The going-ons at UDC… October 4, 2012

Appreciation and salutations from all of us at Utila Dive Centre. It’s been an amazing crazy year so far and things are still swinging as we head into rainy season. January, April, June and September all brought in Whale Sharks, keeping up Utila’s reputation for being one a few the unique places where they can be seen year round. We’ve also been regularly spotting dolphins to hop in with and have seen an upswing of sharks present in area, including Nurse Sharks, Hammerheads, and Caribbean Reef Sharks. The underwater visibilities continues to be crystal clear and the water is a balmy 28 degrees Celcius/82 degrees Fahrenheit, can’t ask for much better!

WHALE SHARK!  Photo by Sabine Templeton

The month of August saw yet another rocking SunJam out at Water Key. The event brought in ferry-fulls of divers and non divers alike to dance the night away to world renowned DJs under the stars, and then continue the party at Coco’s bar through Sunday. UDC staff and divers were out in full force partying beneath the palm trees; as working hard to play hard is what we do best!

August was a busy month as just a week after SunJam we went straight into the first-ever annual Utila Dive Festival. The fest was a week-long, island-wide string of events, beginning with a vibrate opening ceremony with barbecue, live music, introductions from PADI Americas representatives that came down for the week, and UDC’s own DJ Jhair getting the crowd moving late into the evening. The rest of the week brought awesome events such as an underwater scavenger hunt, Rebreather and Tec Sidemount try-outs, Scuba Olympics, Fish ID and Whale Shark talks, an underwater photo contest, an island-wide pub quiz, a boat parade in the harbor and much much more, with staff and divers from UDC taking home the majority of the top prizes! The week was a complete success and as exhausted as we were by the end of it, we can’t wait for next year!

Old Tom during Dive Fest.  Photo by Nikki Kelday

September came and went and with it went a cornerstone of the rotational instructor team for the past three years; our dearest Josiah “Juicy” Mackin has pick up and moved on. Recognizing an excellent excuse for a party or two, we sent Juice off with a bang! The week before he went saw his legendary quiz team Mammoth Cow score their final victory at the weekly UDC bar pub quiz, a Pig Roast for the weekly barbecue at Maya and Fernando’s, and last but certainly not least we shut down the dive center on Sunday afternoon and brought everyone over to Sarah and Dec’s for an epic pool party and Juicy’s final snorkel test! There was sunshine, a breeze and DJ Jhair spinning tunes, pretty hard to beat. THIS IS UDC!

Juicy and the Pig.  Photo by El Yeti

Dec and Sarah’s jam-packed pool!  Photo by Hannes Df