Dive Review of Laguna Beach Resort in
Honduras/Utila

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Laguna Beach Resort, Oct, 2013, by Stephen Anania, NY, US ( Reviewer 4 reports). Report 7202.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Our small group of 7, 6 are divers, went to Laguna Beach Resort the 1st week of October 2013. We flew into Roatan, where we were sent in 2 groups in a 6 pack "puddle jumper" for the 15 minute flight to Utila. Luggage was collected in Roatan for all people going over and sent by one of the dive boats after all had arrived. Once on Utila, we were sent by taxi/van to a dock for a 3-4 minute boat ride to the resort. Our bags were delivered later in the evening. Accommodations were spacious in cabins labeled A through R, and a beach house that has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a small living area. Most of the cabins are stand alone, but there are 2 or 3 cabins that contain 2 units that share a wall, which we were told is rather thin. If privacy is an issue, you might want to ask for a totally standalone unit. The main entrance to each unit faced the sandy area and the rear let out onto a deck with a hammock, a couple of chairs and a dock over the lagoon water. While the rooms were spacious, there are few electric outlets and only a few pegs to hang things. There are a couple of small closets, but a few more pegs on the wall would be nice, especially for drying gear at the end of the trip. After dinner the first night, there was a dive briefing explaining how they worked the boats, dive sites, rinse tanks, etc. They do 2 dives in the morning at 8:00. Then an afternoon departure at 2:30. On the way in from the 3rd dive, you can take an optional drop off dive where you swim back to the resort in about 15-40 feet of water, basically a safety stop most of the way. We did it once and it was nothing to write home about, so didn't do it again. Dives are guided and specified as 25 minutes out, 25 minutes back (in reality 10-15 minutes back), then spend whatever time is left until 60 minutes under the boat. Dive master boards the boat once he returns in 40-45 minutes. We were usually back on board close to the 60 minutes, so don't know how much they enforce the 60 minute rule. On Monday and Thursday they do a night dive and skip the drop-off dive. One could get in 22 dives in a week if they choose. There was also shore diving, but we didn't see where it would be aside from the reverse of the drop-off dive. In between the morning dives, we had 45-75 minutes where we cruised around getting to the 2nd site and/or spent time searching in vain for whale sharks. We did see the "tuna boil" one day which is the start of the whale sharks possibly coming up, but it didn't work out for us. The crew tried their hardest to find them for us. On the dives, we saw the normal cast of characters for the Caribbean, including some nurse sharks, eagle rays, stingrays, and a toad fish. Our dive master Josh also liked looking around in the sand for small things like seahorses and pipefish. The reefs are in OK shape for the Caribbean, but with lots of dead hard corals and only saw a few lionfish the whole week. A couple of times, Josh, the dive master, brought a spear gun and fed the lionfish to some eels and said the sharks usually will eat them also. It was very easy diving and we were very happy with the dive portion of the package. Plenty of fruit of some kind was served between dives and there was plenty of fresh water to drink. Food at the resort was plentiful and tasty. All food is served buffet style, but they were very accommodating to dietary restrictions, in some cases cooking special food for some of us. We never went hungry and there are afternoon snacks in the 4-5 PM time frame. If you ask Kerry, one of the boat captains, his mom will make great cinnamon rolls, baked bread and cakes for you to enjoy at very reasonable prices. After Kerry brought cinnamon rolls one morning, we ordered some for later in the week, as well as a huge birthday cake for one of our group. It was enough to feed everyone at the resort, about 24 divers and some staff. The only issue we had with the resort was typical of the Caribbean.....no see ums! Wow, these things are horrible. We got eaten alive a few times, mainly the last 10 minutes waiting for the dock back to the plane to Roatan. The only thing to keep them at bay appears to be baby oil This worked great, but of course if you burn easily, this isn't a great option. Other than the no see ums, we had a great week and would come back here again.
Websites	Laguna Beach Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Curacao, Bonaire, Grand Turk, Australia, Florida, Bahamas
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	78-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	60 minutes back on the boat
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Boats have a large table and large bucket for cameras only. Once docked, there are 3 large containers for cameras only. Same size containers as for dive gear also. Cameras are well looked after.

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Dive Review of Laguna Beach Resort in Honduras/Utila

Laguna Beach Resort, Oct, 2013,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Laguna Beach Resort in
Honduras/Utila