Salaries on Roatan
- Thread starter popeb
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fishnchips
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A few years back I was offered a job as underwater videographer on Roatan. With room and board(very simple food ie plentin), and hoduran currency equivalent to about US$180 per month.
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popeb:
Some of the best paid DM's on Roatan make $50/wk from various AI Resorts. They depend largely on tips. The right DM with the great attitude can make a hell of a lot in tips- especialy at a top AI. Problem? To support the local economy and create harmony- they hire Hondurans... unless you are a very cute NorteAmericana Chica.
Director of Dive Ops? There is that, as well as Manager of a Retail/Training facility. You simply can not get rich doing that, but if you are luck enough to have the right timing and the proper work history- all this could be yours! The real living is to work at one of the IDC's and get into the 'tupperware' food chain. They are becoming quite popular in the Bay Islands.
Lat. Adjustment
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I heard from a DM at AKR that it was about US$60.00 per week so they depend on tips for the real money.
DiversMom
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popeb:
When I was there last summer, our DMs were waiting tables at night and being DMs by day to make ends meet.
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popeb:
The cost of living can be reasonable, if one lives like a local. You can go to the one of the 2 or 3 modern supermarkets (such as they are) and buy items that are old favorites from the USA, and even theoretical cuts of beef and other meats. But you had better be making serious coin.
Vacationers can pay the resort gift shop price for Flor de Cana Rum, or they can save a lot by going to one of the above markets- or they can get it dirt cheap by knowing which 10x10 bodega grocery shack in the neighborhood is selling it. Ya gots ta know the lay of the land.
Vacationers believe they enjoy dinners out at Romeos, Gios, or the Yacht Club. Local places, if they survive, have the best eats and for cheap. Although Tres Flores closed down, there is still the Garden of Eatin, The Argentinian Grille, and now a new place, The View. For $9 a person you can go, eat and drink and be sated. But then again, $9 is a lot of money on a $50/wk salary, no?
The Bay Islands are what Cayman was 40 years ago. If you want to drop out of society for a while, gain some dive skills, toil your way through DM, AI and OWSI, this is something one should do when they're young and full of youthful enthusiasm. Just make sure that you have a source of funds, be it family or previous work nest egg, or lottery winnings.
Life in paradise is in so many ways a costly proposition... if not, then why isn't it overcrowded? It's not available to everyone. Youth and enthusiasm are 90% of the battle, but it's the food and shelter thing that takes up the "other" 90%.
diverrick
Contributor
I ask a DM at FI last time I was there and he told me he was making 35.00 a week. I thought he was pulling my leg in order to get a bigger tip. I guess not. Wow I have to start tipping better.
Which explains why diving in Belize is much more expensive. DMs here get upwards of US$225/week depending on what they do. Some earn as much as US$500/week.
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