Utopia is a wonderful small dive resort on Utila with 17 rooms. They will only book 20 divers. This is a Saturday-to-Saturday operation. With everyone on the same schedule, we all quickly became friends and the staff quickly learned our names. You fly to the small airport, take a taxi to the dock, and the dive boat takes you to the resort in 45 minutes.

Diving: In our week we dove five days (arrived too late the first day, no diving the day before departure). We left the dock around 8 am for two dives. The dives were 50-70 feet, and only one diver used nitrox. The reefs were teeming with wild life: turtles, rays, giant barracuda, full sail fin blennie, lizard fish, scorpion fish, lobster, crabs and a couple four foot porcupine fish, the usual reef fish in Humann and DeLoach. We saw and snorkled with whale sharks!

The dive masters found small stuff and a couple on their honeymoon learned to dive during the week. There was another couple that didn't dive, and the spouse of a diver.

There's a house reef out front and I did three dives there (one night). There are lots of little fish. At night we saw two octopus.

The web site sounds like the dive operation is a little overbearing: "all dives are logged" sounds like they might check your dive computer. No they post the dive master's depth and time, the dive site, and fish highlights.

The dive boat will leave either from their dock just down from their beach or from the west side of the island which is a five minute ride in their truck.

Some days the dive gear was set up, other days not. The crew would set your gear up if you asked. They helped a diver who was recovering from knee surgery by having him take off his BCD and pulling it out of the water so he could climb the ladder more easily. One day the ocean was a little rough and Anke, one of the dive masters, stayed underwater to remove our fins. In 250 dives, I've never had that done for me before.

The food was great. Breakfast is a buffet, typically eggs and French toast. You pick from fresh fish or meat options for lunch and dinner. They easily accommodated requests for vegetarian meals. Meals were at set times. Beer, wine and mixed drinks were extra. A good bottle of chardonnay from Chile was $22, and they would hold the part you didn't drink.

One day we had lunch at a restaurant on a caye. On Friday we had a picnic on Water Caye, a sandy uninhabited caye with palm trees. Lunch that day was freshly grilled grigsby tacos. We sat in the water talking, sipping beer or whatever and relaxed. I snorkled into some sea grass and saw lots of juvenile parrot fish, tangs, the other usuals and barracuda

The rooms were large with two queen beds so dive buddies or couples can be comfortable. The rooms are screened and air conditioned. One day, the local power was shut down, but Utila's generator kicked in. Local water is supposed to be OK, but brackish so Utopia supplies water to the rooms in pitchers and in a large dispenser in the dining room.

In the main building, there's a large TV with satellite, dvd, and movies. Also, there's a pool table. There's no exercise room or pool.

Most kids who don't dive would find Utopia boring.
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The resort itself is beautifully set in the trees and the ocean at the front door. The resort is in a rather remote location but the staff and amazing diving certainly made up for that. I can't say enough about each person that was there for us. The resort staff and the dive crew were outstanding. We even had the pleasure of the company of little Paco the resident dachshound. The group we were with was diverse (not all divers) but seemed to really "click". We had great food,great diving and overall a wonderful week. We certainly would consider a return trip to Utopia Village!!!

One of the most relaxing dive vacations I ever had. One of the friendliest and most helpful staffs I have ever experienced. Highly recommend.

Postcard perfect is the best way to describe Utopia Village. The resort is perfectly set up to appreciate the amazing sea views. The architecture blends seamlessly with the island feel. Employees are warm and friendly. We were a party of divers and non divers and all had a wonderful week at Utopia. The divers raved about Sidney, the boat captain, Anka, the dive master and Ben, a dive instructor. They were equally excited to share their underwater adventures upon returning to the resort. Non divers kept busy snorkeling the wonderful reef right in front of the resort as well as up and down the beach. WE went in the dive boat a couple of times as well. We also kayaked. The kids loved (ok, I did too) jumping from the pier and playing in the waves. We did a day trip to Water Cay and Utopia grilled scrumptious fish tacos right on the beach for us. We also went to neighboring Pigeon Cay for lunch at Sidney's Mom's restaurant. A lovely experience. I really can't say enough good things about our experience at Utopia Village. Peter, the chef, did a fantastic job with meals. He is also friendly and lending a hand when needed. And Kyle made the trip perfect! She is Utopia's greatest asset! The sand fleas are there, so bring bug spray. We also learned that if you coat yourself in baby oil the sand fleas die before they can cause any harm. Would return in a heartbeat! Utopia is only accessible by boat so you are isolated. We thought this was a plus. The entry into the water is rocky in front of the resort. There is a wonderful sandy spot for easy entry about 10 minutes down the beach.