Utila Aggressor June 16-23, 2007:
by Shannon:
June 16th we arrived at the San Pedro Sula Airport in Honduras. It was a bit hectic and disconcerting! After picking up our luggage off the carousels, the local airport personnel immediately came up to us, picked up our bags and started escorting through the airport. They were a bit forward and in a hurry as they wanted their tips so they could get back to other people’s baggage. I couldn’t find my matching luggage tags immediately and they wouldn’t stop for just a second to allow me to gather my things. It was a bit nuts! Finally I found my tags. Then we had to make sure the way some new strangers were leading us was to our appropriate bus so we could head to our Aggressor. Finally after a couple of phone calls all was squared away and we were in a very comfortable air conditioned bus for the ride through Honduran countryside to make it to our departure area.
It took an hour longer than it was supposed to reach our ship as we got stuck in Honduran traffic as a wreck was blocking the road. We didn’t mind, though, as the ride gave us a chance to observe the countryside. It was very beautiful, although you could see from the housing accommodations it was a very poor nation. We all would have liked to spend some more time in the country to get the ‘lay of the land’, but the boat charter would keep us busy all week. Next time we will have to save extra days to explore some land destinations.
Finally, we arrived at the dock! Hooray! We were ushered onboard and introduced to the crew. Sasha, Jodie, and Nester were are all extremely friendly and accommodating from day one. They were so laid back and did a great job of attending to our needs. It was a very relaxing week. The Live Aboards have always been my favorite dive trips, as you get so much diving with so little work. And I love to be rocked to sleep by the boat every night! The weather that week was a little rough. We encountered rough waters and some current closer to Utila, but the Captain did a great job of rushing us over to Roatan where the reefs were spectacular. We saw eagle ray, blennies, HUGE groupers, eels, turtles, stingray, damsel fish, angels of all types, spotted drum, lobster, tunicates, squid, wrass, and so much more! We didn’t get to see the whale shark we were all hoping to get a glimpse of, but there’s always next year. The food wasn’t as exquisite as the other liveaboards I’ve experienced. It was basic, decent food (although there were a few of us who missed a dive or two because of G.I. problems mid week), but nothing like the more upscale meals served on the Turks & Caicos Aggressor or the AquaCat.
Oh, and the final night on the Aggressor, the owner of our boat water taxied us over to his Laguna Beach Resort for a free meal, and an introduction to his Resort. Our only frustration was that it was dark outside and difficult to see the grounds, but the set up looked great. The whale shark shaped pool was very cool. The food that evening was wonderful. It was a very quaint little place with 13 bungalows, a restaurant, and easy to access dive and fishing boats. It looked like a great place for a land based trip. The owner was very accommodating, and it looked like a very promising place to visit. For more information Google Laguna Beach Resort and see what you think for yourself. I just might have to try it one of these days.
Exiting Honduras the next day was much less pressured. We were a little perturbed that the exit tax however was not just $33 even… it was $33.19. Thing was they would accept American dollars, but not the change. They also gave no change unless it was Honduran currency, so basically you had to give them $34 in American to leave their country. Nice little way to make extra money for Honduras, eh? They have published that in the information they send you from the Aggressor now. I’m not sure if it was there and I missed it before, or they’ve begun adding it to the information. Either way…. Be sure to bring your $34 and your leftover Honduran money to pay the exit toll to get yourself home!
Despite the airport stress, overall I'd recommend the dive destination. I was pleased with the diving, the accommodations and the service. I will definitely keep Honduras in the back of my mind for future vacations, and will continue to pursue live aboards as one of my favorite diving destinations.
Here is the captains log from our trip.
 | Utila Aggressor |
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Entry By: Utila Aggressor CrewJune 16-23, 2007 Water temperature is 85F. Air temperature is 89F. Visibility is around 90 feet. A big welcome to our eleven guests this week, ten of which hail from different areas of the United States, a group of eight consisting of Sherry, Allyson, Sherry, Crystal, father & son Vic and David, and Mike and Shannon. Also another father and son pair of Paul and Zac and finally all the way from the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II, we welcome British Luice, the first mate coming to visit on vacation!Crew: Capt. Eddy Anderson, Nestor Vittodo, Sasha Eyre, Jodie Fackrell, Candy Collins and John Bodden.The whole group arrived nice and early and were well fed by Chef Marna and Steward John and then we started our two hour journey over to the island of Utila for a peaceful nights rest in the Harbor.We started our week of diving on the Southeast of Utila at a spot called Radar Reef for our customary check-out dive. As we headed out to the wall, a 4-foot Spotted Eagle Ray was slowing gliding past the top of the wall. Not a bad start to the week. We also encountered two female and one male Quilfin Blenny, a Spotted Moray Eel getting "cleaned" by a Banded Coral Shrimp, a Spotted Scorpionfish, a Yellow Stingray, a Juvenile Yellow-tailed Damselfish, a school of Blue Tang.After Marna prepared a delicious lunch on the top-deck we moved around to the north side of the Island to a site called Blackish Point, which has some caves and a beautiful wall to explore. Were we encountered Juvenile Jack-Knife Fish, Juvenile Grey Angelfish, and lots of Juvenile Spotted Drum also a Spotted Moray eel, Spiny Caribbean Lobster and Banded Coral Shrimp.The wind began to pick up so we moved the North East of Utila to a site called Raggedy Caye, where we stayed until the following morning. Here we saw Chain Moray, Sharp Tail eel, Spiny and Spotted Caribbean Lobster, Lettuce Sea slugs, Slipper Lobster, Cryptic Tear Drop Crabs, Mushroom Scorpion Fish and a Channel Crab.
