Very nice! A dive bud and I are considering the offer from Utopia Village for 2 divers, all inclusive for $1999 for both for 1 week, diving, etc. for Oct. 2013. My question is: how is the food, AC in the rooms, how is the dive shop, was there a hassle in transport, and can you get to town via the resort? Any other info/details would be appreciated.
1) food was good - lots of good options for bfast, two options for lunch and dinner which I liked. Pickier eaters might complain about having fewer options but I enjoyed them.
2) AC in the rooms is great.
3) dive shop is non-existent, dive op was very well run - super happy with the boat, captain (Elvis) and DM (Juan Carlos, aka Juca, who was back to sub for the current DM who had a minor surgery to manage)
4) Tavel was fine, some time spent waiting but we got here and they dealt with all the hassles - I just drank beer whenever things slowed down - Bango is awesome BTW, he's one of the guys who manages transfers at the airport for Alice. I was a bit grumpy about the local travel-day logistics but it worked out just fine
5) getting into town is easy by the house boat, just ask
6) Bugs can be annoying outside - we wore Insect Blocker clothes and they were a god send. Vastly outperformed everything else, including 100% DEET. STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS even if, like me, you grew up in the wilds and are used to bugs
7) The shore dive is nice, saw multiple octopus and its pretty much all you can eat provided you manage your profile - you can easily do 3 tanks a day, 4 if you really wanna go for it. Lots to see in the shallows and the wall drops past 100 feet. Saw all sorts of neat stuff on the shore dives
8) the bartender Paul is great
9) it's really a hoot of a place
Overall we definitely enjoyed ourselves.
