Whale sharks are spotted on Utila year round, they are deep divers up to thousands of feet and come to the surface to feed. Utila's geological make up is perfect for this. The Northside borders the Cayman trench dropping into the abyss and the fringing reef, inland lagoons and mangrove are host to many different types of snapper and grouper that spawn dureing the FULL MOON and LAST QUARTER MOON. Check out the lunar calendar for the best dates to vist Utila and see whale sharks!! http://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2011/http://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2011/

Utopia Village, Bay Islands, Western Caribbean

announces their best DEMA Deal to date.  The 2010 Las Vegas DEMA dive deal is a “Buy One Get One Half Off Package” good during Utila’s peak whale shark season 2011 if booked by February 15. This is a $225 savings per person over last years special! Contact Utopia reservations or your travel specialist for availability and DEMA Deal details. reservations@utopiautila.com

Insider tip –there is an extra bonus PADI Whale Shark Awareness Course - if interested sign up at “Enter To Win a Free Week Stay” on their website and get the course info and a chance to win a week dive package at Utopia Dive Village. www.utopiautila.com

The purpose of the Whale Shark Awareness Specialty course is to intro­duce divers and snorkelers to whale sharks and familiarize them with proper recreational diving techniques for responsible interaction.  The course includes the latest research information including biology, behavior, monitoring activities and worldwide conservation projects.  Utopia Village is offering this complimentary course to preferred customers including 2010 DEMA attendees and participants. (some processing fees apply)

A few more photos from the week spent with our new Texas friends from Arlington Scuba. A pleasant reminder of home for us Texan Utopians. We're running some great specials right now. Contact reservations@utopiautila.com for details. We're holding a hammock for you!

July is such a festive month on the island. As true to it's colorful reputation, Utila hosts a week long celebration of Carnival. I appreciate old and young alike "making parties" in the streets. It's a wonderful time where the community comes together and shares in the activites. From the crowning of the Queen and Mr. Utila to parades to dancing in the streets, it's truly an island experience. Come visit us at Utopia, we're holding a hammock for you.

Big Al Audet and his wife Tamsey returned to Utopia this week. He keeps us just as entertained as he did two years ago. Al has taken some amazing photos, both below and above water. Follow the link to see some photos by our friend Al.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6239029&l=21080d56af&id=659759195

For those that are on Facebook, Utopia Village' page can be found by searching groups "Utopia Dive Village". Please join the group and follow all the things going on in our little slice of Caribbean Heaven. Happy day all.

The Utopian Texans had a wonderful week socializing with ALL Texans at Utopia last week. We had divers from both the Dallas and Houston areas and were thrilled to have new friends from "home". The East winds were blowing unusually strong for June which dampered shore diving just a bit, but the breezes were welcomed by all for hanging out time at the Champa bar. Juan Carlos (Juca), our manager of dive operations, brought latin culture to the week with his Honduran music and latin flare. We're offering some "sizzling" summer specials. Please contact me for details (kyle@utopiautila.com). We're holding a hammock for you.

Three of our Nebraska Fire Fighters who stayed with us in Mid May. As you can see, another tough day at Utopia!

For those that have visited Utopia, you've had the entertaining experience of getting to Know Juan Carlos Molina "Juca", our manager of dive operations. Not only is Juca one of the most energetic and knowledgeable divers, he also has a secret weapon that swoons most women .......... his guitar. At least once during the week, Juca brings out his guitar for a jam night by the sea. An added bonus, he writes his own lyrics and most are performed in Spanish. One guest summed up Juca perfectly, "the Ricky Ricardo of Honduras". Tid bit of information, Honduras never aired the "I Love Lucy" show, so Juca was clueless about Ricky Ricardo. We hopped on the internet so I could introduce Juca to some American pop culture. Juca now walks around saying "Luuuuuucy". Gotta love the guy. Come see us at Utopia, we're holding a hammock for you.

This spring has found very little whale shark activity in Utila's waters ............ until last Sunday. Our guests from Ohio (Just Add Water dive shop out of Cleveland), Texas and Arizona were handed a week of diving perfection. They had whale shark encounters on 3 separate days and the days where our gentle giants did not appear, pods of dolphins entertained. I've attached a video taken by our repeat guest and new friend, Silvia Sucz from Arizone. I wish I could freeze last week to share with all our guests. Happy day from the island. p.s. Im am just now overhearing VHF chatter, whale sharks again today! woo woo

Over the past month Utopia has welcomed new faces and many new friends. Our guests have come from a wide variety of backgrounds and locations. Canada, Poland, UK, Switzerland, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Minnesota, California, New York, Chicago, Maryland, D.C., Oregon amd Washington just to name a few. We've enjoyed hearing stories from our new friends and sharing in their experiences. We look forward to the many yet to arrive. Come join us at Utopia, the weather has been splendid. We're holding a hammock for you.

Hello from sunny Utila. Today I received the below You Tube video from our past guest Henry Aschner. Henry and his wife Judy stayed with us for a week in March and put together a wonderful video of their trip to Utila. We need to add Henry to our marketing team! He really captured the feel of Utopia and Utila. Happy day from the island.

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.

Hail Canada and Hail tall Canadians. Last week was the first week since we've opened Utopia where we had all Canadian guests. Must be mighty cold up North as we have more of our “friendly neighbors to the North” staying with us again this week. Quebec, Ontario and Alberta were represented and let me tell you, they grow em' tall in Ontario. We had some rough weather mid week, but their diving was book ended with sunny days and calm seas. They had a day with a large pod of dolphins who playfully stuck around during their dives. Dolphins bring good luck so this may be the week for our elusive whale sharks to make their presence known. Happy day from Utopia, we’re holding a hammock for you.

Just another day in Paradise. Enfield Scuba, Enfield, CT. We loved this group!

We aim to please at Utopia. You want romance for Valentine's Day, we provide. I don't about you, but this does it for me (am i that simple!). Happy Valentine's Day from Utopia. We're holding a hammock for you.

Super Bowl sunday, island style. Go Saints! We were able to pick up the game on our satellite, so all were happy post dives and post sun!

Quite an adventurous week with a resort full of divers from Enfield Scuba, Enfield CT, one token couple from Oregon and Honeymooners from Toronto who wed on Roatan last week. The Enfield group was large enough that they booked back to back weeks to accommodate all their divers for this Honduran excursion. The second half arrived yesterday for a week, leaving snow packed streets in their rear view mirrors. They were happily greeted with sunshine and 85 degrees yesterday (we always aim to please, although Mom Nature had a hand in that one). Really delightful group, with much entertainment from several "colorful"
Enfield characters at the champa bar in the evenings. No whale shark sightings yet, although we're holding high hopes for this week as the seas are calm. Step away from the cold, come see us at Utopia!

View of the full "wolf" moon last night at Utopia. SPECTACULAR! We're holding a hammock for you!