Diving Utila’s Reef
Captain Morgan’s is known as the dive shop that most visits the
North Side, considered the best dive sites. Around Turtle Harbour, a protected Marine Reserve, there are particularly good dive sites where the walls plunge hundreds of metres over the edge of the continental shelf. Giant sponges and pillar coral along with amazing aquatic life abound, including hawksbill and green turtles, spotted eagle rays, groupers, moray eels, queen trigger fish, midnight parrot fish, lobster, snapper.
On the
South Side, quicker and easier to get to from East Harbour Utila, has a reef that starts relatively close to shore with tongue-and-groove formations of corals in shallow water which drops off to 20 metres (66 ft.) or more. The south side is considered calmer and has sites with a lot of sandy patches, useful during skills training for Open Water courses. Coral and aquatic life are generally considered inferior on the south side compared to the north.
North Side Dive Sites:
CJs Drop Off
in front of Turtle Harbour on the western end, it is known for the straight drop that heads into the depths below with coral cliff walls. You can see as you descend the wall sting rays, moray eels hidden away in crevasses (spotted and green), hawksbill turtles feeding, lobster, and colorful sponges.
Willie’s Hole
a popular spot along Turtle Harbour stretch has a colossal open cave in the coral wall at around 25 metres (82 ft.) that divers can admire from the outside or penetrate if they have the skill level. You may see groupers, schools of snapper, jack, and spade fish along with spotted moral eels.
Blackish Point
on the western end of Rock Harbour, this dive site has an extensive stretch of small caves or caverns, some with chimney holes providing light. It is at about 20 metres (66 ft.) and offers a nice dive admiring the caves and overhangs with colorful coral everywhere. In recent years, the invasive red lionfish is spotted in large numbers at this dive site.
Pinnacles
Don Quickset
Great Wall
Ragged Caye
South Side Dive Sites:
Jack Neil Point
has shallow dive along the tongue-and-groove formations of hard and soft corals. You might see spotted eagle rays here along with hawksbill and green turtles.
Pretty Bush and Black Coral Wall
- both dive sites start at around 5 metres (16 ft.) and drop off to 30 metres (100 ft.) at the base of the reef. Frequent sightings of spotted eagly rays cruising the walls at deeper sections and young black coral, elkhorn and pillar coral.
Halliburton
- sunk in 1998 by the local dive association, this ship wreck offers a great dive for both experienced divers and divers doing the Advanced Open Water course or an Adventure dive. Divers can explore the pilot house and some of the decks as well as find green moray eels, large groupers, french and queen angelfish, and an occasional turtle. See more information and photos of this ship wreck
