Copan and the Bay Islands
So on Christmas Eve I set off for the Bay Islands of Honduras where I planned to spend my Christmas and New Years. Not surprisingly, no buses were running on Christmas day, so I spent my Christmas in Copan doing nothing. To be honest, it was kind of nice.
The trip started in Antigua, Guatemala a bit late. There are usually gringo vans to Copan, Honduras and even as far as La Ceiba, Honduras from Antigua, but because it was Christmas Eve, nothing was running. From Antigua we took a bus to Guatemala City (1 HR, $1), then we took a taxi from the bus stop to the bus station (1 HR, $6), the bus took us to Chiquimula, near the Guatemala, Honduras border (4 HR, $5). From Chiquimula we took a shared van to the border (1.5HR, $2). A short walk across the border, and another shared van (0.5 HR, $1.50) later and we were in Copan by early that evening. We quickly found out it would be impossible to leave the next morning, so we got a decent room, had some dinner, and went to bed early.
At about 4 AM I decided enough was enough. The hostal we chose (Via Via) was having the craziest Christmas party I have ever heard, and we left and found a new hotel so we could actually get some sleep. The next morning we decided to forego the ruins to have a lazy Christmas day. I have never been that into ruins anyway.
We made the mistake of taking the Hedman Alas bus to La Ceiba. They are the deluxe bus company of Honduras. They charge way too much, and provide little more than you get for 1/5 the price. We paid $25 for the 6HR bus ride to La Ceiba, and then another $25 for the 1 HR boat trip to Utila Island.
Utila is where every Gringo on the Central American trail goes to get their Open Water SCUBA diving certification. For $200-$300 you can get your certification in Utila. I had a friend I wanted to meet, and headed straight to his hostel (Alton's Dive Shop) upon arrival in Utila. Unfortunately he had left that morning, but Alton's offered us a free nights stay to check the place out, so we stayed. The rooms were filthy and the kitchen was terrible. It seems like people like Alton's because it has a good party, but we decided to leave for another dive shop. We ended up at Paradise which was a lot more chill and much cheaper. The Open Water was $270 at Alton's. Paradise does it for $200 and has a much nicer kitchen.
Utila has the second deepest reef in the world, and the diving is great. If you are comfortable in the water, and it is easy for you to pop your ears, scuba will come easily. Coral reefs are really cool, and to stand on the ocean floor staring up at 80 ft of water, fish, and coral above you is pretty amazing. Paradise left some things to be desired though, and I left before finishing the course.
Utila has a crazy party scene, and most of the dive instructors are people who like the life it affords. New Years is one of the few days they all get off, so New Year's Eve was a shit show. The bar on the dock across from Paradise was open from 6pm Near Year's Eve until 4pm New Year's Day. I think most of the party goers (and bartenders alike) had some party assistance.
We checked out Tree-Tanic, a truly amazing place built by someone with a crazy imagination and way too much time on their hands.
We laid on the only beach in Utila, that left much to be desired. Mostly, we spent a lot of time diving, snorkeling, and hanging out on the boat-- On a boat mother fucker, on a boat.
From Utila we headed to Tela which was a really shitty beach town.
From there we headed to Lake Yojoa, where we stayed a nice little hostel. The lake has a good amount of protected park land around it, and hundreds of different species of birds. The night we arrived the people at the hostel swore to us we HAD to see the circus that was in town. The circus was a tranvestite and kiddie porn show. We left at the intermission. The next morning I took a hike down to the park; when the sun came out I saw at leat 10 different species of birds on 20 minutes. Unfortunately, I did not see a Tucan.
We headed out that day for Copan, to break our trip and by the next afternoon we were back in Antigua. We sprung for the Gringo van from Copan to Antiguaas it only cost a few dollars more and saved a lot of hassle. I caught the Orange Bowl in Antigua and watched the Hawks destroy Georgia Tech before heading back to my sterile life in Nebaj.
