Complete Guide to Scuba Diving in Utila

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The island of Utila in Honduras’ Bay Islands has earned a reputation as one of the best places to go scuba diving in the world. Or rather, one of the cheapest places to dive. 

Scuba diving in Utila has become a rite of passage for travellers in Central America. But as you start planning your time underwater, you’ll quickly become overwhelmed. 

There are dozens of dive schools to choose from, all offering slightly different packages and inclusions, with varying standards of accommodation and different price points. 

It can be confusing, especially if you’ve never dived before. 

We are qualified but not expert divers, and even we spent days deliberating which dive shop was the right choice for us. 

I couldn’t find any valuable resource that laid out my options and helped us decide, which is why I wanted to write this post.  

If you’re a scuba junkie looking to dive in Utila and scout out the best sites and in-depth technical information, this post probably won’t help you. 

But if you’re a traveller either looking to learn how to dive, or dabble further in some scuba while you’re on the road in Central America, this post is designed to help you unpack the exciting but often complicated world that is scuba diving in Utila. 

Cheapest place in the world to dive?

Utila got its reputation as a popular scuba diving destination because it is the ‘cheapest place in the world to dive’. 

Cheap doesn’t always equal good. 

Yes, Utila is one of the cheapest places in the world to learn how to scuba dive. PADI Open Water courses sell for about $350 USD, which is hundreds of dollars cheaper than at schools in places like Australia, the USA or Europe (although it will still add a substantial cost to your Honduras travel budget!).

Whilst it is cheap, we didn’t find the diving in Utila fantastic. 

Now I say this as qualified divers with some previous dive experience. We’re not experts, but equally, we’re not newbies. We’ve dived in a handful of places, and I have to say we weren’t really impressed with the dive sites and marine life in Utila (or should I say lack thereof). 

Diving is partly luck, and the more time you spend underwater, the better chance you have of encountering epic ocean creatures.

And I know that diving is about appreciating the ocean in its entirety, and finding joy in the tiny little macro critters, the corals, the fish etc. but honestly? We want to see big marine life. 

I’m not talking about diving with sharks every time (although that would be amazing), but let’s be real, we want to see turtles, rays or sharks, in amongst the pretty corals and reef fish. 

Maybe that makes us bad divers, but I’m being brutally honest here, and we didn’t see ANY of those things in Utila. We did 5 dives, and we didn’t see one big animal.

When comparing Utila vs Roatan for diving, we saw more in one dive in Roatan than all our dives in Utila, with turtles, eagle rays and moray eels.

We could have been unlucky, and I know not everyone has this experience in Utila. But a lot of people we spoke to felt the same way, so I think it’s important to share this sentiment. 

Diving in Utila has become such a permanent fixture on the Central American ‘Gringo Trail’ it’s just assumed now that it is the best place to go diving. Everyone says it, so you just do it. 

I’m not suggesting you DON’T dive in Utila. It’s a great experience, and if you’re learning to dive, you can’t beat Utila! The dive culture, the way the schools run, the community and the environment are the perfect place to learn. 

You’ll be spending most of your time focused on breathing properly underwater and refining your skills, rather than searching for marine life, so honestly, you might not notice the lack of diversity. 

Dive schools in Utila are also extremely professional with good gear and high safety standards, and for the most part, are very well organised and well-run. Plus, it is very affordable.

However, it’s not the only place to dive in the region, and in our opinion, it’s certainly not the best if we’re talking underwater encounters. 

Diving in the Corn Islands in Nicaragua is a comparable cost, for a much better experience. 

Destinations like Belize and the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and Panama offer much better chances of diving with large marine life. (We spent one day snorkelling in Caye Caulker and saw more marine life than our entire week diving in Utila).

Admittedly the cost is much greater in these destinations, but I would rather spend more money on one good dive where you’ve got a great chance of some epic encounters, rather than diving for a week and seeing virtually nothing. 

Now I’ve got that on my chest, let’s dive in (haha!) to all the details of scuba diving in Utila, whether you’re learning to dive for the first time or a qualified diver. 

What is the best time of the year to dive in Utila Honduras?

While you can dive year-round in Utila, the best time is in the dry season, when the visibility is at its clearest and the winds and water at their calmest. 

