Utila – Week 1, Day 5: A Legendary Creature
UTILA
Week 1
Day 5: A Legendary Creature
November 17, 2022
PART I
I woke up to the sound of the light pitter-patter of rain. Much like any other place in Central America, the weather in Utila is a bit all over. A light rain in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, a thunderstorm in the evening, and a cloudless starry night sky. Variety’s good, I guess. I was curious to go out and take a look at the hostel’s terrace and sea view, having only had sunny days the previous few days.
My quest was cut short too quickly, with Monkey standing in my way, demanding – once again – that I tell him my name. I sped to the office and demanded I change my room. I’d only be staying there for two more nights, but the thought of spending another minute in the same room as him was almost unbearable. I got a new room, one that was far better in that it was larger and further away from the noisy centre, and I also got a new roommate – Elad, the tallest Israeli I’ve ever met, who quickly became a good pal and, after a while, my platonic boyfriend. We fake-flirted like crazy, and some people actually thought we were together by the end.
Gaining a new friend seemed like a tiny win compared to the loss I’d be suffering – it also happened to be Emma and Julia’s last day here at Underwater Vision, our hearts broken as we’d have to go our separate ways for the time being. But thankfully, we had one final fun dive together and a full day of activities.
Triangle of Hope
Together with Dr Marius – cause yes, there happened to be a divemaster who’s also a doctor and also named Marius – we’d be going to Raggedy Caye.
With the boat all set up, we left early in the morning, taking advantage of the by-then clear sky. As we chatted and mindlessly set up our equipment, Captain Hoover told us we’d be changing our trajectory. Turns out, there had been a rare sighting of an elusive beast – one that hadn’t been spotted in over a year, and one that most people on the island (including many of the dive shop staff) had never seen at all. It was none other than the gentle giant itself – a whale shark.
A friggin’ whale shark! I couldn’t believe my ears when he made the announcement. Well, no one could. You can imagine the flurry of chaos that took over the boat the second Captain Hoover mentioned the animal. I’d heard they might be spotted around Utila, but that it was next to impossible to see them in this season. I felt like the luckiest guy alive – especially since it was one of my favourite fish, and not something I was actually on the lookout for, given how rare I thought they’d be (to encounter by chance and not through baiting, that is). Julia was simply bewildered – it had been her childhood dream to swim with one – and now it was mine too.
And so, full of enthusiasm and with fingers crossed, we hung tight as we were told to gear up with masks, snorkels and fins, sit at the edge of the boat, and then, once the engine was off, gently slide in (so as not to scare it away) and swim along the beast without actually getting too close or touching it. That’s only if we’d be lucky enough to spot it though. I kept my expectations in check, knowing the same whale shark that had been sighted might’ve swum elsewhere, and that usually I am anything but lucky.
I can’t say the anticipation didn’t escalate once we heard Captain Hoover communicating with other boat captains in order to triangulate its current location, with some of them saying it was somewhere close by. After going round in circles for quite a while, we came across another boat – the people on it jumping giddily and screaming, holding a hand above their heads – the international hand symbol for shark. It was there… I couldn’t believe it – we were gonna see it!
We kept going around in circles but, one circle after the other, our excitement started to dwindle. Our eyes were stuck on the waves, looking out for fish jumping out of the water, ripples, fins, or anything that might pop out of the surface. At one point, we saw a large fin which had us all screaming and shouting, but much to our disappointment, it was a false alarm. Just a dolphin – which would’ve been pretty cool under any other circumstance.
We spent a few more minutes searching in vain and then, all resigned, we made our way to Raggedy Caye. “Some other day!” Noah told us, his disappointment clear in both his tone and expression. And who could blame him? This would have been a monumental event for most locals who had been living there their entire lives – imagine for us! That said, it was gonna be just a bonus. We were here to dive – and that’s what we were gonna do! In fact, once we started our first dive, we forgot all about the whale shark. Once at Raggedy Caye, some thirty metres deep, we got to see loads of fish and a gorgeous coral reef that had us in awe throughout. Dr Marius immediately earned respect with his exceptional eyes – being able to spot the unseeable. I swear, at every point, he’d suddenly halt and stand still, pointing at something or another using his ‘magic wand’, as he called it.
It was definitely a fun dive! From spiny lobsters to red-banded shrimps, from drumfish to trunkfish, the variety of things he got us to see was incredible. Not to mention, being on an uncomplicated dive where you don’t need to practice any skills and you can just focus on the seascape and the marine life feels like the best damn thing after having done the course!
