally, some up to date music. We ended up running into some girls who went the spanish school and were on the island for a week for the new year. We followed them to the Treetanic bar at the Jade Seahorse hotel, which again, I can not do justice with words and I will leave to the pictures, but the entire hotel was a true work of art. The bar was up in a tree house, and the layout was like an adult bar themed chuck-e-cheese playground (you know the big tube maze that they hang from the ceiling) without a ball pit. I loved it, but it was crowded and we were tired, so we only stayed for about 45 minutes. This was the end of the night.
Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30 and met the rest of the Captain Morgan’s crew at the dive shop at 7 after eating a delicious breakfast baleada. We boarded the boat and headed over to Jewel Cay, where the dive hotel is located. At the hotel, Anke and I buckled down and reviewed all of the book information that I had spent the week reading. Then, we went out on the boat for 2 more dives, which completed my certification course. Some highlights from the dives included a huge eel, a funny sea cucumber, a very long trumpet fish and a couple of rays. I finally was able to manage my buoyancy on my own for the most part, yea! When we returned from the dive, I sunned on the dock and studied in the hammock until it was time to take the written exam, which was very nerve racking, but I passed. Afterwards, the sky clouded up, so I stayed inside and watched the end of a movie with Jerry and his father, who was visiting from Canada for the holiday.
The evening was very similar to last Saturday, which is what I was hoping. About 15 of us went to the Cay View restaurant again for BBQ and beers. This time, my friend, Danny, from last weekend was the DJ and swore to play me any song I wanted, which was really the only song that I know (because it is the most popular and I hear it 5-10 times a day), Te Amo. We ate, drank and danced the night away.
This morning, I was able to go on my first “Fun Dive” as a certified open water diver. Jerry was my buddy, which was great because we get along so well. He was determined to show me a sea turtle until I told him that if we didn’t find one, I would just have to come back next weekend. Well, we did not see a sea turtle… However, we did see the garden eels, a lot of great coral, a sea horse and I did my first swim through narrow passages. Unfortunately, I had to get on the 2:00 ferry, so the boat dropped me off in Utila on its way back to the Cays. I had some time to kill, so I had lunch and coffee (the coffee here is really good) in a great café. I did some shopping and of course spent money I didn’t have. Another great weekend in Honduras!!
As we approached the ferry ticket window at the La Ceiba port (muelle), we noticed that it was closed. This was the beginning of a long frustrating journey. We waited in line with many other patient people as 4:00 (scheduled departure time) came and went. Eventually the window opened and tickets were sold. The only hitch being that they needed exact change because they didn’t have any cash to dispense change. That caused a lot of rustling and money shuffling, but eventually everyone worked it out. Next, we sat on the ferry dock for roughly an hour and a half waiting for the ferry, during which time it began to rain and when I say rain, I mean torrential down pour. As the rain slowed down everyone began cheering as the ferry came into sight. At this point, I wasn’t feeling very good about getting on the ferry in that weather, but my desire to get on the island trumped my fear. As we boarded the ferry, Humphry decided it was a good time to tell us that he gets ill on boats: not good in that weather.
As the boat exited the dock and set out into the open sea, it took a big wave head on and I would have sworn we were on a rollercoaster. The bow of the boat went straight (maybe a small exaggeration) in the air and then straight down. My stomach dropped, which usually I love, but in this case I felt like my life was in serious danger. Everyone on the boat screamed just as if we were at Cedar Point. The rest of the hour long tripped pretty much followed that pattern. Humphry had to lay down a quarter of the way through, but he was a champ and didn’t get sick. Unfortunately, there were many other people that were not so lucky. I would say there were about 6 people within my line of sight throwing up in bags the entire trip. I attempted to talk to the Beth throughout the trip, but the conversation took a bad turn when I decided to reveal the source of my fear being that I knew someone who died in a ferry boat accident. I couldn’t help but jump and grab the nearest person or object every time the boat was tossed. I began to think that maybe the rum and sprite that we had on the dock prior to leaving wasn’t such a great idea. Finally, the boat made it to the dock guided by a hand held spot light (Did I mention that the boat had no lights?). Typically, I love boats and the ocean, but this time I have never been so happy about getting off of one. I did not get close to throwing up, but that was the first time I have ever felt sick to my stomach on a boat and I was happy to be alive.