The weather on the islands works on a slightly different pattern than the rest of the region, and the dry season is generally from March – September. 

We visited in late February/early March and experienced 20 + metre visibility (65 feet) with balmy water temperatures around 27° C (80° F). 

Wind was still a factor and getting to the north side of the island wasn’t possible every day due to strong winds and larger swells, but as the dry season proceeds, these tend to die off. 

Dive shops in Utila

You would have to live in Utila for years and be an expert dive master to know the ins and outs of all the dozens of dive shops on the island. 

I can’t pretend to have that knowledge after just a couple of weeks. What I can do is share the research and reasonings we had for choosing who we did (Underwater Vision), and whether we would have made the same decision after our experiences on the island (no). 

Our research got us down to three dive shops, that are professional, longstanding and well-rated. I’ll delve into each of them further, but these are my initial thoughts on who is best for what: 

• Underwater Vision – who we dove with
  • Best for newbie divers doing Open Water or Advanced Open Water courses
  • If you’re a solo traveller or a social couple, you’ll love the vibe here, free dorm accommodation is included with courses
  • Not the best for qualified divers
  • Not the best if you want peace and quiet and don’t want any party or noise

• Alton’s Dive Centre – who we wish we dove with
  • Great for newbie divers taking courses
  • Good range of accommodation for solo travellers (dorms, included free for courses and fun dive packages) and couples (private rooms)
  • Caters well for qualified divers with daily trips to the northside (pending conditions)
  • Quiet, with bar closed and noise restrictions early in the evening 

• Utila Dive Center – a solid backup option
  • The best for qualified divers, with entirely separate boats for those taking courses, and daily trips to the northside 
  • Not great accommodation, off-site at Mango Inn in a residential (non-waterfront) area, if you want to take up the free dorm option, don’t choose UDC

All these shops are actually next to each other on the eastern side of the bay along the main road in Utila. We determined that this side of town was (usually) a bit quieter, with fewer bars and parties. 

After going scuba diving in Utila, I would still choose between these three shops. 

Whilst we didn’t hear anything bad about other schools, and pretty much all of them are highly rated, we liked the location of these schools and heard positive first-hand experiences from people diving at each of them. 

So for the purpose of this post, I’m going to shrink my selection of dive shops in Utila down to these three and compare each of them in a number of different areas. 

PADI Courses and learning to dive

If you’re coming to Utila to learn how to dive, you’ll most likely be getting a PADI Open Water Certificate. 

Every school operates the course a little differently, but you can expect it to take 4 – 5 days, involving a classroom/theory component, practical skills training in the shallow ocean in front of your dive school, and of course, training dives out in the ocean (4 dives). 

One of the highlights of learning to dive in Utila is that you actually learn in the ocean, not a pool. The waters on the southern side of the island where the schools are located are calm and shallow, and you’ll jump into what looks like a pool from a dock at your dive school. It’s a much more authentic experience and allows you to get the hang of saltwater from the beginning, which has a different buoyancy to freshwater. 

An Open Water license allows you to dive to a maximum depth of 18 metres (60 feet). Most dive schools also include 2 free qualified fun dives that you can take once you’ve officially finished the course. 

To give you an idea of (current) prices: 

• 🤿 Underwater Vision: $329 USD with basic dorm accommodation included
• 🤿 Alton’s: $350 USD with basic dorm accommodation included
• 🤿 Utila Dive Center: $355 USD with basic dorm accommodation included (NOT on-site at the dive school, inland at Mango Inn)

It’s rare that people coming to Utila stop at just an Open Water, and most dive schools will upsell you to the Advanced Open Water course too. This allows you to dive to a depth of 30 metres (100 feet), and you get to do a night dive as part of your course. This will take 3 days longer, and you’ll do 5 more training dives. 

Although it might feel like a pushy way to make a bit more $, I honestly do think it’s worth doing the advanced. You’re already there, you may as well go for it, and it won’t be much cheaper anywhere else. This just means you’ve got the ability to go to 30 metres next time you dive, which opens up a whole lot more sites around the world. 