The next morning with the wind blowing less we moved back around to the North Side to Turtle Harbor and a site named Old House. And as the name suggests we did find a large Hawksbill turtle and a Manta Ray Swimming past along the wall, also lettuce sea slugs, Juvenile Spotted Drums, Red-lipped Blennies and very excitingly a Painted Elysia.
After lunch we moved around to the South East for a dive on the seamount Cannary Bank, we encountered lots of Tunicates; Bluebell, Gianted, Painted and Lightbull! Also Black Spotted Sea-Goddess, Grass Squid, and large school of Creole Wrasse.
The winds picked up again to 20-30 knots with swells reaching 8 feet so for safety reasons we moved to the dock in the harbor of Utila, skipping the last day dive and night dive. The guests got of the boat to stretch their legs and buy a few souvenirs before a quite and clam night in the protected harbor.
With the winds still blowing we made the bumpy crossing over to the North side of Roatan to find some shelter from the Wind and Waves and headed to a site called Crawfish Rock and encountered some canyons in the wall, Giant Channel Crabs, Red lipped Blenny, Yellow head Jawfish, Tiger Grouper, French Angelfish and a Spotted Eagle Ray.
After a couple of dives we continued along the North shore to a set of Caves called Dolphin Caves. Here Nestor and Jodie led the way through the caves and overhangs under the coral where the light spectacularly passes through the cracks in the ceiling. Here we were lucky enough to find a Pipe horse and a Harlequin Pipefish! Also two green moray eels, lettuce sea slugs, nimble spray crabs and glassy sweepers.
After one dive we made our final move for the day to the Northwest side of Roatan to Half Moon Bay Wall. Here we saw Channel clinging Crab, Barracuda, Yellow-line Arrow Crabs, Barrel Sponges, Yellow-head Jawfish, French Angelfish, Pederson Cleaner Shrimp, Banded Coral Shrimp, Spotted Caribbean Lobster, Huge Basket Stars, Golden Coral Shrimp, Cryptic Tear Drop Crabs, Lettuce Sea slug, two Caribbean Reef Octopus and some incredible Phosphorescence.
The next morning went to the wreck of El Aguila, where Captain Eddy and Nestor did their weekly feeding. The Tiger Groupers put on a good show, along with the Dog Snapper. The Friendly green Moray was being a little Timid this week, only appearing to snatch the bucket off Nestor, for the second dive we headed over to the wall where Sherri got a manicure from a some Pederson Cleaner Shrimp, Channel Crab, Spotted Scorpion Fish, Giant Tunicates, Dark Mantis, lots of Juvenile Creole Wrasse and another Lettuce Sea slug and a Bearded Fireworm.
We made one more move for the day to the lovely Taviana’s Wall. On the way Captain Eddy spotted a pod of about 100 Spinner Dolphins so the guests took a pause from lunch to jump in and snorkel with them. At the dive site we encountered Spiny Caribbean Lobster, Tube Sponges, Painted Tunicates, Scotch Bonnet, Slimy Doris, Mushroom Scorpion Fish, Spotted Caribbean Lobster, Tiger-tailed and Donkey Dung Sea cucumber, Banded Coral Shrimp, Southern Stingray, Lettuce Seaslug, Chocolate-lined Top Snail
With the winds still blowing we decided to spend an extra day in Roatan and started the day in the North West corner to do a drift dive at Pete’s Place. Here along the wall covered in giant Barrel sponges we found a green moray hiding in the cracks, some Yellow head Jawfish and a reef Octopus hiding in the Coral. We also encountered a couple of Hawksbill Turtles swimming around each other.
We moved further south down the West end to Nitrox alley, here we saw a Golden Tailed Moray, several Barracudas, Giant Tunicates, Bearded Fireworms, Giant Anemones, Huge schools of Creole Wrasse, lots of Juvenile Blue Chromis, Yellow-line Arrow Crabs and Banded Coral Shrimp.
After an afternoon dive here we moved for the final time for the day to Eel Garden where we found some Juvenile Spotted Drum, Yellow-line Arrow Crabs, Lettuce Seaslug, Arrow Blennies, large School of Creole Wrasse, Scotch Bonnet, Spanish Lobster, an Upside down Jellyfish, huge Channel Clinging Crab, a tiny Reef Squid and a tiny Reef Octopus, Spiny Caribbean lobster shedding its shell-AMAZING!
Early on the final morning the winds had finally calmed and we headed back to Utila for our final dives on the North Shore. We returned to Turtle Harbor and dove The Pinnacle where we found another Pipehorse, big Tiger Grouper, Pederson Shrimp, Squirrel Fish with an Isopod on its head, Black Durgeon,
So another excellent week of diving comes to a close aboard the Utila Aggressor, with the weather proving an obstacle for a couple of days, but we did not let it get the better of us and we managed some truly excellent diving. Winds blasted from all directions hitting up to 30 knots at but found shelter in Roatan where the visibility was as excellent as usual, peaking at 100feet and only going as low as 60feet on Monday afternoon. Despite the wind, the sun was blazing making temperatures in the high 80s as the wind died down towards the end of the week. As ever Candy and John kept bellies full and satisfied, as well as cabins neat and tidy. Captain Eddy along with Divemasters Nestor, Sasha and Jodie led the way above and below water for another wonderful week aboard the Utila Aggressor. A final thank you to all of our guests this week, and we wish them safe travels home. We hope to see them and you again soon for another great week of diving.
Written by Sasha Eyre, DM/Inst/Photo Pro Utila Aggressor.
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