Dive Review of Utila Lodge in
Honduras/Utila

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Utila Lodge: "Great Resort and Dive Operation; Fair Diving Due to Bleaching/Rain", Nov, 2023, by Rik Pavlescak, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 25 reports with 22 Helpful votes). Report 12756.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	While the diving in Utila was disappointing, I was impressed with the service provided by Utila Lodge Resort. Arrangements: A group of four of us booked through Maduro Dive Travel. Initially, two of us had planned to do this trip in 2020. It kept being pushed off due to COVID and we picked up two more people to join us by the time we were actually able to take the trip in November 2023. Getting there: I flew from Miami to San Pedro Sula in Honduras on American Airlines and then to Utila on CM Air. CM Air is a small, regional airline that changed the flight times/itinerary numerous times on both our departure and arrival. They meticulously weigh each bag and charged for excess weight (anything over 35 pounds). You have the option to prepay for an additional bag, giving you 70 pounds total. Once we arrived at the Utila airport (one runway, everything outdoors--no building open) we were greeted by a representative of the resort who had directed our baggage to a pick-up truck, and instructed the 4 of us to pile into a single tuk-tuk. One sat up front with the driver, and three others squashed into the backseat—one partially hanging off the edge. After an interesting ride to the lodge, we disembarked and were led into the main dining area/bar for a welcome drink and briefing. We were asked to complete paperwork, including a form asking what time we’d like to have coffee or tea brought to our room each morning as a “wake-up” call. We also were asked to list our C-Card numbers, insurance numbers, dive experience, etc. We were given a great briefing of the daily flow. Breakfast at 7 a.m., lunch upon returning from morning dives, and dinner at 6 p.m. All meals take place in the main lodge which also serves as a restaurant for general public and has several popular “nights” such as wing night, taco night, barbecue night, etc. A table was always reserved for Utila Lodge guests. The food was plentiful and delicious. Each morning toast, bagels and fruit with a number of spreads were put out along with juice. Then the plated hot breakfast was brought to diners: eggs cooked to order, pancakes/waffles, huevos rancheros, oatmeal, etc. served with bacon or sausage. Lunch started with self-serve soup (each was delicious!) and salad of some type followed by a formal plated lunch with protein, carbs, veggies with cookies, brownies, etc. for dessert. Dinners were plated, large portions: fish, chicken, beef—including tacos on taco night, incredible barbecue brisket and ribs on barbecue night, and wings (with a selection of 10+ sauces) on wing night. Each night a different wonderful desert was offered. Staff indicated that pre-COVID they offered meals via a buffet, but they’ve moved to plated meals for most of the meals (our final night there was filet mignon, twice-baked potatoes, green beans wrapped in bacon, and salad offered buffet style). The only challenge with plated meals was many of them had large portions and we hated wasting food. For one dinner, the grilled fish was so delicious and plentiful that one of us asked to have their leftover portion wrapped and served in the morning with their eggs, which the kitchen staff handled perfectly. I failed to mention that each meal was posted on a board and that guests could request substitutions: chicken for fish, for example, without any problems. Rooms: Utila Lodge has 8 rooms: four on the first floor and four above. Each room has a screened balcony overlooking the water—although the view straight out from the room is of a beach/building next door, a slight look to the left and you can see the ocean. Rooms have two double beds with a night stand between them, two empty bookshelves, a long shelf (about 6’-7’ long) next to a hanging/closet rack. The balcony has two chairs and a small table. I found plenty of room to unpack and store clothes, camera gear, etc. The bathroom had two sinks with plenty of counter space, a toilet , and a shower. Water pressure in the shower was excellent and temperature ranged from cold to hot water—I never had any problems with adjusting temperature for a perfect shower. The room had an Air Conditioner which worked perfectly with the remote control provided. There was also a TV in the room, which picked up a number of stations, albeit, with a lot of static/snow. I was able to find the Miami stations of major US networks (NBC, CBS, etc.) on the TV, which helped pass some of the time as we had a few rainy days. Layout: Everything at Utila Lodge is within steps: the sleeping rooms are adjacent to the main dining hall/bar and gear room, and about 20 steps away from the rinse tanks and perhaps 50-100 steps away from the boat dock. While everything is close, it didn’t feel cramped at all. The Lodge is on a street with a market across the street, about 3 minutes walk to the ferry station, and a number of bars, restaurants, boutiques along the road. The only thing missing at the Lodge is a swimming pool, which we often enjoy dipping in. Diving: The resort offers 3 dives per day, generally two morning dives, back to shore, and an afternoon dive after lunch. Two days per week the afternoon dive is swapped out for a