No matter which course you choose, the schedule is pretty much set for you, and you just do what you’re told. You don’t have a lot of options on when or where you’ll be diving, which keeps things simple when you’re just starting out. 

Do note that you won’t really have that much free time while you’re doing a course. If you want to actually experience the island and do some of the other things to do in Utila, you should allocate a few extra days post-course. 

Qualified diving in Utila

If you’ve already got your PADI license, you can come to Utila for some ‘fun’ diving. Also called resort diving, all the dive schools offer packages for 2, 5, 10 dives etc. 

Most dive schools run a morning and afternoon dive, and you’ll do two tanks at two different sites on each trip. 

These packages are generally customisable depending on how many dives you want to do, and the style of accommodation you want. 

Night dives generally cost a bit extra, and you can pay for this outside your package, or some schools will let you sub 2 standard dives for 1 night dive. 

As a price comparison, the cost for 10 fun dives at each of the schools is: 

• 🤿 Underwater Vision: $330 USD (I think this includes free basic dorm accommodation) 
• 🤿 Alton’s: $375 USD (with basic dorm accommodation included)
• 🤿 Utila Dive Center: $350 USD (no accommodation included)

I think we sadly made the wrong choice with Underwater Vision as qualified divers. 

This was just an observation and our personal opinion. I think Underwater Vision is a fantastic place to learn or improve your scuba skills if you’re taking a course, but we didn’t feel like we were a priority as qualified divers. 

One thing we wanted to confirm in advance was that we wouldn’t have to dive with people doing their Open Water courses. We didn’t want our dive time to be shortened or wasted by newbies practising their skills. 

Whilst we didn’t technically dive with the students, as we had our own dive master and descended in a group with other qualified divers, we were still on the boat with the students.

This meant we were going to dive sites selected primarily for the ease with which their skills could be practised (aka southside, and not particularly interesting dive sites). 

After arriving in Utila and chatting with others, it seems like Alton’s and Utila Dive Center pay better attention to their qualified divers. I know Utila Dive Center run an entirely separate boat each day for qualified divers, so you don’t even go to the same sites as the students which is a huge plus. 

The reef and marine life in Utila

Utila is situated on the Mesoamerican Reef. The second largest barrier reef in the world (second only to our Australian Great Barrier Reef), it stretches from Mexico down to Honduras. 

The reef around Utila is home to some towering coral structures and steep walls. There are all kinds of colourful reef fish, plenty of crustaceans like crabs and lobsters, and little critters like seahorses and squid. 

If you’re lucky, you’ll encounter larger marine life turtles, eagle rays, moray eels and reef or nurse sharks. 

What about whale sharks you ask? The island has become synonymous with whale sharks, the largest fish in the sea. However, scuba diving with them is actually illegal in Utila. Of course, you could be incredibly lucky and encounter one by chance while diving, but honestly, it’s not that common. 

The more likely encounter with whale sharks happens between dives on your surface intervals if you are VERY lucky. 

The boat captains are always looking out for them, and if you find one between dives, you’ll be able to jump in the water and snorkel with the whale shark. You need to tip the captain extra for this experience.

This is the same procedure with dolphins. There are huge pods of dolphins all around Utila, and it’s lucky but pretty likely you’ll have the chance to swim with them on your surface interval. We had an amazing experience with hundreds of them (you can read more about that here). It was actually better than any of our dives.  

Dive sites

Utila has over 90 different dive sites scattered around the island. 

Unless you’re a very professional diver willing to pay more to go to specific sites, it’s not worth researching all the sites, as you generally don’t get the choice of where to go. 

The south side of the island is closest to where the dive schools are located and are generally shallow, more basic sites that are better for learning. If you’re doing your course, you’ll dive here most often. 

The north side of the island is exposed to the open ocean and is where you are more likely to encounter larger species like sharks. The conditions can be rougher around here, so being able to dive here is weather-dependent. 

The sites on the north side are deeper and more advanced, so if you’re a brand new diver, you most likely won’t go here during your course. We got to do a 30-metre deep dive here. 

This is one area where we were really disappointed with Underwater Vision and again highlights that they focus mostly on teaching courses, not fun divers. We were only able to go to the northside once in a week, and this was after a lot of asking. 

