Looking for the best place to do my DM training

[divinganimaldoctor]

Hiya,
I've just started researching DM training in the Bay Islands,Honduras and of course I have the usual questions,same same but different!
Roatan vs.Utila for DM
Here's my deal......

I'm a seasoned traveller,30 something single female,veterinarian who is also looking to volunteer part of the time to help out with dog/cat/horse medicine while I am there.
I'm looking for something that has the feel of Koh Tao,Thailand where I spent a month last summer diving and helping out at an animal rescue. I'm hoping to find a project I can come back to every year so that I can dive and help out at the same time.I am looking to go next Jan/Feb for 4-6 weeks.

I prefer to backpack and not to reserve ahead,cheap is good because I still have STUDENT LOANS to pay off(will be new graduate next year).
Obviously chilled atmosphere where I can also meet new people who are preferably a bit older than 19 and beach time is important.
Of course,the diving is key and instructors with lots of experience. I am a rescue diver with about 40 dives and Nitrox,Deep Diver specialties looking to see some dolphins and whale sharks in an ecologically friendly way.

I know it's a tall order but can anyone make any recommendations?

Muchos gracias,
G

 

[Trixxie]

don't know if they have any animals on Anthony's Key for you to help take care of, but here is a post from another thread - IDC in Honduras (mostly about Destin since that is where I went but they do have one coming up in 2008 in Rotatan)

Since I have only been to one, I can only give advice on that one. HOWEVER, I had previously heard nothing but great things from this place and the C.D.

Emerald Coast Scuba, Anna Schmitz, CD.
Dive Destin - Emerald Coast Scuba
2008 IDC / IE Schedule:
February 24 - March 3 in Roatan - I.E March 5-6 in Roatan, Honduras
March 14-21 in Destin - I.E. March 22-23 in Destin
May 9-16 in Destin - I.E. May 17-18 in Destin
August 15-22 in Destin - I.E. August 23-24 in Destin
September 14-22 in Roatan - I.E. September 24-25 in Roatan Honduras
October - 10-17 - I.E. November 15-16 in Destin
November 7-14 in Destin - I.E. November 15-16 in Destin


It's done Friday ~ Friday with IE SAT/SUN. Class starts at 0700 and does not finish until the work for that day is complete. Latest was maybe 10pm. Here's the great thing about this place: Anna, she is avail for her students 24/7 during IDC. She stayed late anytime someone had questions or issues or whatever. She has a great group of folks that work not only for her, but with her at the dive shop. They have their own heated *saline - not chlorine* pool on site that is pretty much open to the students the entire week. IE is directly after IDC is over so everything is fresh in your mind. If FL doesn't suit you she also has an IDC in ROATAN, Honduras! That would be fabulous to take it there (I think).

Some may be in favor of taking IDC over several weeks or months instead of all in 1 week. Personally, I didn't want to stress about it for that long. I would do it again in the 1 week course in a mintue.

they don't have a "if you don't pass you don't pay" policy since let's face it, if you're going to go to IDC, you really need to be prepared going in. IDC is not really where you learn about being a "PADI PRO", that is what DM and AI is for, right? (besides you don't have to do remedial IDC until you've taken the IE twice)

There are tons of places to stay right in the area, Motel 6 is 2 blocks away - they have rooms with kitchens (although there is not a lot of time to cook anything), the harbor is down the street and the place where the IE tests are held is maybe 5 miles from the shop. Everything you need is literally right there.

But again, what makes the IDC is the C.D. and I think Anna is the best. She gets you motivated to teach, she has great ideas she shares on how to make YOU not only a good instructor but hey let's face it, shops need sales to survive and she has great ideas for that as well. Hey, she has been a C.D. for like 20 years.....

hope this helps

 

[CODMAN]

Hey G,
for whalesharks, Utila is certainly the place (they are scarce in Roatan). And from what I know, many of the places in Utila are geared towards giving professional courses such as DM. So I'm sure you'll find a place... As far as beaches are concerned, the Bay islands aren't exactly renowned for that. They are scarce on Roatan, and somebody might confirm, but I believe it's pretty much the same on Utila. Also, from what I know, it's easier to backpack/go cheap on Utila than Roatan (finding cheap rooms). Though, Roatan has more to do topside and more nightlife from what I'm told.

As far as recommendations go on Utila, I'll leave that to others. Hopefully, people with more knowledge about the specifics will chime in (and correct me if I'm wrong on any of this).

Cheers!

 

[Pearldiver07]

Divinganimaldoctor,

I'm glad to hear that you've decided to take the next step! You'll find that DM can be more fun than many other types of diving.

I won't make any specific recommendations, but would like to caution you to "DM Bootcamps" and their methodology. Having trained instructors as well as DM's, I can tell you that if you don't get experience with real students, you're going to miss out on some critical aspects of training. I strongly urge you to only attend a DM course at a resort if they REQUIRE some work with actual classes.

Although they may tell you that the in-water scenarios will help you simulate the emergencies that you may encounter, I will tell you now that students can think up things to do that no instructor would conceive of. Combine that with the actual environment of a class where much more is going on, and you'll see that you get a much more realistic view of what your requirements will be.

