relocating to utila in april

[rubinax]

hello all!

i was hoping to find some insight from people in the know regarding utila. i intend to head that direction this upcoming april and there are two main issues i am most concerned about:

1) can anyone offer information on the complexities of getting a work visa, with u.s. citizenship? and once issued, are there opportunities?

2) is it difficult to find housing with pets in tow?

i've done loads of research via the internet but haven't found very much in the way of those two topics so any information will be most appreciated

 

[James Bond boat entry]

Utila is not the best place for employment in the dive industry, the market is over saturated with dive shops and the diving around the island isn't that great.

However, there are a few vets on the island so your pets will receive good care.

VISA, don't worry about that, just about everyone goes with a visitors visa that can be renewed on the island via a small "fee" given to the immigration officer, his office is on the ferry dock.

I always recommend the Red Sea, however things are getting tight employment wise over there, you should do search the board for info, use the word CDWS.

if you speak Hungarian contact this place in Hurgahada -> http://www.deepdreams.hu/ and see if they need staff... btw, I dived with deepdreams 3 years ago & dealt with a guy named Zozo.

If you have your heart set on a cheap place in the Caribbean, do some research about Bocas del Toro in Panama.

If you are under the age of 30, you should check out the working vacation visa for Aussie and New Zealand... the GBR is awesome as well as the Poor Knights Islands, Jacques Cousteau rated the knights as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world.

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GoProHonduras]

Our dive centre hired a recently qualified Instructor tonight, and I know of another center with a position available as well that will be offered in a few days. I also passed another dive centre who neighbor us and they had a sign outside advertising for an Instructor.

This is just within 3 dive centers, and there are many others on the island. There are positions available, part of it will also come from yourself and what you can offer a dive operation, special skills, teaching specialties, and languages can help.

It's always good to research forums, the posters themselves, and look at the PADI Employment board, as I was showing one of our candidates some of the other opportunities in the Caribbean/Central America.

The scuba diving industry is like any profession, timing and opportunity help you get employed, but Utilas a great place to gain experience as well, as an entry level Instructor as you earn a lot of certifications and assist classes.

Get the best training, experience and internship you can, and the jobs will follow, sometimes the tough time is which country to choose!!!

Hope my opinion, and recent update, biased but objective, helps.

 

[RTBDiver]

Our dive centre hired a recently qualified Instructor tonight, and I know of another center with a position available as well that will be offered in a few days. I also passed another dive centre who neighbor us and they had a sign outside advertising for an Instructor.

This is just within 3 dive centers, and there are many others on the island. There are positions available, part of it will also come from yourself and what you can offer a dive operation, special skills, teaching specialties, and languages can help.

It's always good to research forums, the posters themselves, and look at the PADI Employment board, as I was showing one of our candidates some of the other opportunities in the Caribbean/Central America.

The scuba diving industry is like any profession, timing and opportunity help you get employed, but Utilas a great place to gain experience as well, as an entry level Instructor as you earn a lot of certifications and assist classes.

Get the best training, experience and internship you can, and the jobs will follow, sometimes the tough time is which country to choose!!!

Hope my opinion, and recent update, biased but objective, helps.

But what about working legaly? With full work visa as a tax paying responsible citizen?

 

[GoProHonduras]

A very good question RTB and thank you for expanding the scope of this thread, and a current topic of interest. My apologies for not digressing on this earlier, but we do require any of our Instructors who intend to stay and work with us to apply for a work permit/residency, of which we are also sponsors, in addition we look to recruit and also sponsor Hondurans in these positions.

Currently this appears to be a formality and a trend in the region, and we have most of our staff fully legal and with our newer Instructors/Hires with constancias (application in process), and awaiting the full permits.

This isn't necessary to come down and train and get qualified, or intern, but if you're looking to stay beyond your training, and for at least 12 months, is is worthwhile.

If you want to work in the right way for a significant period, then I estimate budgeting $1k+ for the work permit.

It's also a requirement in many other Caribbean Islands, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and in most parts of Asia. As necessary in the USA/Canada/Europe and Australia.

