RETURN TO COPAN RUINAS

My wife and i recently visited the Mayan ruins at Copan and once again we had a marvelous time. We rode the Hedman Alas bus from La Cieba ($30 for a first class ticket) and were thoroughly impressed with the service and the comfort of the Mercedes Benz buses used. We stayed at Hacienda San Lucas just outside of the town of Copan, it's beautiful and in my opinion the best hotel and restaurant in Honduras. The Hacienda oozes old world charm and the nature is breathtaking (great bird watching). Flavia the hotelier is an amazing woman (she spent thirty years in the U.S. before returning to the Hacienda that her grandfather built) and her family and staff are delightful.
As in past trips we hired a guide at the site of the ruins ($40 for 3-4 hours) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the company of our guide. Apart from the ruins themselves, the nature and the way it's grown on and around the site is beautiful (the ceiba trees are enormous), a little bit of Ankor Wat in Central America. If you visit, be sure to go to the onsite museum, it houses probably the greatest collection of mayan stone carvings in the world. Copan may not be the biggest city of the Mayan civilization but it was certainly a center for the arts.
A perfect Honduran vacation? A week at Treasure Beach followed by a couple of nights at Copan gets my vote!

MY FAVORITE LUNCH SPOT

My favorite place to eat lunch on Utila is the Purple Pelican on Pine Point beach. It's one of only two buildings on about two miles of water front and its the perfect spot for a long leisurely break. I like to kayak from Treasure Beach (it takes about half an hour) the water is so clear and there are hundreds of big orange starfish, it's truly spectacular. The Purple Pelican is built over the water so it gets a nice cooling breeze most days. Kurt and Amy (owner and manager) have put up a volley ball court and lots of sun beds on the beach, so it makes a great place to spend an afternoon, eating, drinking, snorkeling, relaxing. And paddling back to Treasure Beach on a kayak helps to burn away some of the fish taco and beer calories !!
If you've come out from town, stay later and watch a spectacular sunset over the sea and cays, something you won't see in town.

WHALE SHARK LOVE

If you're lucky enough to see them, diving or snorkeling with Utila' whale sharks is a life affirming experience. I'm praying that none of "my" whale sharks are up in the Gulf of Mexico right now (many of Utila' sharks travel up to Belize and the Gulf), they love to feed at the surface and that would mean certain death. Sorry about the quality but this video was shot entirely on a little point and shoot digital camera.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO TREASURE BEACH

Actually no roads lead to Treasure Beach but its been a truly international crowd here lately. The first three months of the year have seen guests from Italy, Canada, France, Britain and the U.S. (Nappa Valley). It's always fun to see peoples faces when they first arrive, they've usually had a long day of travel and when they pull up in the boat and see the house and beach, big smiles all around and i can practically feel them ahhhhhhhhh.

BUILDING A DOCK

Our new dock/boat hoist/deck is now finished. The deck is the perfect spot for morning coffee, sunbathing, catching a cooling breeze and star gazing at night (i've already fallen asleep on it several nights), plus it's a safe harbor for our boat the "H.M.S. Bendable".

FEEDING TIME AT TREASURE BEACH

A couple of days ago a huge school of bait fish spent the day hiding under and around the pier (despite the fact we were working there, hammering and sawing loudly). At the end of the day, as usual I went out to watch the sunset. Word must have got out about the bait fish and just as I arrived at the pier the attack began. I quickly ran to the house and grabbed the camera. In less than five minutes it was all over. The pelicans, juvenile barracuda, needle fish and a couple of five foot tarpon has sent the bait fish fleeing to deeper waters, at least those that hadn't already been eaten.

WORK ON THE DOCK CONTINUES

I've been a bit m.i.a. on the blog lately but there have been lots of guests staying at Treasure Beach this month and facebook seems more convenient for most people. Anyway, now that we have a break from guests for a couple of weeks work can continue on the new boat slip and the deck above. The views from the deck are spectacular, an ariel view of the coral reef, plus the beautiful sunrise and sunsets. I'll post some photos in a day or two.

PREPARING FOR EASTER ON THE CAYS

At this time of year the fisherman on the cays start preparing for Easter (Santa Semana) and that means drying salt fish. The smell on the cays is certainly pungent as every wall, fence and roof is covered in fish drying in the sun. Once it's ready most will be shipped to mainland Honduras where it will be eaten as part of the Good Friday celebrations. Santa Semana is a huge holiday in Central America and definitely the busiest tourist time of the year on Utila. Hundreds of young holiday makers will arrive from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, as well as many Utilians living abroad who come home for the party.

COMING SOON A NEW BOAT SLIP AND LIFT WITH SUNBATHING DECK ABOVE

"Let me tell you ..... we gonna pound ................. and we gonna pound ................... and we gonna pound ............... And when we done a poundin' .................. dem posts be way down in there ............. real good........... you betcha' .............. Solid wi' out a doubt"

peter my foreman

FLYING BACK TO UTILA

Treasure Beach and the Utila Cays are an amazing sight from the air (and especially nice when you ask Sabina the pilot to circle nice and low to take photos).

RAINY SEASON/DIVE MASTER BEGININGS

Well rainy season is upon us, last week three days of torrential rain and more of the same this week. However when the rain stops and the sun comes out i get to see this view again and it never gets old. I've spent the last two weeks working on my padi dive master course which has been a lot of fun and i even got to assist Juca teaching a padi advanced open water course. I'll be hitting the books while i'm back in Chicago and will pick up the practical part of the course again when i return to Utila.

