So is that some good diving, or What ?!?! YAY YAY YAY Music So it's
our first full day on the island of Utila, and we're super excited because
today, we are going do our first couple of dives, with Parrots Dive shop, and they
were recommended to us by two lovely Australian ladies that we met in Caye Caulker, Becky and Alex. Music In Utila there are loads of shops along the street and restaurants,
and I've just seen a lovely t-shirt with a whale shark on it.
hahaha, so I just said to Chris, if we see a whale shark.
I am buying that t-shirt, if we see a whale shark you can buy that t-shirt!! Utilla
is one of the most popular islands for diving,
probably in Central America reasonably priced, and the opportunity to see some
beautiful marine life and whale sharks being top up there on the list, fingers
crossed. Hard to find but if you get lucky, you never know ! No Marianne! that does not count as
seeing a whale shark! Music So we have just come down onto the jetty to
set I gear up before we go out on our dive, and it's all coming back to Marianne! Only just ! Briefing time !! Music OK - the dive site we are going to is called 'The Lighthouse' and it is a wall dive And we have Riccardo as our dive master. Music We've arrived at the first dive site, and
how blue does that water look behind us? I can't wait to get in there, and this is
Riccardo our dive master for the day. Music So the island of Utila is one of the
main tourist back packing destinations here in Honduras, and today we're going to
give you a little guided tour of the island, have a little walk around and
explore what this small town has to offer. So here in Honduras there are
actually two islands next to each other, the island of Utila and the island of
Roatan, and for scuba diving and for us, it was really a little bit tricky, making
our mind up which one we were going to go to. Roatan is a bigger island more
spread, out whereas here in utila there's a smaller town everything's a bit more
compact, it also got great diving, so we decided to come to the island of Utila!! Music So if
you're wondering whether the island of Utila has any ATM machines, they do have
a couple, there's one right as you come off the ferry that you can see behind me
here, and if you come from the ferry and turn to your right,
there is another ATM that you can see behind me so far those are the only two
ATMs that we found on the island, but I'm sure there's a couple more dotted around. Music I found a whale shark !! Can I have the T-Shirt now? That doesn't count Marianne! Come on!! I'm
not sure whether it's due to the expat community, or just the quantity of
tourists that come here, but there's a huge range of different foods here, it's
very easy to have a really cheap meal. We found that we're able to get two main
courses and a couple of drinks or about Twelve pounds. But you can find something a little bit more upmarket, or you can just stick with
the basic food the local food, there's a huge selection. So if you're looking for
somewhere to come and take that perfect holiday shot, we've got the I love Utila sign here, down by Cheppes Beach, on the island. Click We have taken a tuk-tuk down to the
beach, This is Samuel our tuk-tuk driver, who has shown us round Music So a few
things you may not know about Utila, It is only 18 kilometres off the mainland
here in Honduras and the island itself, is 11 kilometres long and 4 kilometres
wide at the widest point. So online it told us that the population of the island
is about three and a half thousand, but when you speak to local people, they estimate
the population of Utila to be more like seven thousand people, and most people
live around the central town. So at the southwest corner of the island of Utila
are the keys, and they are inhabited by fishermen, and the original settlers they
settled on the islands in the year 1836. Music Alright, okay, so we're back in the tuk-tuk - and we are off to the chocolate museum. As Utila has a chocolate Museum, and we all love chocolate !! Music The tuk tuks are a great
way to get around the island, when it's too hot, and you don't want to walk in
this sun, they're reasonably priced they charge between 20 LP upwards,
for each person and Samuel is doing a great job! Music We've arrived at the Utilia
Chocolate Company, we're going to go and check out and see we could find some chocolate. Music We have come on down to the Utilia Chocalate Company, and we're going to see what it's all about !! Music So it is 100% Raw / Organic and handcrafted and we are the only spot in Honduras that don't roast their beans Music Well it's been a really lovely visit to
the Utila Chocolate Company, and Megan, Marie and I, have just absolutely enjoyed
every aspect of learning about chocolate, but I think we sampled every single
chocolate. So as we were walking around the island, creating this video everybody
said, you have to come down and have a walk around the Jade Seahorse Restaurant,
and that's exactly where we've come down to, and what an absolutely fascinating
place, the couple that owned this restaurant they came here in 1992, and
the husband is an artist, and decided to try create
something a little special, a little bit unusual, and they have definitely done
that here. I have never seen such beautiful gardens, created out of bits of
glass, stones, wine bottles, you name it. Absolutely breathtaking. Music So they also have these lovely rooms at
the top here that you can rent, so it's definitely worth coming to have a walk
around the ground here, to come and have a meal, or some evenings apparently they
throw parties here, so there's a party on Friday night. Unfortunately we won't be
on the island, but this is definitely a very cool venue. Music So one thing is for sure,
life here on Utila is hot it's hot !! Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that!! (an English Expression) When it comes to midday sun we should not be walking around. We should be wallowing in the sea, and we will be there soon !! Which is what I'm going do when I get back!! Music That's the first proper vehicle that
we've seen here on the island, so there are proper vehicles you just
don't see them very often, Music How do you slow down traffic
on an island? This is exactly how you do it. They've got big thick Marine ropes, that are actually stapled to the road, it just
causes enough of the bump, So when we looked online about Utila, everybody said
it's a bit of a party place. It's a real happening place, and we had the
impression that it was going to be quite a noisy night sleep, lots of bars, lots
of partying and we're actually staying in a place called Rubis Inn, and it is
being super quiet we have had absolutely no problems, we haven't even heard any
noise, and our room is literally right by the ocean, it's got
its own jetty, and when it's this hot it's time to go for a swim. And this
water is so clear but what's mad is that it's actually, even though I'm so hot, it
doesn't actually really feel cold at all. I'm sure the sea temperature is like 28
degrees! feels almost body temperature. And it's just lovely, Marianne's already in! And there is lovely shade under the pontoon !! And there is a crab !! Music We've come down to Tranquila
bar, and he's running away, but this guy here is Mr. Larsen and he
was the dive master with Becky and Alex who recommended us, to come down
to Parrots, so it his fault, it is your fault we are here !! So it is my fault you are having a good time ? yes ! His fault we are having a good time !! We are grateful we are having a good time !! Thank you very much !! So you're looking for a beautiful place to come and watch the sun go down,
here on Utila, The Tranquila bar, right next to Parrots - How many bars do you know with a view like that? Music Well attached to Parrots,
there is a beautiful Thai food restaurant, we've been told it's good and
we're checking it out, so we got beef with broccoli and cauliflower, and I've got Szechuan chicken, mmmmm That is so good !! It might be a really strange thing to come all the way to Honduras and have
some Thai food, but it was one of the best decisions we have made!! That was
delicious. Absolutely delicious, and the portions
are massive! Alright love ? Might need more slimfast !! You jumped before the camera came on LOL And obviously the expat
community there's actually a very noisy motorbike Chris messes up . his words !! what about this whale shark does this
one must be able to get a t-shirt now you can have a t-shirt but you haven't
seen a proper whale shark! that's the first car, petrol not petrol because
they're all petrol. Cut !!