As we got off the boat, we were finally told that the reason for the delay was that there were so many people the ferry had to make an extra run that day. As a result, the island was very full and there were not many rooms available. Super, we were looking for at least 2 rooms. Eventually we found a hotel that had a dorm room for Humphry ($8) and a private room for Beth and I for $20 each, which was much more than I was planning to spend, but the hot shower in the morning made it all worth it. As we left our rooms to explore the night life scene, it was apparent that we some how had happed on one of the most popular hotels on the island. The “bar” area was full of young, attractive people (mostly male, yippee!) who were staying there as part of the hotel’s scuba diving package. We had one beer and then ventured out to find a place to eat. Again, we somehow managed to find, what I would say was the coolest and best restaurant on the island, Evelyn’s BBQ. You will have to see pictures to get the full effect, but the best way to describe it concisely is to say that it was a shrine to Bob Marley with awesome food and a beer bellied, Birkenstock wearing German guy with dreads manning the grill out front. I chose to branch out from my usual grilled fish and got grilled conch in coconut broth. This was a great idea; it was amazing. After dinner, we followed the music and the crowd to Tranquila Bar (although spell check doesn’t like this name, I have spelled it accurately; it is a play on spanish words). This was a bar out on a dock with a great young crowd and finally, some up to date music. We ended up running into some girls who went the spanish school and were on the island for a week for the new year. We followed them to the Treetanic bar at the Jade Seahorse hotel, which again, I can not do justice with words and I will leave to the pictures, but the entire hotel was a true work of art. The bar was up in a tree house, and the layout was like an adult bar themed chuck-e-cheese playground (you know the big tube maze that they hang from the ceiling) without a ball pit. I loved it, but it was crowded and we were tired, so we only stayed for about 45 minutes. This was the end of the night.
Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30 and met the rest of the Captain Morgan’s crew at the dive shop at 7 after eating a delicious breakfast baleada. We boarded the boat and headed over to Jewel Cay, where the dive hotel is located. At the hotel, Anke and I buckled down and reviewed all of the book information that I had spent the week reading. Then, we went out on the boat for 2 more dives, which completed my certification course. Some highlights from the dives included a huge eel, a funny sea cucumber, a very long trumpet fish and a couple of rays. I finally was able to manage my buoyancy on my own for the most part, yea! When we returned from the dive, I sunned on the dock and studied in the hammock until it was time to take the written exam, which was very nerve racking, but I passed. Afterwards, the sky clouded up, so I stayed inside and watched the end of a movie with Jerry and his father, who was visiting from Canada for the holiday.
The evening was very similar to last Saturday, which is what I was hoping. About 15 of us went to the Cay View restaurant again for BBQ and beers. This time, my friend, Danny, from last weekend was the DJ and swore to play me any song I wanted, which was really the only song that I know (because it is the most popular and I hear it 5-10 times a day), Te Amo. We ate, drank and danced the night away.
This morning, I was able to go on my first “Fun Dive” as a certified open water diver. Jerry was my buddy, which was great because we get along so well. He was determined to show me a sea turtle until I told him that if we didn’t find one, I would just have to come back next weekend. Well, we did not see a sea turtle… However, we did see the garden eels, a lot of great coral, a sea horse and I did my first swim through narrow passages. Unfortunately, I had to get on the 2:00 ferry, so the boat dropped me off in Utila on its way back to the Cays. I had some time to kill, so I had lunch and coffee (the coffee here is really good) in a great café. I did some shopping and of course spent money I didn’t have. Another great weekend in Honduras!!
1 comment:
You really are my idol... Your adventurous spirit and how you find people who share your sense of adventure is wonderful. I really enjoy following your journey. M
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