Utila has been a perfect week of vacation

It’s been a beautiful Kids Sea Camp week at the Laguna Beach Resort on the Utila Bay Islands in Honduras

From our first day, the week was shaping up to be perfect.  We landed on Saturday on the small airstrip next to the cow pasture.  We all got on golf carts on the road to Laguna Beach Resort. A beautiful white sandy beach with 20 over-water bungalows, it’s a Kids Sea Camp week, and we have the resort for the next two weeks.

Coco, a one-year-old yellow lab happily greets us on the dock.  Be sure to bring her some doggie bones or treats when you come. She loves the kids and takes turns asking them each night to come in to some welcoming air-conditioned bungalow that will give her a relief from the night’s heat.

Dinner is served in the clubhouse each night, family style; shrimps, baked fishes, freshly baked bread, steamed veggies, with salad and sides. For dessert, freshly made Key Lime Pie or ice cream.

Sonya is our bartender and she makes mango, banana, strawberry, coconut, vanilla, chocolate or coffee smoothies for the kids.  Adults can relax and watch the brilliant sunset with a cold beer or wine as they sit and share each other’s encounters of the day. And oh yes, there is much to share when you’re at Kids Sea Camp Utila.

Today for example, all the kids and some adults left at 8 A.M. after a healthy breakfast to board the Caribbean Pearl, a custom 125ft yacht that used to be the Utila Aggressor.  Resort owner Troy Bodden arranged for the kids to dive in luxury today.  After our dive, we were given a 360-degree tour of Utila and the Keys.  We cruised around these majestic inlets while whale sharks, dolphins, tuna and large schools of fishes danced around the Pearl. This was a first time aboard a liveaboard for all the kids.

Parents were out diving with Captain Wagner and Captain Kerri on the  “About Time” and “Bottom Time” boats.  Troy’s diving fleet are all named about “time”.    However, while you’re here on Utila, it’s timeless. The Kids Sea Campers dove with pilot whales, whale sharks, wild dolphins, and rays today.  I’m not sure how you beat that, I don’t imagine a better day of diving.

After the kids returned from their cruise, we had time to eat and change and get ready for the afternoon activities that include; Yoga, horseback riding, kayak tour, four-wheel ATV fun, beach games, and more whale sharks and dolphin encounters. I chose the whale sharking along with seven others.

I have so loved using my SeaLife HD video and its perfect for whale sharks, dolphins, and kids.  We had five encounters today with whale sharks. That’s right, five encounters, that just about the icing on the cake to a perfect week at Kids Sea Camp.

Back on the island, Jen went horseback riding with Addie on the beach and Woody was teaching the teens the dance steps for the zombie invasion.  Seals were doing a bubble maker dive and some were just enjoying the beach. Kevin has been teaching everyone SeaSigns and we have each learned 100, including adding a few new ones like Zombie and Whale Shark.

Each day is even more amazing and fun-filled then the next as we all become friends and start to feel like family with each other. Kerri takes his guests to his moms’ house on the key’s for some homemade cake and even invites all the kids one day for her a Utillian Pizza. Devan another captain is 19; he takes us all to meet his mom and grandmother also on the Key.

We get to meet all the local kids at school and learn about the problems with plastics and pollution first hand.  The kids can clearly see how these things have had a major effect on this pristine environment.  We talk about ways to recycle and even do zombie garbage clean up that cleared 6 big bags of plastic from the sea.

Speaking of Zombies, our zombie invasion was so much fun!  Kids learned to lift bags for the obstacle course and had to work in teams not to get bitten by our PADI Zombie instructors.  We laughed and had so much fun, learning buoyancy skills and rescue skills.

Dads have been going deep-sea fishing and fly fishing in the afternoons. Moms have enjoyed the yoga classes by the sea. The teens have been horseback riding every day. All the Kids Sea Campers have all had a week we will truly remember forever.

Utila is truly beautiful and has the incredible marine life to experience.  Spending time with the locals and learning about their cultures and traditions have made this destination a perfect family dive adventure pick.

Looking forward to tomorrow, as hard as it is to believe, I think it will be better than today.

Margo Peyton, President of Kids Sea Camp and Family Dive Adventures