This place certifies a lot of new divers. Things are relatively safe if you are diving with an instructor, but somewhat inexperienced divemasters make the 'fun dives' a little bit edgy.
Add to that rental gear that is constantly being used by beginners (faulty depth gages, inaccurate pressure gages, hard to operate BCD inflators, etc.) and you get a recipe for near disaster.

While I was diving there almost everyday there was someone who ran out of air underwater (in all of my 50+ previous dives, I've never seen that happen), in some instances two or three people in the same group ran out of air, indicating that the divemaster did not plan properly. It seems like they are under pressure (no pun intended) to make the dives last as long as possible. At no point was there an agreement on what the 'low air pressure' at which the dive is terminated (usually 50bar ~/ 700 psi) which meant often people were sharing air by the end of the dive, and about half of the divers would surface with less than 300psi, which is below what DAN recommends!!

Anyway, place is great to stay, atmosphere is awesome and people are great, but after you finish your course or if you're there just for fun diving, make sure you're extra careful!

Very nice clean, illuminated private rooms (maybe a little small).
Good price (25$ for a double room) and friendly atmosphere in the diving center.
No room cleaning on Sundays.

We had such an amazing time staying at Trudy's and divning with Underwater Vision. They have new facilities which means great rooms, comfortable beds, amazing location, clean bathroomw with hot water ALL the time, a cool chillout/ hammock area and incredible instructors. Not to mention that the laid-back staff (especially Tamara) was incredibly nice and informative. If I go to Utila again, that's where I'm staying. No internet or breakfast but I didn't care. If you do any certifications with Underwater Vision you stay there for free and if you're diving with them you pay less for those nights.

I stayed at Trudy's for 7 days in May, 2008. Trudy’s is affiliated with Underwater Vision diving (UV). For the following three reasons, they are hands down the BEST operation on UTILA.

First, the people operating the hotel and dive operations were great. Trudy’s/UV is a family owned and operated business. The owner’s live on the property and treat you like family. They dive instructors and dive masters have been trained at UV and are a part of the family.

Second, the diving operation is great. The class sizes are small and affordable. Instructors are very knowledgeable and work with you to make the classes enjoyable. At several of the other dive shops I’d here the divemasters complaining and see the cattle boats going out full every morning. Not at UV.

Lastly, Trudy's Hotel was GREAT. Its right on the water and 30 yards from the water. The hotel is about a year old. You wake up and walk across the volleyball court to the dive boat! Its a 5 minute
walk to the bars so its not as noisy at night. There are three options for rooms.
(1) 4 person dorm rooms with fan/shared bath at $5 a
night town
(2) Private rooms with 2 twins- basic clean rooms with
private bath and A/C. ~$30
(3) Suites with a full and twin bed with private bath,
A/C, refrigerator, A/C and TV(so its quiet at night).
~$50

I got my Advance Open Water Certification there and
can’t wait to get back. Tell them pegleg sent ya.
(I’ve got an amputated leg and a warped sense of
humor)

Email Tamara Cooper @ [--] for
reservations