When planning my trip to Utila, I came across a ton of dive shops but ultimately chose UDC because of their eco-programs and focus. Being short on time, I only had the chance to do 2 fun dives and the Caribbean Dolphin Awareness Course. Both were super fun!

I got sick during my travels unfortunately and wasn't super excited about starting my fun dives on the first morning. I told the woman at the front desk about this and she wasn't very friendly nor welcoming so I almost turned back to the hotel. But shortly after my dive instructor Chris introduced himself and he was awesome and made me feel much better about continuing the dive! Once on the boat and with seasickness kicking in, everyone on the boat was super helpful and kind about helping me out. (Thanks to Jono for getting me water!) Chris was really great about checking in on me during the dive and making sure I was feeling ok. Even though I felt disgusting and kind of worthless, it was still a fun diving day and there was definitely a nice community feeling on the boat!

The following days I did the Caribbean Dolphin Awareness Course led by Alex. Being an ocean lover, the last thing I want to do while near the water is to sit inside a classroom but Alex made the course material super informative and fun at the same time! I learned a lot more about dolphins that I had previously known and it was really cool getting insight on dolphins within that particular area. The next day we did a boat run to spot some dolphins but we weren't so lucky. We also did 2 dives which were pretty cool. Being a big nerd that is always asking questions, it was super awesome diving with Alex who is a marine biologist! Another diver was interested in tiny creatures and I wanted to learn more about the health of the coral, so he was constantly pointing stuff out and describing things on a clipboard. I loved it and it was a great experience! Only downside is that now I only want to dive with a marine biologist so I can bother them with tons of questions in the future!

All in all, UDC may be one of my favorite dive shops. It has a college campus type vibe to it which is quite nice. Almost everyone I met there was genuinely friendly! Both my dive instructors, Chris and Alex, were just really fun, sweet, and smart people to be around! Highly recommend!

UDC- is commonly referred to as the “Farm” is an Dive center that is primarily focused on dive master/Instructor school.
Excellent staff and organized Dive school.

However, IMO “AVOID UDC” if you are a certified diver looking for a dive shop to go recreation diving.
Dive boats leave early at 7:30 and 1PM and are always 2 dives. (No single dive trips). Since you will be students, the dives are boring and shallow. Most dives less than 60 max depth, and my 12 afternoon dives average less than 30 feet for the dives. Again, great for training- not recommended for FUN dives

I had a really great time when doing my dive master training at UDC! Definitely the most professional training dive center I have ever seen. Because of the many other courses taking place at the same time, you can benefit extremely in DM training. If you wanna add other specialties to your portfolio like tec, sidemount, wreck, deep and so on - no problem for UDC! They offer everything here! The atmosphere is very friendly and in the evening you can enjoy a beer with all the international trainees and instructors. Strong recommendation!