Blues Runner
Contributor
I made a return trip to the AWESOME Utopia Village in Utila in Mid-April. I was joined by wife and a group of friends with whom I wanted to share the Utopia Village experience. I had visions and hopes of repeat whale shark encounters. The group took a puddle jumper from Roatan to the island of Utila. We arrived at the Utila airstrip and were met by one of the owners of Utopia Village. Since this was a return visit for me, arriving here was like rejoining family that you haven’t shared time with during the past year. After riding in tucks tucks (think three wheeled golf cart) from the airstrip to the waterfront, we boarded a Utopia Village boat for transport to Utopia Village. Fresh moist towels and drinking water greeted us as we boarded the boat for the 15 minute ride to Utopia.
Utopia Village is over the top. The owners, the employees (all local Hondurans) go out of their way every minute to insure their guests are indeed in Utopia! Great fresh food including fruit, daily baked breads, desserts and fresh fish. Many Utila folks continue to make a living as fisherman. We had Tuna two evenings that was literally swimming hours before. Nothing beats fresh fish!
Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled ….We were served lunch in the pool twice, afternoon hors d’oeuvres and cocktails daily in the hot tub portion of the pool. The hot tub is a great way to rewarm the body after three dives. Dinner on the patio and pool side on different evenings.
The facilities are first class. The buildings are constructed of local Honduran hardwoods and are well maintained in the harsh ocean environment. A beautiful Honduran wood yoga building was added on the beachfront in the last year.
The diving from Utopia is great. Boat, shore and night dives are available. The house reef is a wall that is beautiful and close to Utopia’s dock. The reefs do not see the dive pressure of other areas and are in very good shape. Healthy sponges, sea fans, pillar and staghorn corals are present at every dive site. Seahorses, porcupine fish, squid, octopus, scorpion fish, turtles and an eagle ray were among some of the sea life encountered. Although the water was a little cool and the winds were a little strong for Whale sharks, we did have an encounter with open water dolphins. The pod included a dolphin calf that synchronized swam with its mother. The mother seemed please to show her calf to the human visitors. Awesome dive crew in Captain Elvis, Dive Masters John, Anke and Rachel.
It is always difficult when an excursion of this caliber comes to an end. A great time with my wife, our friends and the family at Utopia Village! If you enjoy a pampered, first class dive vacation I suggest a visit to Utopia Village.
The pictures that follow are from several photographers. My photos are watermarked.
Utopia Village is over the top. The owners, the employees (all local Hondurans) go out of their way every minute to insure their guests are indeed in Utopia! Great fresh food including fruit, daily baked breads, desserts and fresh fish. Many Utila folks continue to make a living as fisherman. We had Tuna two evenings that was literally swimming hours before. Nothing beats fresh fish!
Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled ….We were served lunch in the pool twice, afternoon hors d’oeuvres and cocktails daily in the hot tub portion of the pool. The hot tub is a great way to rewarm the body after three dives. Dinner on the patio and pool side on different evenings.
The facilities are first class. The buildings are constructed of local Honduran hardwoods and are well maintained in the harsh ocean environment. A beautiful Honduran wood yoga building was added on the beachfront in the last year.
The diving from Utopia is great. Boat, shore and night dives are available. The house reef is a wall that is beautiful and close to Utopia’s dock. The reefs do not see the dive pressure of other areas and are in very good shape. Healthy sponges, sea fans, pillar and staghorn corals are present at every dive site. Seahorses, porcupine fish, squid, octopus, scorpion fish, turtles and an eagle ray were among some of the sea life encountered. Although the water was a little cool and the winds were a little strong for Whale sharks, we did have an encounter with open water dolphins. The pod included a dolphin calf that synchronized swam with its mother. The mother seemed please to show her calf to the human visitors. Awesome dive crew in Captain Elvis, Dive Masters John, Anke and Rachel.
It is always difficult when an excursion of this caliber comes to an end. A great time with my wife, our friends and the family at Utopia Village! If you enjoy a pampered, first class dive vacation I suggest a visit to Utopia Village.
The pictures that follow are from several photographers. My photos are watermarked.
