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A Photographer's adventure in Utila, Honduras

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A Photographer's adventure in Utila, Honduras | Article by: Chris Kovaz

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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 30d 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 our 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.

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Article and photos provided by: Chris Kovaz

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