When we arrived in La Ceiba at the end of a long journey it was dark and raining. It was still raining the next morning when we took the ferry over to Utila and I thought that we would not stay very long. The ferry costs about H$220.87 each way, leaves at about 10am from La Ceiba each day and takes about one hour. Once we arrived we headed straight on towards Loma Vista and got a room with a couple of fans for H$80.00. We were pleasantly surprised to find that one of the showers there was hot, a rare luxury. The cheaper accommodation tends to be a short walk from the sea front. However, if you are planning to do a dive course then many places will provide accommodation as part of the price so it's worth visiting the dive shops before you get a place to stay.
I hadn't planned on diving the day we arrived but we went to have a look around and after speaking to a couple of the dive shops I found that I could start my dives that afternoon. I chose to dive with Alton's Dive Shop and they charged me H$1682.01 for a referral. The price for the 4 day Padi Open Water Course was H$2701.41 including accommodation and 2 fun dives.
