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BRING DEET!!! We were eaten alive by the no-see-ums. We looked like we had the measles, covered in red blotches, but the bad thing was that they didn't itch. This was bad because we decided it wasn't worth worrying about. "What's the big deal; as long as they don't itch, who cares?" was our attitude. The answer: They will itch later, after it's too late. Mine didn't start itching until after we got home and then I was sleepless for a week! They sell a product called Cactus Juice that's supposed to be good, but the boutique at the resort was out of it, so we didn't get any until we took the island tour on our last day.
They tell you that the water is safe, but that it just tastes funny (boy, does it), so they give you bottled water to drink. But if you brush your teeth, etc., with the tap water, you're still likely to have some unpleasant side effects. Both my husband and I had some "intestinal discomfort," to put it politely, as did several other people we talked to. Each of the people who experienced this missed at least one dive each because of it, some missed entire dive days. So DON'T DRINK THE WATER.
Other than that, the place was great! We enjoyed the freedom of going on a dive boat or missing the boat and shore diving the CoCo View Wall or the Prince Albert Wreck on our own.
There were people on the boats who were solo diving and that was allowed. If you wanted to dive with the DM, that was fine, too, and they would point out critters for you. Otherwise, you just made your way back to the boat when you were done. It was pretty much a do-as-you-please atmosphere as far as the diving was concerned.
There was supposed to be a helicopter tour to Utila available, but there had been some sort of legal hassle and so it wasn't available when we were there. If you're looking forward to it, check first. Otherwise, there's a boat day trip to Utila.
We saw lots of the usual Caribbean reef fish, some barracuda and a spotted eagle ray. Nothing spectacular, but lots of color. The visibility wasn't great on the shore dives, especially at the Prince Albert, but it was good on the boat dives.
The dive setup is great. You're assigned a cube where you can store all your gear right at the dock. There are plenty of rinse tanks, fresh-water showers and hangers. If you're going on a boat dive, they will set your gear up for you on the boat, so the livin' is easy. Shore dives are a bit of a walk from the storage area in full gear, but not ridiculously so.
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