Dive Review of Utopia in
Honduras/Utilia

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Utopia, Apr, 2011, by Ernie Plourde, CT, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports). Report 6040.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Coming from New England,it was a long travel day.We left Bradlee at 6:05 AM and arrived in Roatan at 9:47 AM their time there was a $2.00 entry fee, no day light savings time. From Roatan we took a small island hopper to Utila, took 12 minutes.In Utila we were picked up by a van and driven 10 minutes to a waiting boat transport which turned out to be our dive boat. The boat ride lasted 15 to 20 minutes and we arrived at Utopia Village. All of our gear was carried by staff, we just walked down the beach to the resort. Once registered, which went smooth and quick, we checked out our rooms which were spacious and comfortable,with no TV and good air conditing. One oddity here is we were told not to put toilet paper in the toilet and that only bothers Americans. You were to put dirty paper in a waste container that was changed daily. You were not to drink the water and clean drinking water was provided. Just a about every one had a stomach issue by weeks end, I suspect it may have been from the rinse tank they rinsed our gear in,I would suggest you take your reg. back to your room and rinse it was clean water.We all geared up for a check out dive on the house reef. The walk out was tricky as their was no cut out, so you had to walk over coral. On later shore dives we walked back to the pier we arrived at and did a giant stride off the end and came back using a ladder on the side. The dive boat was big enough to accomadate 16-18 divers and their cameras, the group I dive with all have very large housings,but managed.There was no head, we had 16 divers in our group, no diver gets left behind. Nitrox was available at $12 per fill, most passed as many resorts today include Nitrox free as a diver attraction, I used the Nitrox on Wednsday to beat any fatigue due to mid-week energy let down.The reefs were pretty lively with all the usual inhabitants and several lion fish, they are starting to take over the reefs. Most operations just leave them alone and act like they are an attraction for divers,mistake. Only in Cozumel,did I see dive guides kill the lion fish, then fileted it and fed it to a moray,we need to have more of this.There were huge green moreys and my favorite, spotted eagle rays. One of my dive buddies, Pete shot some awesome footage of one as the ray turned and came back and only Peter saw him, one diver,one fish, ideal!There were lots of lobsters, blue tunicates,sea horses,turtles,squid and many angels, grey, french and queen.The dive guides were fairly knowledgable and friendly and very attentive,whatever they could do to help you,if needed.Most days we did 3 boat dives and you could use the house reef all you wanted. We did a night dive and there were spanish lobsters and octopus. All things considered the diving was fun. On shore the food was good, at breakfast, usually scrambled eggs, bacon,pan cakes etc, they would take our lunch and dinner orders, you had two choices. It was a cash bar, kind of pricey, a 4 to 6 oz. glass of red wine,$7.50, a shot of liquir, $7.00, beer $3.75, I think you get the idea. The no seeums were present as were sand flees, bring bug spray.Coffee was ready by 6:AM everyday for early risers and the 2 owners, Debby and Kyle seemed to be there if you needed something. At the end of the week tipping was handled like a cruise ship, you had envelopes for the dive crew and staff which they shared, It was an enjoyable week all around, back to the airport, don't forget cash, $37.80 to leave, these exit fees keep getting higher and higher.
Websites	Utopia
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Grand Cayman, Curacao, Bonaire, Chuuk(Truk Lagoon) St.Lucia, Cozumel, Fiji, Thaiti, Belize, Hawaii, Maldives, etc.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	In general, if you had a computer, you could dive your own profile. They asked that you limit dive time to one hour.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	There were no formal rinse tanks per say on board but they tried by providing empty coolers filed with fresh water, this did the trick for the most part. On land every one simply took their cameras to their rooms to charge batteries etc.

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Dive Review of Utopia in Honduras/Utilia

Utopia, Apr, 2011,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Utopia in
Honduras/Utilia