Personally, when training DMs I would use instructors (and me, of course - most fun of teaching) to shadow the DM in training (DIT) while they did the dive supervision requirements. That way, the students had the required oversight of a certified professional, and the DIT got the actual experience of supervision. We just provided the safety net for all concerned.

Afterward, I (and the other instructors) sat down with the DIT and reviewed what did, and did not, happen during the dive. Sometimes this would bring to their attention those details that they missed due to task loading, environment, or inexperience. That way the DIT can apply those lessons learned to their next dive.

That said, I hope that I didn't just make the order that much taller!

Have fun and I hope that this helped.

 

[James Bond boat entry]

The dive community on Utila is mostly in their 20's and know how to have fun, so if you can blend in with them, then go for it. The 2 beaches on the island are nothing special, but you can see whale sharks and dolphins sometimes, the diving is so so. The north side is the best, the south side practically fishless, unless you like looking at parrotfish all the time.

If you are thinking about making money after finishing DM school, Utila is not the place. There are too many DMs and Instructors on the island, you would need a second job and live with room-mates.

There are 2 vets on the island providing these services, one of them is mentioned here -> Pet Clinic

My experience has shown me that in tropical areas, local citizens are employed as divemasters, so finding DM work is difficult in the Bay Islands, you may want to ask yourself WHY you want to be a divemaster??

Roatan is good for DM school but is a bit more expensive, contact the shops in the West End to find out what they can offer. There is one place on Roatan that does offer an internship that is a rip off, PM for the name. The diving is better on Roatan for fish and reef, also, if you do get a job in the dive industry you can get tips from tourists, Utila is strictly budget backpackers.

Now for something completely different, Roatonga Cook Islands has a has a volunteer vet program -> Esther Honey Foundation check them out. Airfare is pricey, but the people and island are fantastic, contact Dive Roatonga concerning their DM internship. Who knows, maybe you may end up in New Zealand or Aussie working as a Vet, rather than eastern Canada, blah.

Meitaki maAta (Cook Island maori)

 

[divinganimaldoctor]

Cheers guys for the great replies!
There's definitely some good advice there and I'm going to check it out for sure.The vet in Oz or NZ sounds like a fabulous idea and one I've been throwing around so the DM won't hurt if I end up there.Who knows maybe I'll get burnt out doing veterinary medicine and just want to be a diving beach bum on an island somewhere,it's good to have options right?

G

 

[Bay Island Diver]

If beach time is important and a slightly more mature traveler atmosphere is important Roatan certainly has that. It is the fact that the half town lies on the fringes of a beach that makes me love West End were i did my divemaster over four years ago and am still here!

I think that doing it in a shop with at least four instructors is important to be sure that you will get the variety of experience that a good divemaster course requires. Frankly the more instructors/the bigger the shop the more choice you will have over which courses to assist based on what you feel your weaknesses to be. However, the ration is also very important. Ideally i think there should be nor more than 2 divemaster candidates to each instructor, and even that may be on the high side 1.5/1 would be better.

For that reason i think that you should never pay more than a small deposit say 10% to book a Divemaster course. The balance should be payable after you have settled in with them. The West End dive shops give a great variety of life, in my opinion it is hard to look past these operations for DM training. The resorts are great for a vacation, but the in DM course you would be mad to miss the culture of professional diving that you find with so many instructors in a small town. Utila town has exactly this same culture.

As for volunteer work. ROAR: Roatan Animal Rescue in Roatan would be worth contacting.

HTH

Will

 

[rookers]

I think one should suffer for one's professional rating. I trained in Colorado.

 

[leaveonlybubbles]

From what you've described (specifically the BEACH piece) Roatan may be a better fit for you--but I'll leave that to others. On price and options, though, Utila's a really good one.

I did my DM there and fished around at a couple different places before settling. How much time do you have? If you've got a lot then I'd suggest heading over then getting a feel for different shops and picking your favorite.

Cross Creek (which may be merging with UDC??) was where I went (http://www.crosscreekutila.com/). I chose them because it's a very laid back shop and the manager Angel is fantastic. He sets a good tone--a bit more professional and older (read a bit quieter, more communal) than some of the shops. They do a good business, so there's always classes running so you get a ton of practice at all levels with classes. Because they're just a 2 boat shop, though, things are very flexible--you can hop on a boat any time and go out with the other DMs and get experience leading dives.

They're owned by the same folks as UDC--which is also great, but a bigger operation, a bit younger, and have a lot more folks coming through to Dive Master so it's a bit more structured.

OH, and I almost forgot--CC and UDC will both give you "Diving for Life"... if you do your DM there you're welcome back to dive for free for life if you work the boats. A nice option to take advantage of some day.

Utila has no real beaches, though, and is smaller than Roatan. If i were there for more than a couple months I'd go stir-crazy, but it's a great, inexpensive, laid back place where there's tons of great diving...

PM me if you want more info!

 

[ramehrer]

Hi,

We live on Utila and run the ONLY vet practice on Utila. There is a vet on Roatan however I don't know is he needs help or not.

Our clinic is US standards as much as possible and is charity only... we would love your help !!!

My wife is the vet with close to 30 years experience and we would welcome you to the island and could always use the help.

Feel free to contact me at any time as I am the admin for my wife and handle the details.

I would recommend the Bay Island College of Diving where both my wife Loretta and I got our DM+ certiifcations.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Rodger and Loretta too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!