Call us on regular phone In the USA (broadband) 305 420 5959 From the USA to Honduras 011 504 4253326 (cell phone) 011 504 3732521 From the UK 00 504 425 3326 (mobile phone) 00 504 3732521
Utila Dive Centre was created in 1991 as an adventure diving outpost,
located in Utila, the smallest and least developed of the Bay Islands
of Honduras in Central America, and is the facility where we offer the majority of our
technical and professional dive programs and the PADI IDC.
Today, the Centre is owned and operated by a team of young Instructors
and diving enthusiasts. Utila Dive Centre was the first dive
school and dedicated full service facility in Utila after years of
growth and hard work. Together with our Hotel Mango Inn, Utila Dive
Centre offers quality diving courses from beginner to PADI IDC's
(Instructor Development Courses) and accommodation with the best
prices in the world. With an unmatched friendly and professional staff,
Utila Dive Centre guarantees you the best time both in and out of the
water and Utila Dive Centre will satisfy all your needs.
Utila Dive Centre is now a PADI Career Development Centre as well as
the first and only DSAT and IANTD Technical Diving facility in Central
America.
PADI Career Development Centers are dive facilities that were
previously registered as either PADI 5 Star IDC Centers or PADI Gold
Palm Resort IDC Centers and who also offer professional development
training. The status of PADI Career Development Center is an award of
excellence and recognition of services to the dive community, it is not
a level of membership and it is the highest rating a PADI facility can
achieve and there are only 2 in Central America. PADI Career
Development Centers are dive resorts that excel themselves in terms of
the experiences, education and equipment that they can offer to dive
consumers and are places where Instructor candidates receive training
to prepare them for their careers in the dive industry. At the
Utila Dive Centre we received this recognition from PADI in 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003
because of the standards that we set for ourselves and for the dive
community in the Bay Islands of Honduras. This means we offer a high
level of service for our divers. In order to be awarded a PADI
Career Development Center rating the Utila Dive Centre has to meet the
following criteria on an annual basis and have been rated as a PADI
Gold Palm IDC resort for at least 7 years.
In order to meet these
requirements we have 2 PADI Course Director as members of our staff,
myself and my colleague Neil Ross.
As PADI is the world leader in diver training we prove our commitment
to by offering the full curriculum of PADI programs from complete
beginners to divers who wish to become professional instructors in our PADI IDC's, in
both recreational and technical diving. We also support our Instructor
candidates by giving them access to the latest state of the art 'full
range' of dive educational and instructional materials. All PADI
Career Development Centers staff display a professional demeanor and
our Instructors have worldwide experience in differing diving
environments. All diving staff, including boat captains, are DAN O2 and
Emergency First Response trained. PADI Career Development Centers
need to be well equipped with a modern A/C IDC classroom, equipment
repair workshop, bilingual educational materials, accommodation, which
we have in the beautiful Mango Inn hotel along with a training pool,
and a retail dive equipment facility.
PADI Career Development Centers have to provide modern rental equipment
for all of their divers. The scuba cylinders at the Utila Dive Centre
are visually inspected on an annual basis and are replaced every 3
years, 2 years before they even need to be hydrostatically tested. The
air that runs through our compressors is analyzed every 3 months to see
that it meets 'Grade E' standards (Dive industry guidelines) and is
sent to PADI for verification.
PADI Career Development Centers dive boats not only need to be well
maintained but also meet all legal requirements from the national
coastguard. We have a fleet of 6 dive vessels and on board each boat
you can dive safely knowing that in the highly unlikely event of an
accident we are well equipped with DAN O2 units and First Aid
kits. A PADI Career Development Center have available a 6 week
training program that can take a diver to an Instructor candidate and
offer a full time graduate placement service.
As a technical diving operation, Utila Dive Centre, is both an IANTD
and DSAT training facility, so we can offer you the best from the 2
most credible technical training agencies in the world. We have 5
sets of double 80 cu ft/ 11 liter aluminum tanks with manifolds and
over 12 stage decompression tanks, O2 serviced, that can take 300 bar
din 1st stages. Our cascade bank system comprises of both Oxygen
and Helium tanks, with digital gauges and analyzers. If you need
back plates, harnesses and wings then we have both OMS and Dive Rite
available.
As part of PADI's commitment to preserving the underwater world and
aquatic eco-system all PADI 5 Star centers show their support by
conducting an annual beach clean-up day. As well as conducting an
annual beach clean-up in Utila we also try to promote Peak Performance
Buoyancy & Project Aware specialties as a means to educate divers
about the importance of preserving our underwater heritage. Not just on
a local scale but as a global issue. A PADI Career Development
Center should issue at least 150 PADI diving certifications per year.
At the Utila Dive Centre we average approximately 2000 PADI diving
certifications on an annual basis. We also train over 80% of
Instructors within the Bay Islands each year and host up to 10 PADI
Instructor Development programs per year, more scheduling, smaller
group sizes and better service, the fact that most of our candidates
come to us through ‘word of mouth’ is a testament to the great teamwork
and quality that we offer.
Call us +1-305-4205959, we'll call right back for a personal discussion about your professional training goals, specific course prices, requirements and other questions, or e-mail
Utila Dive Centre is now a PADI Career Development Centre as well as
the first and only DSAT and IANTD Technical Diving facility in Central
America. 
In order to meet these
requirements we have 2 PADI Course Director as members of our staff,
myself and my colleague Neil Ross.