Dan
Contributor
Deep Blue seems to be having financial issues at times. I don't know their recent status.
But they're on the same lagoon as LB - just a few hundred yards farther. So the bugs are just as bad. We did a dusk dive once and you could see swarms of sand flies in the sun around their dock which is on an even quieter part of the lagoon than LB's was. Also their beach, which fronts the reef on the other side, was full of biting bugs the one time we tried it w/o shoes. And one night we mistakenly left the screen door open - that night we had to "fog" the room with Deep Woods Off to sleep.
The last I read their boat was drydocked (a few years ago) and the captain had left. Shirley was buying boat services from LB - which is obviously no longer an option. Their shore dive was difficult also - entry off a rocky beach at the very south end of the resort (they offered to have someone carry tanks for us) and you had to find a small break in the reef to get out to deeper water. It's the Pretty Bush dive site.
Utopia is farther down the south coast so may not have the bug problem. Another possibility with a shore dive is Coral View - it's west of town about 10mibs but far enough before the lagoon that bugs might not be an issue there.
I believe those are the only resorts with a shore dive except for a couple in town that dive the harbor.
I think there's just a lot of bugs on Utila period. One of the divers staying at Deep Blue when we did went birdwatching around the lagoon - we were kidding her that she'd be quarantined on her return to the US - all bit up anywhere that was exposed.
We didn't do much better on Roatan either. I counted 35 bits on my arms/back on the flight home. And i was pretty careful to use Off all the time. Plus there it's a good idea to do the Malaria treatment before ou go. Anywhere in the region where the jungle fronts the ocean it's going to be a problem. Someone once posted West Bay was reclaimed from a swamp.
If shore diving is what you're looking for - the Caymans, St. Croix or the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) are good options. Not so much Little Cayman but there's the Brac Reef Beach Resort AI on the Brac, Cobalt Coast or Sunset House on Grand Cayman or the Reef or Morritt's condos on the East End. Compass Point is almsot an AI out there also with their own restaurant and Ocean Frontiers on site.
No shore diving out there though - much of that is centered around Cobalt Coast or nearby.
Bugs aren't allowed on Grand Cayman...lol. And they spray.
I stayed in Deep Blue in 2008. Steve Fox, Shirley & Jasmin were in charge there then.
I got bitten badly by no-see-um then. It seems nothing has changed 11 years later.