MY UTILA LIFE: August 2011

Friday, August 12, 2011

TREASURE BEACH AUGUST 2011, CAY FEST ON PIGEON CAY, WHALE SHARKS & DOLPHINS

yikes

What a beautiful month at Treasure Beach. The weather has been wonderful, low 90's with a refreshing sea breeze and the water has been a balmy 85f. Lots of whale shark sightings this month and there has been a large pod of spinner dolphins around the island for weeks, I think everyone has swum with them at least once.

There was a lovely day called "Cay Fest" on Pigeon Cay (5 mins by boat from Treasure Beach), lots of fun for the kids with games, races and contests and at night musical performances.

Treasure Beach looks lovely with all the flowering and fruiting trees coming into bloom at the same time (there is a continuous cycle of blooming but once a year everything coincides), so there is lots of fruit to eat.

There has been lots of whale shark sightings this month and a large pod of spinner dolphins has been all around the island for three weeks. They've been seen at Treasure Beach, Raggedy Cay, Northside, in front of Deep Blue Resort, even in town. Its hard to meet anyone on Utila at the moment who hasn't swum with them!

old fashioned egg & spoon race's

go oliver go

Thursday, August 4, 2011

THE BRAVE LITTLE RAY

this little chap has been hanging around treasure beach for the last couple of weeks. i've seen adult southern stingrays feeding like this before but never juveniles. there must be something pretty tasty under the sand at high tide !

UTILA : MY TOP TEN PICKS FOR FOOD & DRINKS

DRIFTWOOD INN - great for a cool breezy lunch on the dock, bruce on the b.b.q. at night (his brisket is famous on the island but i like the beer battered snapper). a favorite amongst the expats, horse shoes on the sand & u.s. sports on t.v. sunday afternoons.
LUNCH AT THE CAYS- wether you choose beau's "fishburger" or mr. hermans "cay view", no trip to utila is complete without lunch on the cays. everyone goes for the fish burgers but i prefer the chicken or lobster (in season). great places to spend a surface interval, bring your camera.
MANGO INN-best pizza on the island, authentic thin crust italian style from the brick oven. beautiful gardens, watch the hummingbirds feed by day, bats at night.
THE INDIAN WOK- consistently good indian/asian cuisine, a welcome new addition to utila.
THE PURPLE PELICAN-my new favourite place for lunch. located at pine point one of utilas prettiest beaches. nice food, beach chairs and lovely water (i've never seen so many starfish). stay for a couple of hours, eat, drink, swim and relax.
THOMPSONS BAKERY- the place to stop on your way to that first dive of the day. great coconut bread and cinnamon rolls.
TRANQUILLA BAR- a favorite of backpackers and locals, great place to sit on the water and watch the sun go down. an eclectic music selection fuels the party as the evening progress', an institution on utila.
TREETANIC BAR- located in a treehouse on the grounds of the jade seahorse. atmospheric , hip bar thats a favorite of the divemasters and younger expats. things usually get going around 10pm,. nice crowd, good vibe.
ULTRA LIGHT - great falafel sandwiches and chicken schwarma . very reasonably priced, quality middle eastern food.
UTOPIA RESORT- for a special evening out of town, chef hugh prepares the best food on the island (probably honduras), his menu changes daily . try the blackfin tuna if its available, amazing ! accessible only by boat from town, contact the hotel to make reservations and transportation arrangements.