Utila is the second largest of Honduras's Bay Islands after Roatan. Utila is now starting to undergo the same commercialisation that Roatan experienced in the mid to late 1990's. With some of the best diving locations Utila is attracting the general tourist instead of its previous army of back-packers. Honduras is a country in northern Central America, bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the south west El Salvador, to the south east by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea. ... Islas de la Bahía (Bay Islands) is one of the 18 departments (departamentos) into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. ... Roatán, located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras Bay Islands. ...

 Utila attracts people from around the world to dive and snorkel it's extensive reefs teeming with marine life, including the elusive whale shark. Utila borders on the Mesoamerican barrier reef system,the second largest reef in the world after the Australian Great Barrier Reef. There are currently about fifty established scuba diving sites on Utila: http://www.aboututila.com/Maps/Map_Dive_Sites.htm 

Ruins on all three of the Bay Islands indicate that they were inhabited well before the Europeans arrived. Christopher Columbus, on his 4th voyage to the new world landed on the island of Guanaja on July 30th, 1502. He encountered a fairly large population of Indians whom he believed to be cannibals. The Spanish enslaved the islanders and sent them to work on the plantations of Cuba and Gold & Silver mines of Mexico.

 They did not stay empty for long, however. English, French & Dutch pirates established settlements on the islands and raided the cumbersome Spanish cargo vessels laden with gold and other treasures from the new world. The English buccaneer Henry Morgan established his base at Port Royal on Roatan, about 30 kilometers from Utila, in the mid-17th century; at that time as many as 5,000 pirates were living on that island. 

 During the Maya reign in Central America (between the 4th and 10th centuries), the Paya Indians populated the Bay Islands. The Payas were a smaller and less advanced group than the Mayans. Their civilization was characterized by simpler housing and tools. Payan artifacts (pottery, jade, and shells) are often found in Island burial and ceremonial sites and are referred to by the locals as "yaba ding dings." 

 The island Indians mined jade which they took in small boats to the mainland to trade for tools, and other items. The islands provided an abundant variety of foodstuffs such as manioc, fish, corn, turtles, iguanas, agouti (island "rabbits"), native fruits, land crabs, and deer. 

During the 13th and 14th centuries, Europeans discovered these islands. For almost 200 years Spanish conquistadores and British pirates battled for control of these islands, ignoring the Indians for the most part. During this period, the Islands were used for food and wood supplies, safe harbor, and slave trading. Remains of old British forts and towns named after famous pirates remain as their legacy. One group of slaves was "parked" here during this time during the heat of a battle. When the winners came to collect them, the slaves refused to go. These are the Garifunas who populate much of the Bay Islands to this date, still maintaining their own cultural identity and language. Punta Gorda on Roatán is one of many villages where they still make their homes.

The British eventually established control of the Bay Islands, until the early 1960's when control of the Islands was officially returned to Honduras