Professional Scuba Training and Internships

  Honduras

Utila

Term: Throughout the year 

Description: If you're currently a PADI Open Water certified diver (or qualifying certification from another dive training agency) and you wish to pursue a professional path to become a PADI Instructor then we've developed the following package to help you make their dream come true and embark on a professional dive career.

This program includes PADI Advanced to Instructor training (8 week program) costs $2245 + 7 night's accommodation in Mango Inn hotel, up to 2 months reef tax/insurance and all Instructor course materials. The only additional costs are PADI application and examination fees, for this program $68 for the PADI Divemaster application, $100 for the Instructor application and $440 for the PADI Instructor Examination.

Please read below for a description of the courses you'll be enrolled in; PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
This certification requires just 2 days, 1 day if you already hold an Adventures in Diving certification. Choose 5 dives from night, deep, navigation, naturalism, multilevel, boat, search & recovery, underwater photography, underwater videography, cavern and many more amazing experiences. This program will train you to better understand underwater tasks and environments and introduces you for the first time to specialized areas of diving. You can even sample training exercises from the PADI Rescue Diver course during this program that will credit you should you continue your diver education.

PADI Emergency First Response
A non-diving certification, that teaches you, basic first aid care, of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. This program has no minimum age requirements so is ideal for all family members. This certification is a prerequisite for all PADI courses beyond the Advanced Open Water Diver. In just 1/2 day build your confidence and no how to act in the event of an emergency. Build upon your CPR skills by learning how to provide secondary care to a patient when the care provided by local emergency services will be delayed. The secondary care module shows you how to assess illnesses, injuries and splint wounds. Other additional skills include an orientation to using an 'automated external defibrillator', providing oxygen and dealing with choking adults. In 1 day become a competent Emergency First Responder.

PADI Rescue Diver
This 4 day program improves your diving skills, builds your confidence and abilities as a PADI Rescue Diver and has 4 academic modules that teach you about recognizing diver stress, diving first aid, emergency management and dive equipment problems. The in-water exercises will give you the ability to deal with distressed, tired, panicking and missing divers. Family, friends and other divers will always feel more assured knowing their diving with a PADI rescue Diver. This course is required as a prerequisite to begin professional training as a PADI Divemaster.

PADI Divemaster
This program welcomes you to the ranks of a PADI dive professional and the PADI Divemaster rating is the most sought after professional qualification in the dive industry. The program consists of 3 separate modules, knowledge development, waterman ship and practical training. During knowledge development you'll learn about supervising both students and certified divers in addition to gaining theoretical diving knowledge about physics, physiology, skills and environment, equipment and the recreational dive planner. You'll also put your practical training into developing an underwater map of a local dive site. The waterman ship module will develop your strength and skills in the water and develop your confidence to a strong level of comfort.   With guidance and counseling from our experienced Instructors you'll soon develop into a true dive professional. In fact many of our Divemasters go on to successfully complete PADI Instructor training.   There 2 options for completing your Divemaster training with us, Option A 'Practical training exercises' and Option B 'Internship'. Option A is for candidates who start the program with at least 50 dives but have time constraints so the program can be completed in approximately 12 days, however independent study is required prior to arriving on Utila and starting the course. Option B 'Internship' is for candidates who have more time available as we schedule this option over 3-4 weeks, you'll need at least 20 dives to begin the program. As part of the internship you'll be assisting our experienced team of Instructors as they conduct PADI training programs with student divers. You'll also get experience working as a dive guide by guiding certified divers on our dive trips to Utila's famous North side dive sites.   

At the Utila Dive Centre we put no time limit on the length of time you can stay with us so the more you put into this program the more you get out of it. We are not a factory and train all of our trainees as if they plan to go on to become Instructors. As part of the service we provide to our Divemasters you'll be offered specialty training in areas of diving where you have accumulated additional experience e.g. Fish Identification, Deep diving, Equipment maintenance etc... If you dream of working in exotic environments, beautiful dive experiences and meeting people from all walks of life then the PADI Divemaster course could give you the lifestyle you've always dreamed of.

