Recommendation for Dive master course in central america

[Omermoran]

Hi
I'm an advanced dive master, and backpacking In South America, and planning on going to central America around April.
Can anyone give me recomondations of a place to go and have a dive master course.
Of course I'm traveling on on budget, so the economic part is important. If you know of a place I might find an "after diving" job should be great.
Also, can you tell me how long should it take ect.

Thank you very much!

 

[ElGaucho]

I think you should hit Utila in Honduras. Life there is reasonably inexpensive, you can get good diving, good courses and it's a lot of fun. Many options on where to stay, and for a backpacker it won't be a problem.

My own personal reco con the island is UDC (Utila Dive Center), ran by Andy Phillips. But almost all dive centers on the island will give you a good DM course.

And the island, is just lovely and a lot of fun.

 

[diversteve]

For similar reasons, Roatan's West End. Several operators there run regular DM courses. Housing is equally cheap, everything from hostels to decent 1br. small apts. Some like Coconut Tree have a house with reduced rent for their DM trainees. Also food is cheap in the area and you can walk just about everywhere. Most of Utila is clustered a long one main street in town that's about a mile or so long and all of Roatan's West End is within a few blocks.

Utila is going to cost you about $150 or so more for flights from San Pedro Sula unless you travel on the surface (bus) to La Ceiba then ferry over - it's $25 each way. You can also fly directly to Roatan from several U.S. cities but the Utila airport is small, grass and only open during daylight hours. Or fly over from Roatan.

Some links you may find useful:

Utila Official Site - Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras - Tropical Island Paradise

I don't know that there's an official Roatan equivalent but I found these two slightly commercial sites useful:
Honduras.com: Roatan
Roatan Island Tourist Guide - Roatan Island, Honduras

CTD's Divemaster program description. They also have a course calculator for pretty exact pricing. Apparently it takes about 9 weeks.
PADI Divemaster Internship at Coconut Tree Divers
Berefoot Divers also has a program but their accommodations are in the West End also though the resort is on the south side so they have a daily shuttle. PADI Divemaster Internship - Roatan
Dockside at Cocoview resort also has a program. Nice thing there is there's decent shore diving also.
http://docksidedivecenter.com/internship.shtml

Finally Coconut Tree has a general West End info page - http://www.coconuttreedivers.com/roatan.html

 

[Bubble Junky]

I would recommend having a chat with Pro Dive Mexico. The two CDs there are very experienced, and teach to high standards.

 

[diversteve]

When did Playa and Cozumel become part of Central America...

 

[Omermoran]

thank you very much guys,
Hondurasw seems like the place ill go, next step would be to figure out where excatly, and your tips are helpfull.