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Real Sport Experience’s Scuba Diving Centre offers one of the best environments in the world to learn, advance or become a professional scuba diver. The reefs around the island are packed with a variety of tropical fish and pristine corals and it is not uncommon for our scuba students to swim and play with dolphins, manta rays or even swim alongside awe-inspiring whale sharks.
Project Age Limit
Minimum age 18, maximum decided on potential participant’s health
Skills Requirement
See Individual Programmes for details
Scuba Qualifications
There are ranges of different diving qualifications, some of which are pre-requisites before undertaking the next level of diving. The main qualifications are outlined below:
PADI Open Water – this 4-day course gives you your basic license to dive anywhere in the world to a maximum depth of 18 metres. It consists of studying 5 academic modules, with 5 confined dives and 4 open water dives.
Advanced Open Water – this course takes 2 days to complete, with certification allowing you to dive to 30 metres. You need to complete 5 dives, choosing from night dive, deep dive, underwater photography, underwater videography and more.
Emergency First Response – this non-diving qualification is a pre-requisite course for all divers, looking to go beyond Advanced Open Water Level. It teaches you both primary and secondary care, which involves learning how to resuscitate someone, develop CPR skills, identify how to treat someone etc. This is a very important qualification to possess and takes one and a half days to complete.
Rescue Diver – this 4-day programme requires you to complete 5 academic modules that enable you to be a competent rescue diver. You learn emergency management, how to identify equipment problems, ways of identifying diver stress and panic, and how to administer diver first aid.
Dive Master – this professional qualification is the most sought after of all diving qualifications and a starting point for a scuba diving career. It allows you to work in a scuba diving school/centre and to work alongside Instructors, teaching real students. The course takes 4 weeks to complete and covers a wide range of theory, practical instruction and dive mentoring.
Emergency First Response Instructor Course – this short course looks to develop your teaching ability so that you can instruct others how to give emergency first response primary care (CPR), secondary care (first aid) and treatment to children. This is a new requirement from PADI for all Scuba Instructors to have for 2009.
Instructor Development Course - this course takes 11 days and requires all students to have completed the modules/qualifications above. The course is split into 2 main parts; the first is the Assistant Instructor programme, where you help to train students in various modules and you assist the main instructor. The second part is the OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) Programme. The purpose of these 2 different parts is to prepare students with business skills and all other necessary skills to work in and/or run a dive centre.
The programme option you choose will be dependent upon the level you wish to achieve and what experience/qualifications you already possess.
Please Note: PADI registration fees are not included in the programme. They are to be paid direct to PADI upon registration and are subject to change. Contact a Travel Adviser for more information.
Programme Support
Throughout your programme, you will have the support and supervision of our qualified Instructors and Dive Masters. Each are fully qualified and experienced, and are able to provide you with all the instructional and safety support necessary on a programme like this. They will also provide you with competent assistance and help you with any questions or advice you may need during your stay. The accommodation staff will be on hand throughout the day and the dive centre director will be available to you 24 hours a day if you have any serious problems or emergencies.
In addition, we will provide you with a 24 hour emergency contact number before you depart, so that you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.
Orientation
At the start of your programme you will receive a local orientation, to go alongside your predeparture handbook. This orientation will be conducted by our local programme coordinator and will cover the following areas:
- Culture and behaviour: you will be familiarised with the cultural norms of Honduras and what your expected behaviour will be whilst on and off the programme
- Travel: for during and after your programme finishes. Our coordinator will let you know what you can do in the local area and what your travel options are for after your placement.
- Safety: our coordinator will tell you how to keep yourself and your valuables safe whilst in Honduras. This will include areas to avoid, what to do in an emergency, behaviour at night time and more.
Accommodation and Meals
All accommodation is included in your programme. You will stay in a combination of hostel and apartment accommodation, with most of your nights spent in a private apartment. Your first week - two weeks are spent at the dive centre’s private accommodation, in order for you to get to know other students and the local area.
Once you are familiar with your surroundings, you will move to the apartments near by. The apartment is very comfortable, with air conditioning and access to shared cooking facilities. Due to power shortages on the island, included in your fee is a weekly electricity budget that will be sufficient for your daily needs. If you exceed your budget, you will need to cover the additional costs locally. The apartment requires a US$500 deposit, which is refunded upon your departure.
Meals are not included in the programme. Your schedule will be varied and there is a strong après-dive culture on the island, so your meal times will vary each day. You will need to cater for yourself, with many very cheap options available at local cafes, restaurants and the use of the catering facilities in your private apartment.
Available Dates
Programmes are available all year round (subject to availability), however, there are fixed dates related to the PADI Instructor Development Course. If you wish to complete the IDC course, you need to have completed all pre-requisites prior to IDC start date.
The most popular times of the year to complete scuba training is from February to October, to coincide with the best weather times.
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