Utopia Village and Utila have been very busy this spring. Tourism is back in full swing which explains my lack of blogging. I do want to share some amazing photos taken by one of our guests who traveled with Duggan's Dive Shop out of San Antonio. Rob truly captured the essence of diving Utila and the many inhabitants he encountered, along with the richness of our reef. Happy day from the island.

I'm taking you under water today to wet your whistle. These photos were taken by one of our Canadian guests last week (Jamie Robinson). Happy Day to all!

Hello from sunny Utila. laura Bly, USA Today reporter, stayed at Utopia for one night several weeks ago during her trip through The Bay Islands and mainland Honduras. While her article below focuses primarily on Roatan, the unstable political environment and drop in tourism in 2009, Utopia did get mentioned with a direct link to our website! We're all hoping 2010 proves to be a time of rebuilding onfidence that Honduras is safe and still an affordable destination. Happy Friday!

Honduras back on the Travel Map- USA Today

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday the Obama administration will resume aid to Honduras that was suspended after a coup last year and urged Latin American nations to recognize the new Honduran government.
Clinton said the Honduran government that took office in January was democratically elected, was reconciling the population split by last June's coup and deserved normal relations with countries that cut ties after the ouster of the former president.

"We think that Honduras has taken important and necessary steps that deserve the recognition and the normalization of relations," she told a news conference on the sidelines of a meeting of regional officials in Costa Rica.

Clinton praised steps taken by new Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, whose election in November began the resolution of the political crisis caused by the ouster of his predecessor, Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya, a leftist populist, was toppled while pushing a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to run for re-election.

Clinton said she had notified Congress that more than $31 million in U.S. assistance suspended after the coup would be restored. She also said it was time for Honduras to be readmitted to the Organization of American States.

Clinton will attend a meeting of Central American leaders, including Lobo, in Guatemala on Friday at which Honduras will the main topic. Clinton has been making the case for Honduras at each stop on her current six-nation tour of Latin America.

Some countries she has visited — notably Argentina and Brazil — are balking at restoring ties with Honduras. They wanted Zelaya restored to power and believe recognition would reward the coup leaders who ran an interim government until January.

Clinton said she disagreed with such delays.

"I don't know what they are waiting for, but that is their right to wait," she said. "We believe that President Lobo and his administration have taken the steps necessary to restore democracy."

"We share the condemnation of the coup that occurred, but we think it is time to move forward and ensure that such disruptions of democracy do not and cannot happen in the future."

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Almost forgot to mention that we received a phone call early in the week from a representative from USA Today. They had a travel writer on Roatan and wanted to know if we had availability for her to stay one night with us. Of course Utopia welcomed the opportunity to host Laura and her husband. They dined with us Tuesday night and dove early Wednesday morning before departing for Pico Bonito on mainland Honduras. We're not sure what angle her article will take, but we were very pleased they chose Utopia during their Utila visit and thoroughly enjoyed their stay with us, albeit brief. The article is to be out this month and I'll post it here once it's been published. Happy day from Utopia.

So close and yet so far ........ our elusive whale sharks made their appearance this week, long enough to taunt our divers. Our gentle giants surfaced briefly and descended just as quickly. I suppose this is what makes the encounters so special. Not only are they mammoth in size, but their elusiveness keeps divers coming back on their quests. We had a nice week of a mixture of guests, coming from Canada (again .... Hail Canada), California and Kansas (my home stomping ground). One of our avid divers, Kim(1000+ dives) took over 1500 photos and will be sharing them with us to post on our website. Keep watching for website updates. Our IT-Marketing team has done wonders in reconfiguring and adding new information and photos. If you haven't checked it out lately, go to the photos section, it looks amazing. Some of Kim's photos included great shots of "Ophelia", our 10 foot resident octopus. They "met" Ophelia several times during their night shore dives. These photos should be up on our site very soon. We have a break this week for maintenance and to give our employees a rest. 2010 thus far has been very good for Utopia (and the island as a whole). We're back in gear, full force, on Saturday when we have a new round of divers arriving. The weather is glorious today, Im sending some of our warmth to you folks in the Midwest and Upper East. Looks as if old mom nature is continuing to pound you with snow. Take a break from the cold, we're holding a hammock for you.