There was only one thing that didn’t go quite smoothly. During this dive, Emma had yet another problem – this time, it was a tight mask squeeze which she couldn’t quite equalise. Apart from being painful, she told us at one point she could barely even see. The second we surfaced, I asked her whether she’d somehow found time to apply eyeshadow whilst diving deep in the ocean – her eyelids now blackened as if she’d just been in a fist fight. Team Crackhead strikes again!
The Whale Shark Whispers Continue
We didn’t have much time to settle down on the boat, with Captain Hoover rushing us to head to yet another spot where the whale shark had been sighted. What followed was practically a rehash of what had transpired earlier that morning – me sitting on the edge of the boat, looking wistfully at the horizon, trying to catch a glimpse of something that most probably wasn’t even there. Fish jumping out of the water, the water bubbling and rippling, thrash floating about.
And then one fin. One fin with white spots on it. At this, Hoover went bonkers – as did we all. In one tempest of motion, everyone was in the water. I was one of the first to jump, and there, right underneath me, in all its glory, was the majestic beast. A five-metre-long whale shark, in the living flesh. I could hardly believe my own eyes.
So… A bit about whale sharks. This dark grey magnificent creature sports a white belly and white spots all over – which, Dr Marius told us, are unique to every one of them (something that helps marine biologists tell them apart) and help them camouflage (apparently, it makes them look like a school of fish). Its huge mouth, found at the front of its head, has hundreds of rows of tiny teeth and filter pads which it uses to filter-feed plankton – its main source of food. Three prominent ridges run from its head to its tail, with two dorsal fins on its back, a pair of pectoral and pelvic fins, and an anal fin.
These gentle giants are the closest living relatives of carpet sharks, being the only pelagic ones – travelling all around the world and spending most of their time in deep waters. They help regulate phytoplankton levels, with their faeces promoting blooms that assist in decreasing carbon dioxide levels. Apart from this, the now-endangered animal brings in great revenue to many countries’ economies – each one generating around two million dollars through tourism (as opposed to the $20,000–$40,000 per shark fin sold on the black market). Humans, of course, are their number one predator – catching them to sell their fins, make shark fin soup, or produce squalene for cosmetic products. That said, many are also indirectly affected by us, with fishing nets and pollution further dwindling their already low numbers.
Rare though they might be, I found myself in the sea staring right at one. A simply surreal moment that had me doubt my very own sanity. I was just a few feet away from it. Whilst they give the impression of gliding slowly and elegantly, these beasts can reach speeds of up to three knots – comparable to an Olympic swimmer. I swam for dear life, drinking salt water by the gallon as I tried to keep up. I swear I had never swum that fast, and the second I’d get too tired to go on, I’d think to myself that this might never happen again – and so, I’d push myself even harder. After a while, it changed course and went too deep for me to follow.
I finally gave up and just lay there, floating, catching my breath and trying to make sense of such an unreal experience. A whale shark… I had swum with a friggin’ whale shark! I was so, so lucky
The Luck of the Whale Shark
All out of breath but full of indescribable emotions, I joined the others as I climbed back on the boat, all of us describing what we’d seen. I was one of the two who actually kept up with it – along with the other Dr Marius – the rest comparing us to Michael Phelps. Most had caught a glimpse of its tail, with some being too late to actually see anything. Amongst the latter was Emma, who’d stayed behind on the boat, too seasick to jump – much to her dismay.
We didn’t get much time to recover. After a few minutes, Captain Hoover received yet another message: the whale shark was spotted a few metres away. We chased after it once again, saw the fin, jumped, and once again – there it was. This time, I was right in front of it. And in case you’re wondering – its mouth is huge. I probably would’ve fit inside it if whale sharks ate humans. My second run-through was somehow even more incredible, and, I gotta say, the third was the best – I got as close as two feet from it. Just to put it out there – yeah, I know I sound like a prick and that I’m incredibly privileged and lucky. By the end, almost everyone on the boat got to see the beautiful beast, with Julia finally fulfilling her dream.
Lost in the excitement of it all, we all had kinda forgotten that we had another dive left. Admittedly, the second dive felt kinda superfluous after having swum with a whale shark. It felt like we’d had more than our fair share of wildlife and adventure for the day. Plus, keeping up with the whale shark is exhausting work. Having said that, this was gonna be my last dive in Utila – I sure as hell wasn’t gonna pass on it! While our dive at Spotted Bay was quite uneventful, we did see this one giant stingray trying to bury itself in the sand. I mean, it’s no whale shark – but it’s pretty friggin’ cool too!
PART II
Goodbye to Plans and Friends...
Later that afternoon, wondering how on earth I could possibly leave the island where I was having the time of my life, I decided to extend my stay by an extra day to do the PADI Rescue course.
