Getting there:
On our summer 2006 trip to Utila aboard the Aggressor, we took the most direct route. We started from our home town of Fort Myers, Florida, and from there we made connections in Houston, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba before finally reaching our destination in Utila. Traveling here was quite a difficult task, not due to the distance, but rather the amount of equipment we were able to bring. We had a severe weight limit of only 50 lbs per person. We photographers know how difficult it can be to limit ourselves to the bare necessities in this new digital age, with bigger DSLR‘s and their housings. I, myself, usually travel with a spare Rebel 300d with an 18-55 mm lens, housed by Sea and Sea, with flat port and dome port. So with the weight restrictions I had to limit myself to the bare minimum with my equipment. This included my camera, the Canon 1DS Mark II, a 28-90 macro lens and 17-40 wide-angle lens, and a Seacam housing with super dome and flat port. Along with all of that were the necessary accessories, o-ring grease, and tools needed to maintain the housing and ports. My strobes were the Ikelite DS 200 and the Sea and Sea YS 90 Auto. Talk about roughing it!
The Crew:
The crew consisted of 5 people, which worked out to a 2-1 ratio of passengers to crew. This made it very simple for the crew to keep track of us and attend to any problems that might occur, whether it was photography equipment issues or buoyancy underwater. The crew members were Capt Eddie, Photo tech –Shara, Video tech –Nestor, and cooks –Shane and Candy. Each of them was very personal and interested in each of us. All of the food they served was excellent in its simplicity, with lots of BBQ, which is the way I like it after a long day of diving. Finally, they would always go out of their way to see that all of out needs were met. They were very knowledgeable about camera equipment and always willing to help us out in any way they possibly could. Thanks to the amazing eyes of Shara, Eddie, and Nestor, amazing macro subjects, such as sea horses, flatworms, scorpion fish, and nudibranchs, were made visible.
The Ship – The Utila Aggressor is a 3-decked boat. The 1st level (lower deck) contains the cabins and the engine room. The middle level is composed of the dive deck at the stern, which includes the camera table and air compressor, and the galley and salon are located inside. The top level is where cookouts were held and where the HOT TUB WAS! That’s right, a hot tub on a live aboard. I never would have expected that!
Conditions:
The temperature was at a constant 81 degrees, which was very nice for summer diving. There was minimal surge and the waves did not exceed 2 feet. Current was no problem either and barley noticeable.
Diving:
Day 1, Dives 1 and 2: Old Bank
Now, this being Utila, I was expecting something a little better than what we started with, but this was just a checkout dive. Here I took the time to break in my newly acquired super dome port from Sea Cam, using it with my 28-90 lens, even though my photo advisors said this lens would not work with this port. I saw that it did not focus quite as well with my flat port but still did an adequate job. After testing that port and focusing mainly on composition techniques, I switched to the flat port. This proved beneficial to me. On this dive the sun was brighter, and it was easier to spot macro life, and a nine-inch dome just doesn’t cut it. Macro life we spotted consisted mainly of arrow crabs and blennies.
Dives 3 and 4: Ragged Cay
These dives were on a much steeper and deeper wall. Here we found a lot more life, such as turtles, moray eels, lobsters, bandit shrimp, arrow crabs, and lots of angelfish, despite the impaired visibility. I think the most interesting thing on this dive was the fact that our turtle was in between me and my father. So, many of our photos contained not only the turtle, but also us shooting the turtle as well.
Day 2, Dive 1: Old Bank
Now this was a magnificent wall dive with amazing visibility and life. When our crew said it would be good for wide angle, they couldn’t have been more right. With my 17-40 lens and superdome port, there was never a dull moment. I especially loved it when I shot from the inside of a cave with my father nearby outside the cave in beautiful blue background. This made for an amazing moment indeed. The sun was the final factor in this dive, and never have I had it corporate better for me than today. With blazing light, these wide-angle shots were poetry in motion.
Dives 2 and 3: The Pinnacle
This site was actually shaped like a histogram in photo shop; pretty ironic. This made for great diver shots with wide angle, using the pinnacles as each diver would come across it, almost like climbing up a hill. The site was loaded with tons of macro life, including peppermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp, blennies, and a barracuda.
Day 3, Dive 1: Aquila Wreck
This site was down 110 feet on huge wreck broken apart into three pieces. Despite the wreck structure, there was an abundance of sponges and algae, which made for great color. Along with that, a friendly green moray and tons of different species of grouper made for an interesting wreck dive.
Dive 2: Tauianas Wall
This wall was very interesting due to all of the different marine life. Throughout this reef were lots of bubble sponges and sponges of different colors of green, blue, and purple, which I had not encountered on this trip. Then to encounter lizardfish and a very photogenic turtle topped off anther good dive in Roatan in our journey through Honduras.
Dive 3: Half Moon Bay
This dive was a beautifully lit wall with gaps in between the coral structures. This made for a unique layout which I loved shooting. The different sponges were optimal subjects for the unique layout of the reef.
Day 4, Dive 1: Dolphins Cave
This dive was not as good for photos as previous dives, because it was a narrow cave with 10-12 divers entering at the same time. This created massive amounts of backscatter. However, there were interesting amounts sunlight shining through the rocks, creating great wide-angle shots, although only a few were decent enough to save.
Dive 2: Crawfish
Of all the sites, this seemed like the most basic one of the trip. It reminded me of good old Florida Keys diving. Still more life and more to see, of course, but the feeling was there. Notable subjects were Grey, French, and Queen Angels, and juvenile spotted drums.
Dive 3: Eels Garden
This dive was the most notable site of Roatan. Magnificent walls etched with canyons throughout the site made for great topography. Along with that there were great Caribbean anemones, Queen, Gray, and French angles, and a baby spotted moray. I would call that a great dive to top off the day.
Final Day, Final Dive: Ted’s Point
This was the last dive of the trip, and, as always, I love it when these final dives to go off with a bang. Here I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. Right after I jumped in the water right behind my father was a southern stingray. With no time to adjust settings, it was a good thing I have gotten good at predicting my settings in advance. After that we came across two sea horses; both a male and female in red and black colors. When we came back to dive the site again, we actually witnessed the mating of the two seahorses. Talk about one for the record books and a great way to wrap up a trip!
Getting Back Home:
We started from Utila and flew to San Pedro Sula, then to Houston, and finally to Tampa. Then we drove back to Fort Myers from there.
Final Afterthought:
I enjoyed diving in Utila very much. The crew was amazing, and the people I had the pleasure of living with this week were very friendly. I invite the crew and divers on this excursion to Utila to come back and dive with me and CK Photo Tours again. It was indeed a pleasure meeting them all. As for the diving, it was some of the best of the Caribbean, with frequent turtle encounters, flat worms, and many species of shrimp and macro life. Huge wide angle opportunities and, of course, sea horse mating made this trip one to remember.
Editorial and Photos by Chris Kovaz -
www.divingwithchriskovaz.com
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