PADI Instructor Development Course
The Instructor Development Course is comprised of 2 components, these 2 components can be taken either separately or together in one course. The Assistant Instructor portion is the 1st component of the PADI Instructor Development Course and builds upon Divemaster training. The Assistant Instructor course is a 5-day program that introduces you to the role of an instructional assistant, both in academic teaching and in confined & open water training. As an Assistant Instructor you immediately improve your employability within the dive industry and increase your earnings potential. This program credits towards the PADI Instructor Development Course and allows you to gain experience as an instructional assistant before deciding to commit to the IDC.   The Assistant Instructor course can be conducted as part of the PADI IDC or as a stand-alone program.   The 2nd portion of the IDC is the OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) program. The OWSI develops candidate's abilities to prepare academic, confined water and open water teaching presentations. As an Instructor candidate you'll also learn about business principles, teaching children, risk management and other important topics relevant for the dive professional. At Utila Dive Centre we also cover areas regarding working in different worldwide environments, resort management and look at greater career opportunities in diving including 'diver safety' and 'technical diving', resume preparation and what gives you the best chance of success as a professional in today's dive industry. Practical workshops during the IDC will develop your ability to retail dive equipment and counsel divers into continuing education programs. Unlike most PADI IDC facilities we schedule our IDC program over a period of 11 days, from 8am to 5pm, in order to make the course much more relaxed and to give us more time to focus on individual counseling and development and our staff will always be in the facility from 7am to 7pm for individual coaching. Our IDC's are scheduled to end 2 days before local PADI IE's commence, allowing time if necessary for our in-house Course Director to remediate with individual candidates. At the Utila Dive Centre we conduct our IDC's in modern air-conditioned classrooms using the latest PowerPoint multi media presentations and we have an on site training pool for more time in the water on individual skill development. Our Open Water training sessions will be conducted on Utila's reefs to prepare you for when you come to teach in this similar kind of environment. At the end of your Instructor Development Course you'll attend a 2 day Instructor Examination which will then qualify you to teach as a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

Highlights: You'll get to work in the scuba diving industry in the tropics in the Caribbean off the island of Utila located in Central America. Gain professional qualifications as a PADI Divemaster or with our IDC that allow you to work in the rest of Central America or throughoutt the world. Live the dream lifestyle and get paid fo rit whilst learning to preserve the aquatic environment.

Cost in US$: $600-$2500

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi, South African and World Wide Participants.

Participants Travel to Honduras Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 2-5

Application Process Involves:

• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Job and Internship Network

GoProUtila's Mission Statement: Utila Dive Centre is principally a diving school. We are dedicated to teaching scuba diving and our goal is to introduce this amazing, safe, fun, and unique sport to as many curious, enthusiastic and adventurous, young and old people as possible. The magnificent underwater world of Utila can be shared now and in the future for generations. We are, by all means, educating and teaching a respect of the sea, taking great care of all of its magical ecosystems and creatures, from the tiny sea horse to the majestic whale shark. Every year, Utila Dive Centre organizes a clean-up day with PADI's Project Aware and supports several others community efforts such as the 2001 Utila Turtle Project. All conducted with astonishing results. So far, we can proudly say that Utila Dive Centre is accomplishing its mission with great success. We are the leading diving center in Utila and we have certified thousands of new divers over the years. Giving everyone the opportunity to swim with whale sharks and leave with lifelong memories of Utila and this signature dive experience. For all you sea and nature lovers, please take a moment to browse our web site to discover the beauties of Utila and the services offered by the Utila Dive Centre. We can offer internship programs to take non divers or certified divers to professional level as a PADI Divemaster or Instructor through our PADI IDC on Utila, based in Honduras, Central America. We are the premier PADI CDC in Central America and offer work placements in the regional scuba diving industry. Thank you for your time and don't hesitate to contact us for any assistance or information you may need in planning your trip to Utila, a very special place.

Year Founded: 1994