From budget backpacker accommodation to luxury vacation homes - we have something to suit everyone. Diver accommodation available for 2011 and 2012 seasons covers a range of vacation apartments, beach front homes, and hotel rooms available on nightly, weekly and monthly basis. Many of these beautiful properties will be available at preferred rates for Alton's  divers. There are several hotels, many vacation homes and apartments and all offer something unique. Together with our free mini-bus pick up service from anywhere on the island with a road you can really choose what suits you the best.

For the last three years Alton’s Dive Center has offered Peace Corps volunteers, JICA volunteers, Utila Bay Island Conservation Association Volunteers and the Utila Iguana Station volunteers a discount on dive training. We are especially used to working with Peace Corps volunteers and understand that you often have a limited time frame and a small budget. We will be continuing our volunteer packages in 2012. With a few minor variations all the Volunteer Packages include the same offers. You will see some minor differences looking at the individual packages which include everything you need to take a scuba course at a discounted price and with the flexibility to meet your time constraints.

For JICA volunteers we have the training movies, books & exams available in Japanese for all courses from Open Water to Divemaster. We have worked with JICA volunteers for several years delivering training from beginner to divemaster.

 

Earlier this season Drew Richardson, President and Chief Operating Officer for PADI,  visited Utila to touch base with dive centers and hear how business has been going.

From the back left to right PADI Divemaster Alex Kent, PADI Sales Consultant Sebastian Acevedo, PADI Divemaster David MacGruer, PADI Divemaster Chip Roy, NAUI and PADI Instructor Tyler Brewer, Manager Rob Smith, PADI President Drew Richardson, NAUI and PADI Instructor Art Merrill, NAUI and PADI Instructor Lauren Lally, NAUI & PADI Divemaster Katie Creighton.

 
A slightly delayed start to this years big whale shark season had us all waiting for the big guys to return in numbers. Although whale sharks have been encountered around Utila every month for the last three years the season that brings the greatest numbers is normally February through May. We have had some great encounters and have swam with many individuals during the last 4 weeks. Vertical feeding behavior is always great to see and our experienced boat captains have done a great job in locating the whale sharks and positioning the boats for the best possible encounter. Patience and care in encountering these giants will reward you with an encounter that you will never forget. When the shark hangs vertically in the water feeding and then turns to move away and swims straight towards you... A moment to remember for ever!

Utila is one of the best places in the world to encounter whale sharks with one of the most reliably present populations that comes so close to shore. This proximity to the shore of Utila gives us opportunity to see them during dive trip surface intervals as well as running dedicated whale shark encounter trips. All of this and more makes Utila the "Whale Shark Capital of the Caribbean"! 

We also see large numbers of dolphins around the island all year around, mainly Spinner, Rough Tooth, Bottle Nose, and Pilot Whales. These guys are always a pleasure to swim with and sometimes come right in to the bay, just a couple of hundred yards from the dive center dock.

The island of Utila is in the western Caribbean just off the coast of Honduras and is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest barrier reef system in the world. This gives us a combination of barrier reef and fringing reef environments together with the hugely deep water off the north shore of the island, which is where the whale sharks like to hang out.

Good boats are essential for enjoying your days diving. Alton's Dive Center has two new custom built dive boats which have been designed with the diver mind. These fast, comfortable and spacious dive boats with easy access to the water you could find in expensive resorts (if you were lucky!). We are pleased to make this level of boat available to you at budget dive prices. If you have dived with us before you will already know that we are not just another Utila dive center. We have a personal level of service and investment in our customers that sets us apart and we are proud to provide these two new boats with you in mind, to further enhance your dive experience with us.

Both are fast for dive boats making all dive sites around Utila easily accessible for us. Fully equipped with DAN O2 Oxygen systems, VHF radios, GPS, depth finders for locating those sea mounts, music, and everything else you would expect to find on a modern well equipped dive boat.

Accompanied by a smaller 12 person boat and a skiff we have a well equipped small flotilla of dive boats that can meet all your diving needs.

As always we are very environmentally conscious when it comes to our boats with regular oil changes and engine service. We believe a clean engine and engine compartment to be very important in the protection of our reefs. See our green pages for more information about Alton's environmental efforts.