Útila
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| Útila Island | |
|---|---|
| Elevation: | 74 m (243 ft) |
| Coordinates: | |
| Location: | Bay Islands, Honduras |
| Type: | Pyroclastic cones |
| Last eruption: | Unknown |
Utila (Isla de Utila) is the third largest of Honduras's Bay Islands, after Guanaja. Útila is now starting to undergo the same commercialisation that Roatan experienced in the mid to late 1990s. With some of the best diving locations, Útila is attracting the general tourist along with its previous army of international back-packers.
Utila attracts people from around the world to dive and snorkel its extensive reefs teeming with marine life, including the elusive whale shark. Útila borders on the Mesoamerican barrier reef system, the second-largest reef in the world, after the Australian Great Barrier Reef. There are currently about 50 established scuba diving sites on Útila.
Ruins on all three of the Bay Islands indicate that they were inhabited well before the Europeans arrived. Christopher Columbus, on his fourth voyage to the new world, landed on the island of Guanaja on July 30th, 1502. He encountered a fairly large population of Indians whom he believed to be cannibals. The Spanish enslaved the islanders and sent them to work on the plantations of Cuba and gold and silver mines of Mexico.
They did not stay uninhabited for long, however. English, French & Dutch pirates established settlements on the islands and raided the cumbersome Spanish cargo vessels laden with gold and other treasures from the new world. The English buccaneer Henry Morgan established his base at Port Royal on Roatan, about 30 kilometers from Útila, in the mid-17th century; at that time as many as 5,000 pirates were living on that island.
Colonization by the Spanish began in the early 1500s. Over the next century, the Spanish plundered the island for its slave trade and eliminated the island of Indians by the early 1600s. Britain, in its aggressive attempt to colonize the Caribbean from the Spanish, occupied the Bay Islands on and off between 1550 and 1700. During this time, the Buccaneers found the vacated, mostly unprotected Islands a haven for safe harbor and transport. Útila is rich in pirate lore: to this day, scuba divers look for sunken treasure from Captain Morgan's lost booty from his raid on Panama in 1671.
The British were forced to give back the Bay Islands to the Honduran government in the mid 1800s. It was at this time that the nearly uninhabited islands was being seeded by its now Caymanian roots. They remain rich in Caymanian culture and dialect.
Útila has been a part of Honduras for over 150 years. Yet its nature reflects its independence and its local government works diligently to promote and protect its unique and wonderful culture. For almost 200 years Spanish conquistadores and British pirates battled for control of these islands, ignoring the Indians for the most part. During this period, the Islands were used for food and wood supplies, safe harbor, and slave trading. Remains of British forts and towns named after famous pirates remain as their legacy. One group of slaves was "parked" here during this time during the heat of a battle. When the winners came to collect them, the slaves refused to go. These are the Garifunas who still populate much of the Bay Islands, maintaining their own cultural identity and language. Punta Gorda on Roatán is one of many villages where they live.
Unique local cuisine includes white bread made with coconut oil, mango jam, iguana and lizard (tastes like chicken), crab, crab and more crab. Interestingly, grated coconut, such as is used to decorate pastries in many countries is cosidered not fit for human consumption and fed to chickens and hogs.
The Bay Islands Declared Tax Free Zone
At 4:00 am on the 29th of November, 2006 The National Congress signed The Law declaring The Bay Islands a Tax Free Zone. The spirit of this law is to promote the touristic development on The Bay Islands and to create an environmentally sustainable socioeconomic framework for the future.
The Bay Islands have faced many major changes in recent years. Fishing has always been the mainstay of this former British Colony, but, tourism is seen as the future. Environmental changes and an increased population on the islands has caused a decrease in fish stocks and now sustenance fishing is in conflict with The Bay Islands number one tourist draw, diving. This has caused many problems between the fishermen and dive conservation and ecological groups as areas that were once prime fishing grounds are now marine reserves.
With the creation of the Tax Free Zone, Islanders will have a greater chance of making a successful transition to The Bay Islands Future by removing tax barriers and creating a business environment that will promote national and foreign tourism and investment. The Municipalities will benefit through the collection of entry fees. Each visitor to The Islands will now pay a fee to enter. Foreigners will pay a fee of $6 arriving by air, $2 arriving by sea and Hondurans will pay $1. These fees, combined with the 2% property certification fee already in effect, will provide the Municipality the finances needed to improve the quality of education and life of The Bay Islanders.
[edit] Photograph gallery
 Aerial view of east side. The old runway is visible as well as the island’s beautiful coral reefs and turquoise water |
 "Big Rock Beach" |
 Hawkbill Turtle at the "Black Hills" divesite |
 A glass grotto at the Unique Jade Seahorse Restaurant |
 The ever calm waters at the "Public Beach" |
 The outhouse over the water is hard to miss! |
 Gorgeous sunsets |
 Typical Road near the Munchies Restaurant, a historic building |
 Typical Traffic Jam, there are only a handful of old pickup trucks on the entire island |
 One of the few places that a tree is still allowed to stay in the middle of the road |
