Scuba Diving, PADI Divemaster and Instructor news from the Caribbean.

Summer in Utila and diving with Utila Dive Centre, Honduras May 17, 2011

Hello all you friends of UDC

Life has been great here and we’ve been very busy with lots of new things!

We had a long weekend of Green Events for Dive for Earth Day. These included Lion Fish and Whale Shark talks, beach and underwater cleanups, coral watch and lionfish containment dives and a BBQ. On the beach clean up alone we collected 309kg’s of rubbish collected, 250kgs (81%) of which was plastic and has gone to the recycling plant.

Thanks for all the support from our willing volunteers

Whilst we are on the subject of Lion Fish, we have two things to update you on about that. Firstly our very own Josiah (a.k.a. Juicy!) has published his own distinctive specialty unique to Utila and Utila Dive Centre that has been approved by PADI. It is called Caribbean Lion Fish Containment Diver and teaches people the techniques needed to capture Lion Fish in support of our efforts to control the population of these fish. For those of you who do not know, they are not native to this region and so have no natural predators and as they are rampant feeders and reproducers, they can ruin a reef.

In addition, the Utila College of Marine Ecology organized the first Utila Lion Fish Derby. Teams from all the dive centres spent a day capturing and killing Lion Fish and the total for the day was almost 500, which makes a signifcant impact.

The first Utila Lion Fish Derby was a huge success

April and May have also been really big Tech months here. We have certified several new tech and Trimix divers and also some new Tech instructors. If you are interested in taking tech classes, just drop us a line and we can let you have more information.

Congratulations to all our new Tech and Trmix divers and instructors

If you fancy trying something new, don’t forget we also are the only place in the region that can teach you Sidemount diving. This traditionally has been used by Cave Divers and involves wearing 2 tanks on a harness. This removes a lot of the cumbersome and heavy equipment you usually wear and gives you much more flexibility to move and fit through tighter spaces. Those who have done it say it is like flying!

Finally, one reminder of the big event that is fast apprioaching….yes it is nearly time for Sunjam 2011. For more information check out http://sunjamutila.com. The confirmed date for this year is 6th August and it will be taking place on Water Cay. Remember the island gets crazy busy during this period, so be sure to reserve accommodation now!

That is it for now. Check our the website for regular posts and if you have pictures or comments from a trip to see us, please post them!

Take care and hope to see you here soon

All the staff at UDC