Just a week before, the bus company that took me from the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa to La Ceiba had been attacked, the driver killed and set on fire. But my trip went without any problems. In La Ceiba I shared a taxi to the hostel with some British people. The city was only a stopover for me to take the boat from here to Roatan.
A rollercoaster boat trip to Roatan
This boat trip from La Ceiba left me with one of the most formative impressions of my journey. The further the boat made its way into the Atlantic Ocean, the more the bow of the boat swayed up and down. We passengers felt like we were on a roller coaster. I am glad that I only ate a little bit for breakfast, because what happened afterwards can only be described as a "wild vomiting orgy". Nearly every passenger started to throw up. All around me I heard these gruesome noises. The boat crew couldn't keep up at all, collecting all the vomit bags, the trash cans filled up quickly. Some of them puked their entire souls out of their bodies, that's how horrible it sounded. Me and my Guatemalan sitting neighbour were among the few who did not throw up. Such a swell is not normal. This delayed our arrival by about 1 hour.
Arriving on the island I shared a taxi to a hostel together with 2 other German women. The island Roatan stretches over many kilometers. You definitely need a car to get from one end of the island to the other. I had no reservation for the hostel, but I got the last still accessible place! I was lucky! The owner of the hostel was an Argentine hippie. So it was not surprising that the hostel crew came together in a circle in the evening to play guitar.
Together with 2 Italians I later went swimming in the Caribbean Sea. Both had spent the week before on the party island Utila to do an advanced diving course (and drink lots of rum). In the evening we visited a bar directly on the beach and watched the fire directly at the sea. Unlike on the mainland the inhabitants here speak English instead of Spanish. No surprise that many American tourists visit it. In the bar there was almost no local.
Walking along the beautiful beaches of Roatan
The next day I spent alone at the beach. I walked from my hostel to a more distant beach at the west end of the island, which is especially popular with tourists. I walked along the beautiful sandy beaches, which I consider to be the most beautiful of my whole trip. Those who walk a little can find lonely beach sections where hardly anybody is. But I stayed at West Ba which is especially popular with families. Generally, Roatan is more popular with families and normal tourists. Backpackers prefer the island Utila with smaller prices and a more casual flair. However, the beaches in Roatan are much nicer.
At the beach I finally started to read the book 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marcia Marquez, but gave up quickly due to his overly fantasy-filled and somewhat confusing writing style. In between I refreshed myself in the Atlantic Ocean. In the afternoon I went in search of food and a place to watch the 2016 European Championship quarterfinal between Germany and Italy. I ordered something to eat at a small snack bar. Apparently the saleswoman liked me so much that I didn't even have to pay anything. Afterwards I sat down at a bar to watch the game and got into conversation with a Honduran who lives in America. He couldn't understand that I didn't like the German national team and again I didn't have to pay anything because the Honduran paid for me. And as I was not lucky enough that day, I even got my boat trip back to my hostel paid by an American. Otherwise this never happens to me, in Roatan 3 times haha!
Searching for scuba diving course in Utila
The next morning I took the boat over to Utila, the smaller island. In Utila I was about to get my diving license. There are hardly any hostels there, but almost only diving schools, but they also offer accommodation. Nevertheless I booked a hostel on the first day, but it was not so good because of the atmosphere and the location. Nearly all diving schools are US-American. I didn't want a party diving school where even the instructors drink so much rum that one can get scared. I found a good diving school called Alton's Dive Center almost at the end of the island, where a typical American Sunshine Girl showed me the diving school. The diving school seemed to me to have just the right mixture of nonchalance and seriousness. I was immediately enthusiastic and agreed to do my dive here. I got a four-bed room directly at the water on a pier.
On the first day, only theory was on the agenda. We studied the books and the videos one after the other. The first dive in shallow water was scheduled for the following day. And I have to say, it takes a lot of getting used to dive with this huge gas bottle on the back into the water. The longer we were in the water, the more I started to freeze, because we didn't move much. I even had to get out of the water temporarily and change from a short swimsuit to a long-sleeved swimsuit. In the evening we passed the theory test with ease. You could even talk to each other during the exam.
The first dive in the open ocean with Dolphins
The third day brought the long awaited dive in the open sea. The small boat was bobbing back and forth. Some of us got sick again. It is quite a procedure to prepare all the equipment for the dive. You should not do anything wrong, it could cost you your life. But each person is assigned a partner to check if everything is right.
One by one we dived into the Atlantic Ocean. And what made me freeze most on my first dive in the open sea was this incredible silence of the ocean. All you hear is your own breathing. It's a pretty frightening feeling to know that you are surrounded only by water and not to lose your peace at all. If you panic, you breathe more quickly and the oxygen tanks run out faster. You must also be careful not to surface too quickly, as this will inflate your lungs (due to the higher pressure at depth and the lower pressure at the surface). During one of my first dives I mixed up the buttons for inflating and deflating the air in the swim bladder. Instead of letting air out, I let some in and thus ascended faster. I felt a bit dizzy when I came back to the surface, but we dived at a depth where the effects of the diving sickness were not yet noticeable.
During all the dives we prove our abilities. For example, you had to take off and put back on your goggles or oxygen tank underwater. Another test included a quick emergency ascent (like when there is no more air in the oxygen tank).
The biggest problem I had was descending. You always have to blow gently into your nose to equalize the pressure in your ears. I always felt a strong pain in my ears when I dived down and then blew so hard into my nose that my nose was bloody after each dive. I was the only one in the group who felt this way.
We all passed the tests more or less without any problems. The best dive was the last where we saw turtles and sharks. On the way to the dive site we also saw dolphins. Spontaneously we rushed into the water and I saw dolphins swimming under me! How beautiful!
Enjoying the beautiful sunsets at the pier
The dives usually took place early in the morning or later in the afternoon and consumed our strength, so we all went to bed early.
As a certified diver you get a log book where you can write all the details about your dives (like the used gear, length and depth of dive). And later you let it stamp by your diving guide. During my dives I encountered many creatures from the underwater world, including: Bull sharks, Hawksbill turtle, Green Moray eel, Queen Trigger fish, Scrawled Pilefish, Anglefish, Whiptail Stingray, Hogfish, Quillfinn Blenny. The dives lasted around 30...45 minutes and we dived until a depth of 18 meters.
Our dive group was also really cool. There were 3 Spaniards, 1 Pole, 1 Mexican, 2 Israelis and 1 Moroccan (who get the licence even though he couldnt do most of the divings because of his sickness). In the evenings I often got myself a baleada, the Honduran national dish (a tortilla with mashed beans). And after that we often watched the beautiful sunset on the docks together or relaxed with a beer. The island is also known for its party reputation. However, all the party places to go out are almost only visited by tourists of couse.
After the course finished I rented a bike on my last day on the island and explored a little bit the quieter places of the island, where hardly any tourists are to be found.
The next morning I took the boat back to the Honduran mainland.
