Iain Stewart, November 2004
Rough Guide Author and Times Journalist

I've just had a remarkable experience in Utila, and am posting a short note to big up the island. It's surely one of the world's best deals that you can head off to the superb sheer coral walls of the north coast, pausing en route to look for whale sharks for 40 mins or so, before doing a dive and going on the hunt again during the surface interval on the return leg. I was lucky enough to snorkel with whale sharks on four separate occasions, if only briefly each time. My first proper glimpse was of a 25-30 ft shark feeding, swimming vertically at the surface, with its head above water and mouth open. Quite astonishing. WSharks were being seen almost every day in early November in Utila. The Utila Dive Centre were a pleasure to dive with and sorted out everything very professionally, thanks to John, Carl and the team there.


Utila: One Man's Memories
By Karl H. Homann

On August 4, 2003, I completed that most dreaded of required skills, a complete underwater equipment exchange, the last skill left in my certification as PADI Dive Master No. 209742. The stressful feat was accomplished on the sandy bottom under the boat dock of the Utila Dive Centre. After we surfaced and climbed back on the dock, my instructor extended her hand to congratulate me, but I gave her a hug instead because there had been days in the previous three weeks of my training and internship when I thought that I would never make it.

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UDC: Instructor Development Training
By Alex Miron

There were so many things I liked about doing my IDC at UDC it will be a bit strange to try to enumerate them all. However here goes: what I liked above all else was how safe I felt there. I felt safe because I knew how much experience the staff has. And I knew they were all trustworthy people having spent several months on the island beforehand and getting to know them. I liked how I knew if I had a question it really would be answered. And answered thoughtfully and in depth until I understood. I also liked how by the end I wasn’t a fraction as nervous as when I began because I felt as though I had been prepped for everything. It was so thorough and professional.

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