Utila And/Or Roatan

HAs anyone been to both Islands?

I planned a week long trip to Utila for March to photograph Whale Sharks. I am flying in to Raotan and have to take a boat or a charter to Utila and I will have an extra week to either spend in Utila or spend in Roatan.

Is there that much diversity in the two islands?

Should I stay at the same place(Utila) for two weeks (I have never done so)?

Should I stay at Roatan to see different types of dives? If so, can anyine recommend a U/W photo school or photog friendly spot? Or even a sot that you would recommend?

In Utila, I am staying at Deep Blue Utila

And I have been looking at Reef House Resort on Roatan.

Both look out of the way and samll and relatively remote.

Any suggestions woud be appreciated ....

Been to Roatan 2 times - the last being May 2009, never Utila. If you dive Roatan, I would make a point of diving Mary's Place. The resort you are considering is not too far from there - a reasonably short boat ride, so I am certain they would dive it. Many dive shops only visit Mary's once/week but there are great photo op's there and I would like diving it several days.

There are several good wide angle locations at Mary's. There is a good swim-through crack that would be great if you were first in line, turning to take pics of divers coming through behind you...while the water is still clear. If you visit there, you might discuss goals of that nature with your guides. I find the guides at Roatan to be quite willing to help, from my limited experience.

Mary's is quite popular so getting there before other boats would be imporant for many of the photo's, or going back in the aftn after others have left. There are several shots where aftn sun would likely be quite appealing for backlit shots.

One of the all-inclusive resorts has Mary's as their shore dive so that might be appealing but I think they are a bit higher priced. I have forgotten which one it is...a bit of web searching should tell you as they mention it in their ads.

Cannot speak to your question about comparing Utila to Roatan, etc.

Bob,

I have been to Utila and Roatan twice some 12 years ago but I was not taking photos back then .... If I were you I would book one week in Utila (I recommend Utila Lodge) and one week in Roatan (can't remember the name of the resort I was in, but it was a good one suggested by Roatan Charter, the same travel agent working with Utila Lodge): the two islands are quite different and dive sites are very different .... Mainly wide-angle and whale sharks can be spotted in the channel between Utila and Roatan if it's the right season and you get lucky; very interesting sea-mounts with schooling fish.

Enjoy ..... Francesco

I spent around six weeks in Utila in '04 and then two weeks in Roatan in '05, each time sporting a pretty basic Canon point-and-shoot system. Mary's Place at the far east end of Roatan is a great dive but the other dive sites weren't anything special, and unlike on Utila there was very little chance of finding whale sharks (and swimming with them) in between dives. On Utila I dove with Cross Creek and UDC, both of which are (or were) good, but UDC was a little too busy for my tastes. All in all, I preferred the atmosphere in Utila. It was small enough that you could get everywhere on foot, and people weren't as sequestered in their private resorts as they are on Roatan. And I got in the water with whale sharks 5-7 times off Utila (and saw one whale shark on a dive site on the north side), and got some decent snaps of them. If whale sharks are your focus then you may want to prioritize Utila and Deep Blue in particular. Otherwise, the kind of life you'll see on the reefs isn't going to vary a whole lot from one island to the next. Plenty of turtle, stingrays, barracuda, and the occasional nurse shark or tarpon.

Been to Roatan 2 times - the last being May 2009, never Utila. If you dive Roatan, I would make a point of diving Mary's Place. The resort you are considering is not too far from there - a reasonably short boat ride, so I am certain they would dive it. Many dive shops only visit Mary's once/week but there are great photo op's there and I would like diving it several days.

There are several good wide angle locations at Mary's. There is a good swim-through crack that would be great if you were first in line, turning to take pics of divers coming through behind you...while the water is still clear. If you visit there, you might discuss goals of that nature with your guides. I find the guides at Roatan to be quite willing to help, from my limited experience.

Mary's is quite popular so getting there before other boats would be imporant for many of the photo's, or going back in the aftn after others have left. There are several shots where aftn sun would likely be quite appealing for backlit shots.

 

One of the all-inclusive resorts has Mary's as their shore dive so that might be appealing but I think they are a bit higher priced. I have forgotten which one it is...a bit of web searching should tell you as they mention it in their ads.

 

Cannot speak to your question about comparing Utila to Roatan, etc.

Thanks Dave. Mary's place is certainly highly recommended on the Net too. Thanks for the tip. Still looking into my quest.