OUR FIRST BANANAS

We planted some young banana shoots (donated by our night watchman "El Pastor") in February and they've just sent out their first fruit. Really beautiful and i had no idea that each baby banana had a flower on it, kind of like a courgette (zucchini). Hopefully we'll be around when they are ripe, i love bananas and the potassium stops me getting leg cramps when i dive!

THIS MONTH AT TREASURE BEACH

Every year on the nights leading up to the September full moon, the land crabs come out of the jungle and migrate down the beach to drop their eggs into the sea. There are literally thousands (the pics don't do it justice), they're even up the almond and sea grape trees. Every night for a week or so we watch this amazing sight that is like something from a National Geographic episode, it will either intrigue you or freak you out!

There have been lots of guests at the Pineapple House this month. we had a group of eight (four couples) from Pennsylvania for a week at the beginning of September. While they were at Treasure Beach five of the group completed the p.a.d.i. advanced diving course. Congratulations to Sean N. and company, it was really nice to welcome you to Utila and thanks for sharing your lovely photos.

Another group of four guests stayed for the last two weeks of the month. Christi, Allan and friends really got into the no phones, t.v. or outside distractions and got thoroughly decompressed from their busy lives climbing the corporate ladder in New York City. Christi became a certified open water diver and the whole group wiled away many hours snorkeling our house reef. All the friends agreed that it was very hard to leave Treasure Beach and that they'd loved the Pineapple House.

Without doubt one of the high points of the month for me was watching a pod of pilot whales pass between Treasure Beach and Diamond Cay just before sunset one afternoon, beautiful.

LION FISH ARRIVE ON UTILA !

well i guess it was inevitable, they're showing up all over the caribbean. however, seeing two on one day, at different dive sights, was still a big surprise. we saw our first utilan lion fish (juveniles) on dives one morning last week, one at "the pinnacle" on the northside and another at raggedy cay on the westside. we tried to get them with a knife but they're slippery devils and to be honest we were worried about getting stung. they certainly are pretty though.

TREASURE BEACH VACATION RENTALS

I've just finished editing this short 2 minute video showing the homes available for vacation rental at Treasure Beach, check it out.

A GOOD DAY

there's something about being in the water with a whale shark that just makes my day (manta rays have the same effect).

UTILA MARINE LIFE

an overview of what you can expect to see diving and snorkeling on utila (or just sitting on the pier at treasure beach).

UTILA....THE LITTLE ISLAND THAT COULD.

although the bay islands have been unaffected by the current political situation in honduras, it's inhabitants have strong feelings about what's been happening and the way in which it's reported in the media.

i especially like the sign that says "honduras is an example to the world. we don't have oil or money but we have balls! we want peace and freedom, viva honduras."

TREASURE BEACH, UTILA.............THE MOVIE !

although i'm a klutz on the computer, even i could do this with the help of my trusty mac.

JUCA COMES TO CHICAGO

while travelling to europe for a family wedding, honduras' top diving instructor mr. juan carlos castillo molina stopped off in chicago to see honduras vs. u.s.a. in the world cup qualifier. there were so many honduran fans in chicago for the match (2-1 over u.s. fans) that when i took him sight seeing around my town, he met more people he knew than i did!

we'll be diving with juca again in three weeks when we all return to utila. i can't wait !

NEW OCEAN KAYAKS

currently in transit from the u.s. and arriving at Treasure Beach soon, one double & one single ocean kayak. guests can now paddle to their hearts content! lunch on the utila cays or at the purple pelican on pine point beach are now just a paddle way. amazingly beautiful and you'll burn all the calories that's for sure. please don't forget to bring your mask and snorkel but most importantly, sunscreen and a hat!

Ahhh the wonders of nature.

forget about watching t.v. when you're at treasure beach (actually i don't have a t.v.).  get outside, you just never know what you might see when you're sitting on the pier waiting to watch the sunset!

NIGHT SNORKELING AT TREASURE BEACH

one of my favorite things to do in the evening is to snorkel from our pier. you never know what you might see and it's as good as any night dives i've ever done.  the sea is very other worldly at night and when there's no moon (and my dive light is turned off, or broken!) the phosphorescence is magical. 

MI PEQUENO AMIGO

our night watchman has a little dog named camilla who's taken quite a shine to me (or my couch) lately. back in january when she first started patrolling our beach at night she wouldn't come near me. then one night i came home and found her asleep on one of the couches on my veranda. now she's my best buddy and hangs out with me every evening and usually sleeps on the veranda outside my bedroom at night. she's a great watchdog and chases the crab hunters off of our beach every night (she likes to "play" with the crabs and doesn't like the competition) and is most insistent that nobody goes on our pier except the treasure beach residents. camilla, mi pequeno amigo (i think that means, my little friend).

THE PINEAPPLE HOUSE IS FINISHED !

i'm so proud of the new house we just finished, it's beautiful. the pineapple house has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a huge kitchen/living/dining room. i spent the last few days living in it to make sure that there's no little electrical or plumbing tweaks needed but all was perfect. like the coral house that i completed last year, the pineapple house really takes full advantage of the prevailing east wind to naturally cool the house. the big veranda that wraps around the house stays shady all day and is the perfect spot for siestas and what an amazing view!