← All sites

CJ's Drop-off

Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras · 12–40m · advanced · exposed

Utila's signature north-wall dive — a sheer drop-off into the blue with pelagic traffic.

Conditions today

Retrieved · refreshed hourly

poor

Poor — 0.9m effective waves made worse by short-period chop.

Limiting factor: period

Wave height
0.8–1.2m
Wave period
4.4–5.3s
Wind chop
0.1–1m
Sea temp
28.6–29.1°C

Ranges span today's hours. Wave height here is the raw sea state — the rating scales it for how exposed the site is. Exposed — open water with nothing to block the swell, so it is scored at full height.

Next few days

  • TodayPoor — 0.9m effective waves made worse by short-period chop.poor
  • FridayMarginal — 0.6m effective waves made worse by short-period chop.marginal
  • SaturdayPoor — decent morning demoted one level because conditions deteriorate over the ride-home window.poor

Each day is scored over its morning dive window, the same as today's rating.

Dive briefing

AI-generated

Conditions today are poor, hampered by short-period chop layered over the swell. Effective wave height of 0.9m doesn't sound demanding, but the short periods make for uncomfortable surface conditions and chop that will work against you underwater. Raw wave heights are running 0.8–1.2m, with periods between 4.4 and 5.3 seconds. Water temperature is steady at 28.6–29.1°C. This is an advanced site and an exposed one; today's conditions demand respect.

The drop-off itself hasn't changed — you'll descend from 12 to 40 metres along the wall, where divers commonly log spotted eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, and schoolmaster snapper in the blue. Stoplight parrotfish and Atlantic blue tang are often recorded, and you may spot trumpetfish working the wall. The chop will make entry and exit the real challenge today, not the dive itself once you're down.

Written by Claude (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from the rating, forecast, and sightings on this page — it has no other source and cannot look anything up. Treat it as a summary, not as local knowledge.

Commonly seen here

Most-recorded species near this site, ranked by research-grade iNaturalist sightings from divers, snorkelers, and naturalists.

Species come from iNaturalist — research-grade sightings logged by divers, snorkelers, and naturalists nearby. The ranking reflects what people photograph most, not guaranteed abundance. Ask a local operator what's actually being seen. Species names link to iNaturalist for range maps, seasonality and more photos. Photos by iNaturalist contributors under Creative Commons licences — individual credit on hover.

Other sites nearby

Within 25km, closest first — usually the same day's boat.