Utila, Honduras
deenalam asks,
“are the sandflies as bad as everyone's making them out to be? do you mean i can't lay on the beach without getting bitten?”
Answers:
eburcat
Haifa
Nobody lies on the beach there…
Well… Hardly anyone…
I did go one day to lie on the beach and it wasn’t that bad.
Besides, you won’t want to go to the beach – all you do in this place is dive, dive, dive :)
deenalam
Atlanta
are you serious? i mean, i am going to get my divemasters but i have someone going with me and they are going to stay with me until i accomplish this .. what are they going to do? hmm. i’m sure there are some volunteer jobs or some thing. does anyone go in the water for a swim? i need a longer answer. are there any other beaches on the other islands that don’t have sandfleas?
Swillett
Kitchener
I’ve been to Utila and to Roatan. Both have sandflies. Roatan is worse. However, the beaches are nicer in Roatan. Utila is more of a backpacker town. I went with a bunch of friends for a week. I did my open water certifcation and so did another friend but everyone else hung out on the beach, snorkelled, and went horseback riding. They were ready to go home after a week. If you’re looking for a place to do more than diving, I suggest Roatan, although I also did my advanced open water in Roatan and spent my time doing more diving. I liked Roatan better. Which shop you doing it with? Why doesn’t your friend take some diving courses?
deenalam
Atlanta
she is probably going to take an open water course there. so, she’ll be fine for a week or two. i guess i’m not really looking at utila as a vacation spot. i know that getting my divemasters is going to take quite some time…i just dont want my friend or i to die of boredom. i also am not looking to spend a ton of money as i am thinking about traveling around central america for a bit and then going to australia. i would really like to rent an apartment and do some grocery shopping while in utila. i’m not sure if i will save any money in doing so. it’s hard to find the answers to these intense questions i have, i know. i need to know if one can get an odd job other than at the dive shops, if there are environmental volunteer jobs there, if the island is too cultish or cool…if it’s a comfortable enough to spend a month or two there.
Swillett
Kitchener
When I went, I dove with Utila Dive Center. One of my instructors also worked at Coco Locos, which is one of the bars there. Everyone who worked in that bar and the bar next door were travellers… well, at least as far as I could tell. Also, I’m almost positive that everyone who worked at the dive shop was living in apartments. I bet the dive shop would even know of some places. You’ll totally be fine. Worse case scenario, you stay in a cheap hotel for a little bit while searching for a place.
eburcat
Haifa
There are things to do there, but the divemasters do take a lot of time to accomplish… Your friends can always go to nearby islands when they are getting bored. Maybe a trip to do kayaks on the mainland… It’s a fun place, no worries :)
deenalam
Atlanta
you are right. i guess i should stop worrying. i would be fine if it was just me. the place is probably fuckin’ perfect. it’s just hard when you have to worry about someone else thats going to be with you. althou, i really think she would be more fine then i’m actually giving her credit for.
still, the information would be good to know.
i should ask the dive shops if they know the answers to the questions that i posted earlier. they would probably know more.
thanks, all!
rwhitney
0 places
eh, old question but figure I’d answer because I did my DiveMaster there last year.
Yes, the sand flies are bad and to be honest, there’s not much else to do on the island but dive. That said there were still plenty of people who did just that, relaxing, partying or whatever else they got up to (I have no idea, I’d go crazy). Beaches are ok, sand flies can be bad at time, get some kind of oil but be careful about lying in the sun too much.
It’s so much fun I’m going back for a visit in a few weeks ;)
Max Kueng
Zürich
I was in Roatan and Utila and Roatan has much more sand flies.
Sand flies are harmless to some and very harmful to others. It probably depends on how allergic you are.
I had my arm full of bites (covered) one day. They were just red spots (dark red spot with strawberry red around) and disappeared after a couple days. No itch or anything.
My friend, however, had bites all over her back. They looked like mine in the beginning and then turned into little “hills” (like really huge mosquito bites) and were itching like mad. Then turned into giant watery blisters that popped and left scars.
I recommend using a lot of bug repellent as soon as you get out of the water.
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