We felt the sites at Underwater Vision were selected primarily for the purpose of the students needing to practice skills, not for the quality of the site. 

We only dived 5 times in Utila over the course of a week, and we almost ended up at the same site twice. Seriously? With 90 different dive sites, our captain wanted to take us to the same one within the space of a few days? 

Luckily another boat had already tied off to the buoy and we had to go to a neighbouring site, but it was a close call, and it was still a basic site on the southside. 

This is a common frustration in the dive world, where the captains generally choose the sites, not the dive masters. This was definitely the case for us at UV in Utila, and the instructors were actually annoyed that the captain wouldn’t go where they asked. 

It seemed site selection was basically what was closest to the island, used the least amount of fuel, was easiest for the captain and got him back to shore as quickly as possible for a decent lunch break between the morning and afternoon dive. 

This was just our observations and I know there are other factors at play like tides, winds, weather conditions, safety etc. but I think it’s a bit of both at play here. 

Dive shops that cater more equally to qualified fun divers will run trips to the northside every morning, pending wind conditions. Utila Dive Center and Alton’s both offer this, and we really wish we opted for one of these two schools for a better chance of quality dives. 

Accommodation

Basically all the dive shops in Utila offer accommodation. Either on-site or at an affiliated hotel in another location. 

The vast majority of accommodation in Utila is connected to a dive school, and it’s actually not that easy to find non-dive-related accommodations. 

🛏️ ROOM TYPES

If you’re doing a course you’ll most likely have free dorm accommodation included. This will be the most basic offering the school has. Usually 4-8 beds per room, shared bathrooms and fans. Some schools will also offer this free to fun divers who book a package of dives, otherwise it will at least be discounted. 

All three of my recommended dive shops offer this. However, Utila Dive Center offers accommodation at Mango Inn Resort, which is not on-site at their school. It’s located inland and has mixed reviews. 

The next step up is generally a smaller dorm, with air-conditioning. This will cost a bit extra, but you’ll still be getting a discounted rate whether you’re doing a course or fun dives.

If you’re a couple, or you just want some privacy, most schools have private rooms. There are generally two levels: shared bathroom with fan, or private bathroom with AC. 

If you’re a couple and both taking a course, you might get lucky and get a basic private room included for free. If it’s not included, it will at least be discounted compared to the non-diver price, whether you’re doing a course or fun dives. 

We stayed in a private room with AC and a private bathroom at Underwater Vision and I have to say, it was great. It was small and poky, but the bed was comfy, the shower was HOT with great pressure and the AC was cold. We paid $44 USD per night, which was discounted from the non-divers rate of $56 USD. 

Our friends stayed in a private room with a shared bathroom at Alton’s and they had a similar experience. It was small and pokey, but they were pretty happy with it. They were both doing an Open Water course and I think they actually got the private room for free (as opposed to 2 dorm beds). They could have paid a bit more to have a private bathroom and AC if they wanted to. 

If you want to dive at UDC, then I would actually suggest organising your accommodation separately. The Mango Inn isn’t in a great location, and unless you really want the free dorm bed, you have to pay for the room anyway, so you may as well stay somewhere waterfront. 

🔪 KITCHEN FACILITIES

Something that is a big sticking point when it comes to accommodation, and thus choosing your dive school, is kitchen facilities. If you’re on a tight budget and want access to a kitchen to cook your own meals, it’s going to be tough. 

This wasn’t a make or break for us, but we do at least like having access to a fridge for cold water, fruits, easy breakfasts with yoghurt etc. and Underwater Vision told us they had a kitchen. 

What we found was the tiniest, most putrid excuse for a ‘kitchen’. There were basically no utensils, and the few things they had were rusted and broken. The fridge was absolutely chockers full and looked not to have been cleaned out for a month. 

We quickly swiped off the possibility of cooking, and luckily there are some great restaurants in Utila. But we felt really bad for the super-budget travellers trying to cook in the kitchen. We saw a lot of people just eating loaves of bread with jam as their affordable meal. 

We did manage to find a space in the fridge (triple wrapping our things in plastic bags to avoid getting some disease from the old food in there), and thankfully we always travel with a cutlery set, cups and collapsible containers that we use as bowls so we could at least have cheap breakfasts. 

