A six-passenger single-engine plane came down off Utila's south side in 2021 and all passengers survived. What is left of it now lies flat on the bottom in about 24 metres of water, with little structure or reef around it, which makes this a short, deliberate look at an unusual piece of wreckage rather than a full reef dive.
Where it is and how deep
16.0985° N, 86.8687° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The plane sits on the bottom at about 24 metres, so the working part of the dive is short and the descent is straightforward: drop down, get your buoyancy settled before you reach the wreckage, and stay off the bottom. Lying flat as it does, the aircraft reads clearly from a couple of metres above it, and a slow circuit at that height keeps the sand where it is for whoever follows you.
There is not much else here. The surrounding bottom is bare compared with Utila's reef dives, and the plane itself is recent enough that it carries little growth, though it may yet turn into a favoured spot for lionfish. What you get is an unusual object sitting on open ground with nothing around it to distract from it, and at 24 metres the depth, rather than the amount there is to see, is what sets the length of the dive.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Six-passenger single-engine aircraft
- Type
- Light aircraft
- Sunk
- 2021
- Cause
- Unrecorded; the aircraft went down in 2021 and all passengers survived
- Lies
- Flat on the bottom in about 24 metres of water
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Utila: March–August offers the calmest, driest conditions and the best whale shark odds; October–January is rainier with reduced visibility.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Airplane Wreck in Utila?+
The plane sits in about 24 metres of water, lying flat on the bottom. That is past Open Water depth limits, so it is dived as a short, deep look at the wreckage rather than a long bottom-time dive.
Sources
- Airplane Wreck - Utila — Scubago
More dive sites in Utila
Wall
A large seahorse in the garden eels at 18-24 metres
Seamount
Utila's blue-water seamount, with whale sharks passing over
Wall
A drop-off dive over one of Utila's coral nurseries
Wall
Near-vertical face of tube sponges, sea fans and black coral
Coral garden
Bioluminescent glow after dark gave this reef its ghost name
A 1998 artificial-reef wreck dived for its critters
Wall
Swim-throughs and overhangs on a wall to 21 metres
Sand slope
A sand break through the reef, beach to past 30 metres
Similar dives elsewhere
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An intact 27 m patrol cutter at 18 m, with reef sharks circling it
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