There’s one thing Utila is known for – scuba diving. We went there to find a scuba diving school and get our PADI certification. At the time Utila was the cheapest place to get PADI certified in the world, so how could we not?

We spent five days learning how to dive, reading our dive books and literally living the life on a tropical island. Not bad considering we were less than three months into our trip. We met people who had arrived with the goal of getting their basic PADI certification- 6 months later they were completing divemaster certification and planning to be dive instructors. Perhaps a tropical island just does that to you?

The whale sharks, which live in the Bay Islands (Utila and it’s larger sister Roatan) for most of the year, decided to head up to Belize the week before. Go figure, and so began our dissapointing experience always “just missing” the whale sharks around the world. One day!

This photo was taken between dive trips. Our diving school (Underwater Vision) had hammocks scattered around the property, Danny was lucky enough to snag this one in the shade for a mid-afternoon nap.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: We chose Utila for scuba lessons over Roatan because it fit our personality a bit better. There are good dive shops on both, Roatan is much larger, with more to do. Utila is pretty much a one horse town, although it’s got plenty of restaurants, shops and bars. We liked the vibe on Utila, but watch out for the sand flies if they’re in season. PADI certifications are accessible all over the caribbean, and there are plenty of dive spots all over the area. Do a search for Dominican Republic holidays or scuba lessons in the caribbean to see the plethora that’s on offer.