 

[rubinax]

james bond boat entry,

thank you for your reply! i believe i was too broad with my inquiry and should have specified that the job need not be with the dive industry. as a bit of background, my boyfriend and i are planning to got to utila for an indefinite amount of time to begin our diving certifications, as neither of us have any training and utila is well known for its affordable diving. the issue is that we don't intend to come back to the states and that will require finding some source of income abroad. so, i was curious if there were employment options within other fields.

i've researched many areas of the world that would allow for the lifestyle change i am in search of but the caribbean seems to be the most viable. i will, however, take a look into this hungarian diving center because that certainly piqued my interest!

many thanks for all the fantastic information

 

[rubinax]

andy,

it is very helpful to hear from an individual that is well-versed in the industry and actually resides on the island. this is exactly the type of reply i was hoping to receive and the optimistic tone of your post has certainly improved my outlook on the opportunities available! as i stated in my response to the previous poster, in an attempt to keep it concise, i may have been too broad in my original post. i was wondering about the availability of jobs in general, possibly in the service or administrative industries, for non-residents requiring a work visa.

my boyfriend and i are planning to head to utila this coming april to become dive master certified and we hope to spend a significant amount of time on the island. thus the necessity of eventually finding work cannot be overlooked and it is in my nature to attempt to be prepared, at least mentally, for possible hurdles. for instance, in your second post on this thread, you mentioned that a work visa can run about $1,000, which i was completely unaware of. very useful information to have! throughout my research of the caribbean, i have come across the mention of governments fostering the hiring of locals, which is logical. dominica, for example, is very adamant about not allowing jobs to be given to foreigners if any of the native population is capable of filling the position. i was curious if utila was equally as adamant.

your input was very helpful so thank you for taking the time to respond in such an informative manner!

rubina x gaspar

 

[ncchuck]

Your question makes me wonder how much research you've done about Utila. It's very tiny and only has a few thousand residents. It's a fun and interesting island but there is really nothing there except a few very basic hotels, a few restaurants and several dive centers. There are also several apartments and the rent is very modest. There are several family run little road side stands along the strip too and a couple of small grocery stores. You can walk the entire retail part of the island in less than 15 minutes.

I'm not sure how other will answer but I think there are two options for you. Work in the diving industry or work in a restaurant. Utila is tiny and tourism (almost totally dive related) is the only industry. Working in a restaurant will give you a few dollars for beer or food but little else. You'll not be able to support living there without one or both of you being active hard working dive instructors. This is a very poor island and the standard of living is very low. Any available jobs are generally given to locals and those don't pay very well. For some reason, the locals don't seem to want or like restaurant/bar jobs.

You'll love the island for doing your training.

 

[James Bond boat entry]

I had another thought, you could give Club Med a go, check out their website:

ClubMed-Jobs - Home

Or Norwegian Cruise lines, they have a US flagged ship in Hawaii.

Careers, Jobs & Employment Opportunities | Join The NCL Freestyle Cruising Team | Norwegian Cruise Line | Norwegian Cruise Line

 

[rubinax]

ncchuck,

i've done as much research as possible from this far of a distance. i tend to be unnecessarily verbose so i tried to keep the original post short, against my nature, in hopes that people would actually read it and respond. unfortunately, i think that caused some confusion. i'm well aware that the island is very small and rather remote, and that's a big part of it's appeal. both my boyfriend and i are currently employed with stable, decently paying jobs but feel that the trade-off of spending the majority of our waking days inside a building to pay for the house, cars, bills, and entertainment, in what little free time we are left with, isn't a fair bargain. to be perfectly honest, i find the western lifestyle insane and feel saddened that the general population has been so effectively convinced that this a normal way to spend a short, precious life.

we realize that moving to any part of the caribbean or central america will drastically lower our standard of living, and that is exactly what we are looking for. in the long run, i would like to transition to complete self-sufficiency. so, what you had mentioned about the restaurant jobs would be a perfect beginning and that was the aspect i was curious about...if i, as a foreigner, would be able to find something along those lines. it is also helpful to know that getting into a position involving diving will likely be an essential.

thank you so much for your insightful comments and if you think of anything else to add to it i would be most grateful