Not that many other schools offer kitchens, and those who do are in a pretty similar condition from what I understand. Alton’s has a kitchen, and the reviews seem to be a bit better than UV but don’t be expecting anything overly equipped or clean. 

🏖️ COMMUNAL AREAS

The dive schools have prime locations in Utila town, and most are lined up right along the water. 

You can expect to have a pretty epic communal area right on the water, with a dock to jump in and swim from, lounges or hammocks and usually a restaurant and/or bar on-site.

Despite its other shortcomings, Underwater Vision had the most epic hang-out area. 

There were rows and rows of sun lounges lined up on a sandy ‘beach’ area. There were hammocks strung between trees, tables and chairs under shady trees near the restaurant, a volleyball net and a big dock to sit and watch the sunset, and jump into the pool-like ocean. 

A few doors up, Utila Dive Center and Alton’s had a pretty similar setup and we hung out with friends at Alton’s one night. All three places have the most incredible sunset views. 

Although UDC’s area is really nice, because their accommodation isn’t on-site, you won’t actually be sleeping here. Given how many great dive schools there are on the waterfront, it feels dumb to not be able to enjoy these amenities 24/7. 

Again, if you want to dive with UDC, I recommend finding your own accommodation separately. 

🎶 NOISE

The only thing Utila does better than diving is partying. 

If you’re wise, you won’t combine the two, but everyone is at different stages of their diving course/experience, and you can guarantee there will be people ready to party, even when you need to be up at 6 am for a dive. 

This is where we felt we mucked up with Underwater Vision. It wasn’t a ‘party’ as such, but it is a very social place, and they run weekly trivia nights, karaoke nights etc. which attract people from all over the island. It doesn’t run late, but even 10 pm feels late when you’re exhausted, and it was pretty noisy inside our room. 

We also had so many other people seem to use UV as the place to hang out late into the night because apparently their own accommodation wasn’t suitable. We woke up one morning for our dive after a very rough and noisy night to see some very dusty-looking fellas scurrying off to bed at a DIFFERENT place, after using our balcony as their drinking place the entire night. 

Alton’s cuts the bar off pretty early, and if people want to party or drink, they have to go elsewhere. So you can get a quiet night’s sleep at the school without disturbance. Because you don’t sleep at UDC, you won’t have this issue and you can enjoy the area at the school but go off to your accommodation whenever you want. 

So, who would I choose to go scuba diving in Utila?

If I had my time again, as a couple, who are both qualified divers and don’t love a noisy party atmosphere, I would choose Alton’s. 

They basically ticked every box, from their attention to fun divers and dive site choice, accommodation and facilities, quiet laidback vibe and decent prices and inclusions. 

I would also recommend Alton’s if you are taking a course but appreciate a quieter place to sleep. 

I would also happily choose Utila Dive Center as qualified divers if we had organised separate accommodation in advance. 

They are the best, best choice for qualified divers, with entirely separate boats and daily trips to the northside, but I wouldn’t want to stay in their accommodation.

There are other places to stay in Utila outside of the dive schools, but I wouldn’t leave it to the last minute, and it will cost you more. If budget isn’t an issue, go UDC. 

I would only recommend Underwater Vision if you are taking an Open Water or Advanced course and are a solo traveller wanting to meet people, or a social couple who don’t mind some party and noise. 

Otherwise, dive and stay elsewhere and go and hang out at UV (everyone else seems to!). 

Final thoughts on scuba diving in Utila

I hope this post has been at least partly helpful in working out who you want to go diving with in Utila. 

As I mentioned, this is by no means an extensive list, and countless other shops also have great reviews, good packages and prices. 

We narrowed down our choices to these three schools based on extensive research, and everything we saw and experienced on the island confirmed they were the best options. 

No matter who you go with, scuba diving in Utila will be a great experience. The island lives and breathes scuba, and even if you don’t see a lot of marine life like us, the passion and community around diving are infectious. 

Don’t forget to leave some days free to explore the other parts of the Utila. There is so much more to offer than just diving, and the worst thing you can do is get stuck in the dive-eat-party-sleep-repeat cycle that many travellers do. 

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