Eighteen days on Utila and I finally managed to part myself from the place. An island paradise and scuba diver's haven. The constant flow of backpackers and easy going dive shop workers from around the world. this global yet local vibe made Utila one of coolest places ive been. Like almost every other person I met there, I found myself clung to Utila like barnacles on a boat. Besides diving and some decent parties at night, theres not much else to do on the island during the day except snorkel, kayak and swim. So I didn't waste anytime getting my PADI dive certificates as soon as i arrived. First my Open Water, followed by Advanced Open Water, and I got really into it and ended up completing my emergency first aid course and rescue diver course. All were great courses but the rescue diver was by far the most fun and engaging course. After my courses I hung around for another week and went diving everyday and went searching for whale sharks a couple times but no luck. I was pretty disappointed about this because after all, this was part of what attracted me to Utila in the first place. My birthday came but despite my wishes I didn't see one that day. At this point I wasn't going to leave the island until I saw one, I was determined! I asked around and found a boat going out with the whale shark oceanic research center april 1st. am I ever happy I did that, half an hour in we found a small whale shark(20ft long) an I jumped in and swam with it for just 20 seconds before it was scared off. This little guy was timid! In order to find a whale shark you have to look for a boil, a boil is hundreds of jumping bonito tuna and sardines which makes the water look like it's boiling, hence a boil. Also birds circling over head is a telltale sign a whale shark is feeding near the surface. We spotted a massive boil an hour after the first shark and again jumped in and started swimming as fast as we could towards it ( I would not advise this with any other type of shark). this one was massive at around 40ft, I couldn't believe myself as it slowed down in front of me and stopped completely still near the surface and opened it mouth to feed. For 2 minutes I took pictures and swam around it. Finally it turned directly towards me and began to slowly dive. I returned to the surface out of breath having forgotten to come up to breath because I was so mesmerized. I managed to get some epic pictures and probably the most amazing experience I've ever had from that encounter. Had a smile on the rest of the day and still do. So I had done everything I came to Utila for, I could leave a happy guy. What an amazing time Utila was, I will never forget it! I'm back in Guatemala now, had 16 hours of buses and boats in the last two days but I'm relaxed today on the waters edge of lake Atitlan at the base of San Pedro volcano with 2 more conical volcanoes visible from here. Beautiful. oh common I was about to finish writing in peace by the lake and a bird just poo'd on my hand.