Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras

CJ's Drop Off

CJ's Drop Off is a north-shore Utila wall dive widely cited by local operators as one of the deepest sheer walls accessible on the island. The dive begins on a coral plateau at 10 meters with healthy stands of brain coral, sea rods and barrel sponges, then drops onto a vertical wall that descends past 50 meters. The face is heavily decorated with deep-water gorgonians, rope sponges, tube sponges and clusters of black coral, with crevices that shelter spotted moray, lobster and channel-clinging crabs. The deeper wall is a reliable site for Caribbean reef shark passages, spotted eagle ray and large grouper, and the shallower shoulders are consistent for hawksbill turtle, queen angelfish, schooling creole wrasse and midnight parrotfish. Conditions are usually mild on this stretch of coast; visibility averages 25 to 30 meters and the site is moored and accessed by boat.