This meant I’d have to change my itinerary again, reschedule my shuttle to Nicaragua, and lose some forty dollars in the process. But it felt right – like it was worth the hassle, even if it was just for a day. Without a second thought, I went to the office and signed up for the course. I’d be joined by Leah – a girl from Israel – and Natalie 2 – a girl from Germany. On the first day, as with most courses, I had a ton of theory to get through – the not-so-fun aspect of scuba diving.
Emma, Julia and Chad had a tight schedule, so they’d be leaving the next morning. We had to have our big goodbye at some point. Ladies’ Night at Vinyl’s sounded like the perfect opportunity, with Emma lending me her bikini top (which, she admitted, looked better on me) as part of a wicked scheme to get me free drinks. Surely they’d reward such an effort with more than one freebie, right? Nope. I could only cash in one shot of tequila. Plus, the DJ was crap, the bar practically empty save for our Underwater Vision crew, and the mood was dead. We headed back to the dive shop to spend the rest of the night drinking, chatting, playing cards, singing and dancing – a tradition by then.
Then it was time for the final goodbye. I’d be staying for a couple more days, which meant our journey together would be over – until our reunion in Costa Rica for Emma’s birthday, that is. Hugs were given and tears were shed. I knew I’d miss these two way more than anyone else I’d met during the entire trip – which says more about Julia and Emma’s character than anyone else’s. In fact, the rest of the Underwater Vision group often felt left out, given the vast number of inside jokes we had by then. By the end, it felt like we’d known each other for years.
...And Hello to New Prospects
Liam – now part of Team Crackhead – was equally distraught at their departure and begged all of us to stay. He said we fit right into Underwater Vision’s vibe and that we were a really fun group.
My new roommate Amelia – a girl from Austria who had just moved into my room after Elad left to celebrate Thanksgiving in the States before heading to Qatar for the World Cup (controversial topic) – also didn’t want us to go. She had just decided to start her divemaster training and had been pestering us about doing it with her for days. It’d be in her best interest if we stayed – mostly cause she liked our company, and also cause she didn’t want someone else to take my spot as her roommate. She’s picky, and I’m as tidy and low maintenance as they come.
Julia, Emma and I rolled our eyes at every single attempt to get us to stay, telling them over and over that we had more of the world to see, and that the divemaster course wasn’t something we were interested in. Mostly cause diving was just so new for us – not to mention that we didn’t want to become professionals! But then I allowed myself to actually think about it. Doing the course would mean getting to dive more. Doing the course would mean hanging out with the people I’d grown to love for a longer time. And, most of all, doing the course would mean staying in Utila for a longer time. I just heard myself say, “I’m in.”
I wasn’t too drunk. Maybe a bit tipsy, sure, but that was the extent of it. I had no idea what being a DMT involved – the role, the effort and time, nothing. All I knew was that it usually takes a month or two to complete, which to me was crazy, given how much I still had to see. Not to mention, anything could happen. Dr Marius had spent years as a divemaster trainee cause he could only attend on weekends. Harry, a DMT from Scotland, was meant to finish a month earlier but got a nasty foot infection. Jagger was meant to do his Open Water course and ended up on doing an instructor apprenticeship course. Literally anything could happen!
Yet somehow, I found myself agreeing. As spontaneous and anti-Marius as it might’ve been, it felt right. Ever since I’d arrived on this damn island, I’d said one week wouldn’t be enough. That I wanted more. That I wanted to feel as free as I did here for longer. I’d have to change my plans – again. Scrap all my plans for Jamaica and Cuba which I was still undecided about. Cut days from Costa Rica. Miss Emma’s birthday.
As heartbroken as I was about not seeing Emma and Julia again, I felt elated – as did Amelia, having just gained a new companion for the upcoming few weeks. I also felt this immense relief. It was too soon for me to leave this island – I knew that leaving at that point was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. Staying was the right thing for me. In fact, Emma and Julia reassured me that if I felt like that, I should totally follow my heart and that we could meet literally whenever, and that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I mean, yeah – I could do my divemaster training anywhere else (even back home in Malta) – but Utila’s super cheap, and I already loved the place and the people.
That night, after another round of teary hugs and goodbyes, I couldn’t help but smile like a blithering idiot until I fell asleep. I’m talking Cheshire Cat kinda smile here. I was ecstatic, elated, high on life. I couldn’t believe I’d be spending at least three more weeks in this slice of paradise. Three more weeks!
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
In the small and magical island of Utila, there are three sayings which everyone says but no one ever means:
I’m never drinking again
I love you
I’m leaving tomorrow