Utila Laguna Beach Resort

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Steve P

Contributor
Messages
140
Reaction score
15
Location
Chicago Area
# of dives
200 - 499
Planning a trip Utlila in May and considering Laguna Beach Resort. Any comments from those that have stayed & dove with them would be appreciated.
 
We went to LBR last year, last week of April. 3 whale shark encounters on the first day! The resort was great and certainly ranks highly in terms of value for $. Utila is probably the cheapest good dive destination in the Caribbean and Laguna Beach is one of the priciest and nicest places on the island, yet still a great value. It's reachable only by boat, and the isolation is welcome.
 
We stayed at Utila Lodge and it was great. I'd go back in a minute. With only 8 rooms you get to know everyone staying at the lodge. We spoke to some people that stayed at LBR and they had nothing but good things to say about it. With that said we checked out a few of the other places we saw on the internet and unless cost is a major driver these are the two I'd pick. Have a great time.
 
Thanks for the reports. 3 whale shark sitings the first day! Must of been great; tvictory. If we see one during the week we're there I'll be elated but whale sharks or not I'm sure it will be fantastic. I've had several "mini" dive trips with 1 - 3 days diving (business or other non-dedicated dive trip) over the years but this will be the first "dive till ya drop" trip in years. And first visit to Bay Islands.
 
I was at LBR two summers ago. I think it may well be the best land based trip I've been on. The only negative was that the food was just good.
The diving was great.....not a lot of big stuff but all sorts of small stuff. Thousands of Blue Bell Tunicates.
We got a glimpse of a whale shark and swam with dolphins in the wild.
The staff was excellent, great boats and facilities.
Did you say dive till you drop? LBR is the right place for that. We did 2 am and 2 afternoon dives and a drop off dive everyday there wasn't a night dive. The drop off dive right out in front of the resort is very good. We heard toad fish there but never found them....maybe next time. When you do the drop off dive or do the LBR reef as a shore dive the staff will haul your gear. Sometimes they'll even haul you.
I have been trying to go back but just can't get it to work out...maybe this fall or next year.
Tell Luciano and Romina hey from scubajoe the Texan.

Joe
 
Booked today for 1 week at Laguna. Glad to hear the shore dive is nice, Scuba Joe. I've seen a few posts that indicate there isn't any worthwhile shore diving in Utila. Always nice to do a shallow shore dive in the afternoon to look for the cool small stuff.
My wife & I must of spent 20 min looking at some type of blenny (red lip?) off of Chankanab, Cozumel. That was a fish with personality!

After Utila we willl have a few days at Roatan - should get 2 dive days. Haven't decided on lodging but am considering Seagrape and diving with Natural Sons - based on opinions from a few SB members. Lots of CCV fans here - so no surprise that its booked. We'll try a few days in West End instead.
 
:06: Oops, that would be Native Sons. Natural Sons sounds like some type of trail mix/health food.
 
Hello Steve,
My wife and I just returned from Utila and a wonderful dive trip with Laguna Beach Resort. After reading all the posts concerning safety in Honduras and the surrounding areas, I am pleased to report that we had or saw no trouble anywhere, especially in Utila. LBR will have you picked up at the airstrip (notice I didn't say airport, there is none) and will take you to the Utila dock to board a boat to take the 2-3 minute ride to LBR. It is very secluded and luxurious. They will pamper you beyond belief. Accommodations are great and right on the water, dining is three excellant meals a day buffet style(if you go hungry it is your fault), boats are 41' Newtons with lots of room, Dive operation is one of the best I have seen in the 8 years we have been diving, Diving itself is surpurb, Staff is outstanding. Now I am trying to figure out why we left, O yea, work to make more money to return.
Our boat(Island Time) had two groups on board, a group of 7 traveling/diving together and 3-4 in our group depending on the day. Each group went with it's own divemaster dove their own dive plan. LBR assigns you to the same boat, divemaster, group each day. This is very nice. Dives are 2 morning and 1 afternoon with additional night dives on Monday and Thursday. Thers is great shore diving and if you desire you can take extra tanks on the afternoon dive and they will drop you off LBR's shore to dive back in. Like I said "You will be pampered". LBR takes care of your BC/reg setup each day, you take care of rest of gear. They have a really nice washing and drying area to hang all gear right at the dive shop.
We went into Utila town on our last day before leaving. It is larger than I expected, however it is one main road with lots of people. Most all speak english and they are very friendly. We felt safe every where we ventured. Be sure to go downtown and look for the TreeTanic Bar/Jade Seahorse. The bar is like nothing you have EVER seen, very unique.
We met lots of nice people at LBR, made some good dive friends, ate entirely too much, drank all we wanted, took lots of U/W pics and relaxed for 8 wonderful days.
As for the travel, like most going to Honduras, we were concerned about our safety. From our experience, we had no troubles at all. Utila is very safe, and on our return trip through San Pedro Sula we had a 5 hour layover so our travel agent( Lisa @ Island Dreams)booked us a guided tour of the town. Our guide was very good, and we never felt in any kind of danger. San Pedro Sula is a large city with very beautiful and interesting sights.
So, go, enjoy the diving, take insect repellant(DEET), check into taking antimalerial drugs(reccommended by CDC and DAN, we took Chloroquine once a week, 2weeks before, week of trip and 4 weeks after return), relax at LBR and Utila and give a report on your return.
Burt
 
Thanks for the detailed report, Burt. While I still enjoy backpacker accomodations my wife prefers more comfortable lodging after a full day of diving. Sounds like we made a good choice for our first trip to the Bay Islands. Only thing that comes close to a great dive trip is the anticipation of waiting for the next one.

Steve
 
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