night dive. Captain Gringo frequently said, “you’re on vacation, so you tell us what you want to do” so when we requested to swap a night dive for an afternoon dive that day, we were accommodated. The routine for diving included meeting at the boat at the assigned time (ranging between 7:30 and 8 a.m.). Dive sites were anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour away. Captain Gringo and Marcos the dive master sought out good sites with low current and good visibility, requiring at times that we boat around to the other side of the island. At each site, Marcos gave a dive briefing, explaining the site, the types of things we’d likely see, and the dive plan. If we were at a site with a mooring line the plan was typically 20 minutes swim out, 20 minutes swim back, and 20 minutes near/around the mooring line until safety stop. Without a mooring line, we’d drift in slow current, and begin a safety stop at about 50 minutes into the dive. The dive boat could accommodate at least 15 divers (probably more). For our week, the most we had was 6 divers, giving plenty of space. Marcos took care of our gear after our initial set-up. He swapped out tanks between each dive and at the end of the day we only had to take our masks/fins/rash guards (or wet suits) and he rinsed and stored BCDs/regs. There is a rinse tank for cameras on the boat. Between dives we were offered a towel and fresh fruit. There is also a water cooler on board. There is no camera room. They did offer a rinse tank for cameras right next to the gear room, which they filled each day with fresh water. I brought my camera into my room each day and used the table on the screened in patio to store it, change batteries, etc. There were a number of outlets in the room for charging batteries, laptop, cell phone. One in the bathroom, one under the TV, one between the beds on the night stand. The outlets are standard US outlets: no adapters needed. Depending on how many things you need to plug in/charge you might consider bringing a power strip. I was able to make do withoout one. The disappointing part of this trip had nothing to do with Utila Lodge or the dive operation. We didn’t realize we were coming during Utila’s rainy season and several days of our week were gray, cloudy and rainy throughout the day. We still dived, but it made the conditions a bit more challenging. One dive had such low visibility that we ended it early. More disappointing than the rain, however, was the extent of coral bleaching that Utila has experienced. Marcos indicated that the water temperatures had been sustained at above 84 degrees (registering at 85 degrees on my dive computer throughout our week) for several weeks and over the past three weeks the bleaching had started. I have not seen bleaching like this before. On many dive sites it seemed as if the corals were covered by a blanket of snow. While in some ways, eerily pretty, it was very sad, as we noted the lack of fish that accompanied the bleaching. Overall the diving was not stellar. I used to say “Any dive is a good dive, if I can get wet and blow bubbles” but this week really put that to the test. After a string of dives without really seeing much of note (there were some exceptions: one turtle made a brief appearance, as did an eagle ray; we also found some lettuce sea slugs) I was left wishing that the entire Utila Lodge and dive operation could be air lifted and dropped to a better diving location with healthy reefs and abundant sea life. (Side note: we were also told that the lack of fish was due to overfishing that occurred during COVID---the island was basically on lockdown resulting in fishing [overfishing] for survival.) I really want to emphasize how friendly and customer-service oriented each staff member was during our stay. They accommodated every request quickly, and with pride. Staff checked in frequently with us to make sure all was going well, and we enjoyed the company of Captain Gringo and Marcos at many of our meals, which was nice. Often dive staff stay away from guests; it was nice getting to know them and to learn about their experiences. For much of the week, it was just the four of us traveling companions at meals, so having Captain and Marcos join was a treat.
Websites	Utila Lodge
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Costa Brava, Roatan, Key West, Cozumel, Key Largo, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Bonaire, Philippines, Bali, North Sulawesi, St. John, St. Croix, Curacao, St. Eustatius, Fiji, Komodo, Lembeh, Belize, Utila
Closest Airport	Utila	Getting There	American Airlines from Miami to San Pedro Sula, Honduras; then CM Air to Utila.
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, rainy	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	85-85°F / 29-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	- Ft/ - M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	One hour dive time; on drift dives dive with group
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Tank on boat reserved for cameras; no camera table. Tank outside of gear room reserved for cameras. No camera room. Plenty of room within sleeping room for camera gear and enough outlets for charging batteries in sleeping room.

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Dive Review of Utila Lodge in Honduras/Utila

Utila Lodge: "Great Resort and Dive Operation; Fair Diving Due to Bleaching/Rain", Nov, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Utila Lodge in
Honduras/Utila