The island of Utila is in the western Caribbean just of the coast of Honduras and is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest reef system in the world.

With Utila’s wide variety of dive sites, warm clear water - often reaching that magical 100ft/30m visibility - and abundant sea-life it is no wonder that Utila attracts divers and people who want to learn to dive from all around the world. With over one hundred world class dive sites to explore, your options are endless!

Some of the best diving around Utila (in fact around the Caribbean) is found only minutes from the bay that protects East Harbor (the town of Utila):

Black Coral Wall lies on the edge of the bay and has one of the deepest walls on the south side of the island and an amazing coral garden running along the top of the wall where hawksbill turtles are often found cruising the reef.

The Haliburton wreck lies just outside the bay in 30m(100ft) of water - a great wreck to explore, it is usually not visible from the surface and appears out of the depths as you free fall down towards it. The wreck is covered in colorful sponges and corals and you can find moray eels lurking in the steel hull. Check out the wheel house for groupers, barracudas, and a collection of fireworms on the roof.

Labyrinth and Pretty Bush dive sites are just minutes away from the harbor, where winding sand channels on top of the reef act as a haven for morays and lobsters.

At the west end of the southern shore you’ll find Stingray Point, a hugely popular and special dive site due to the convergence of two reef walls creating a funneling effect, finishing at the beach at Stingray Point. With it's canyons and wide coral garden on top of the wall, interspersed with sand channels, Stingray Point is a great place to explore.

Carry on past the Cays at the laying off the west end of Utila you’ll come around to the north side of the island. This is where the continental shelf drops away into deeper ocean. CJ’s Drop-off dive site is renowned for it’s dramatic views down into the blue, one of the biggest drop offs you'll find diving in the Caribbean, the reef wall drops vertically from 15ft/5m to over 3000ft/1000m! This is one reason why Whale Sharks come so close to Utila - the deep waters very close to the shore.

The north side of the island is home to the Turtle Harbor Marine Reserve, which has dive sites such as Pinnacles, The Maze and on the eastern edge of Turtle Harbor there is Duppy Waters with beautiful reef to explore and a vertigo inducing wall home to enormous barrel sponges.

As you progress eastwards around the island you’ll come across Blackish Point an absolutely stunning drift dive with overhangs and chimneys carved into the "Iron Shore".

Further around the island to the east end you’ll find Black Hills - a breathtaking site a little under one mile off Utila. A seamount out in the ocean, it attracts huge populations of fish. Expect to see schools of horse-eye jacks circling the top of the mount, hawksbill and green turtles can be seen here.

There is always the opportunity of finding whale sharks and manta rays in the deeper water away from the mount itself.

Wherever you take your dives the variety of dive sites and marine life species is amazing!

Utila Experience Package 7 nights luxury accommodation. 5 days diving with two boat dives per day + two night dives Price: $799 > Add to Cart <

Utila Dive Junkie Package 7 nights luxury accommodation, 5 days diving with three boat dives per day + two night dives Price: $949 > Add to Cart <