My Son's Excellent Adventure in Utila

By Steve Kinsman, 12th Apr 2011 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/10rr3.7./
Posted in Wikinut>Travel>Other

The tiny island of Utila off the coast of Honduras is a mecca for divers.

It may be Honduras, but it's not.

Diving

Utila is a small island an hour and a half from the Honduran mainland by ferry, one of three called the Bay Islands. It is only twenty-four square miles in area and has a population of about seven thousand people. It is a magnet for divers from all over the world, since it has a vast array of colorful tropical fish swimming among its coral reefs and old shipwrecks. It is a peaceful, laid-back place, with but a single road stretching from one end of the island to the other. There are charming little bistros and bars, and since the island is so small and much of it is dense jungle, walking and bicycle riding are the best ways to get around.

You will meet people from every corner of the world here - Spanish, American, Norwegian, German, French and more. In Utila, it is often said that "everyone here is from somewhere else." Unlike Honduras itself, it is peaceful, quiet, safe and serene, with none of the political strife that often erupts on the mainland. Scuba diving is the fuel that runs the engine of the island's economy, and there are numerous dive shops and diving schools which are among the most inexpensive in the world.

Taylor Seizes an Opportunity

Sandy Beach - Utila

Our son Taylor, itching for some adventure and a desire to escape our cold Northern California winter, left this past January with a few hundred dollars in his pocket to travel to Utila and enroll in one of its diving schools, with an eye toward earning a dive master certificate. With a Moon-Jupiter conjunction in Pisces, he had always been drawn to the sea, and having begun swimming lessons at the age of four, is an excellent swimmer.

The dive instructors took an immediate liking to him and he advaced rapidly in the course, so rapidly in fact that soon they were asking him to assist in the instruction of newcomers. By now he is a full-fledged instructor, and he has secured a job as a waiter two days a week, which keeps him in spending money.

People who travel to Utila more often than not want to figure out a way to stay - the island is full of expatriates - and Taylor is no exception. He was scheduled to return to California after a three-month stay, but he was eager to continue his adventure and in no way did he want to leave.

Well, the universe tends to give us what we want, although it can come in unexpected ways. A couple of weeks ago Taylor was napping in a hammock when someone sneaked up and stole his wallet from his pocket (he's a heavy sleeper), and now he was without funds and quite literally stuck.

Fortunately for Taylor, the folks at his dive shop told him that since the busy season was about to start they would hire him through the fall of this year, so now he sits on cloud nine, knowing that his adventure of a lifetime will continue for many more months to come.

Meet the author

Steve Kinsman
I live in California with my wife Carol, where I have been practicing professional astrology for 35 years. I write articles on astrology, but I enjoy writing on a variety of other subjects as well, such as athletics and politics.