If you have an interest in diving and fishing and want to step off the commercial glitz of Main Street at a reasonable price, then Utila is for you; and I would highly recommend Utopia Village as your place to stay. Utopia Village is just that a village, a self-contained unit. If you can’t find it there, you don’t need it. You don’t need to run around looking for a place to dine, for Chef Peter whips up tasty gourmet meals on a daily basis. The dive staff is top notch, and the dive boat is clean, wide, modern, and very amenable to diving. Captain Sidney handles the boat with skill and is knowledgeable of the wonderful reefs. I would have to give the gold star to the architecture of the village: artistically envisioned, structurally sound, and environmentally sensitive. As I flew by the Village upon leaving the island, I could hardly find it for it blended so well into the landscape; the Gumbo Limbo trees and the almond trees have nothing to fear. The owners are on site and work as hard as anybody else. Go to Utila and the Village for an experience, not just a visit. Merlyn Burkard

This is a fantastic resort! The accomodations are top notch and the decore/styling is incredibly well done. Nicest I've seen in over 60 countries I've visited. All the construction materials are natural, so the resort blends into the environment and is also very eco-friendly. It is quite peaceful and relaxing, very well organized and an incredible location. All the rooms are right on the beach and the snorkeling and diving is outstanding. Even the beach in front of the resort is a wonderful coral reef with numerous shelves. There is also a nice entry line for ease of beach diving. The staff is awesome! I feel like they are all friends even after only 1 week. Peter is a fantastic chef- so you leave spoiled and well fed. Soguey is a lovely bartender and incredibly patient all-around helper. The owners are wonderful. Everything is very well planned and organized - which must be quite difficult to do in a third world country. The beds are the most comfortable I have slept in. It was a fantastic experience. This is a great way to 'get away'. It is so quiet and there aren't even many boats coming by the beach. Where else in the world can you get fantastic diving, lovely unspoiled beaches and great accomodations without being swamped by other tourists? The dive masters (Anke, Benjamin and Chris) were excellent, the rental equipment was top notch and the reef is the 2nd largest in the world. We saw manta rays, sea horses, lion fish, eels, a fun giant Gray Angelfish that went nose to nose and played with us, gorgeous multi-color coral and much more. I'd definitely go back! Just the right balance of diving, relaxing and socializing. Don't miss this resort!!

The accomodations are very tasteful and a good value. Every meal was delicious and a good variety was provided. We enjoyed the diving and crew and had a wonderful and relaxing time. If you want to get away and find seclusion, this is a great choice!

That sums it all up. My wife and I have been trying to find a 2nd location to go to besides Bonaire that has good diving and snorkeling. I think we have found it. Tie that in with great food from Peter , a fun and knowledgeable dive master in Anke and a blenny of a bartender in Soguey (also a great diver) we have found it. Of course it is then all held together by Kyle.

One of my worries before my arrival for me as a diver was the ease and access of the shore dives. But my worries were put to rest after the first day. The closeness of the reef in my experience is only rivaled by Bonaire in this part of the world. The second worry was how far was the dock from the resort and how much work would it be for me. As it turned out it was hardly any at all. When I wanted to do an afternoon shore dive , the Utopia crew took care of it. They had my equipment and a fresh tank waiting for me on the dock. And when I didn't have a dive buddy ( my wife is not a diver) Anke became my private dive master. If we decided to return to the dock they then took care of our equipment again. If we came onto shore then we just walked over to the dive shop. No problem.

Granted my wife and I were there during a slow time of the year. Which allowed us to get to know all the people mentioned above more than we probably would have at another time of the year. But we think all of these guys would be great to be around whether they are slow or busy. So we just look at it as our good fortune.

So when we want to take a dive trip that is more secluded and comparable to Bonaire we will go back to Utopia. Because when we left we relaxed and tired ( 23 dives in 8 days) and would like to go back and visit our new friends.