PADI Specialty Diver courses

Joining the Ocean Connections Specialty Diver program allows you access to dive sites that normal fun divers don't get to visit. Each Specialty dive is completed at one of Roatan's best sites, you will dive in small groups (max 2 students) and with one of our experienced Specialty Instructors.

Digital Underwater Photography $150
*does not include PADI materials $35

Ocean Connections offers a two day Underwater Photography course where students will learn the fundamentals of taking underwater photos in an environmentally responsible manner. Students will begin in the classroom with a presentation including training in camera setup, body positioning, framing and exposure compensation before completing a dive in Half Moon Bay where these skills will be practiced.

On the next day we head out to the reef for two dives where we will practice taking underwater pictures. At the end of the course, students will go over picture adjustment and editing techniques for your photos. We also offer you a picture CD so that you can take home your new skills and memories!

Deep Diver $150/$250 with Nitrox
*Prerequisites include PADI Adventure Diver certification, minimum 15 years of age

Expand your diving world! This course teaches the Deep Diver to plan and safely execute dives up to a depth of 40 meters/130 feet. During the course students will learn how deep diving affects the diver’s physiology, monitoring breathing rates, advanced dive planning techniques, symptoms of decompression illness and treatment as well as the use of additional safety equipment.

The first dive of the course will be a trip to Butchers Bank, a deep sandy dive site - good for spotting eagle and stingrays as well as a local school of Atlantic spadefish. During this dive students will perform tests for nitrogen narcosis and practice buoyancy at depth.

The second dive is completed at Hole in the Wall, one of Roatan's best deep diving sites. Students will spend the first half of the dive along a steep reef wall before heading up through a maze of swim-throughs and small caves where small crustaceans and sea slugs are abundant.

The final dive of the course will be a trip to West End Wall, a dive site at the western tip of Roatan. Currents regularly sweep through this area and support a large number of schooling fish, making this one of the most exciting dives in West End. During this dive, students will complete a dive to 40m and drift above the wreck of the Josie J, a shipwreck lying between 50-70m of water. This course is a must for divers who may wish to eventually pursue Technical Diving.

Wreck Diver with Enriched Air Nitrox $400
*Prerequisites include PADI Adventure Diver certification, minimum 15 years of age and PADI nitrox materials - $50

This course develops the knowledge and skills needed to safely plan wreck penetration dives and dive with enriched air. During ‘Knowledge Development’ students will learn about the hazards of overhead environments, mapping and wreck penetration techniques. Students will also learn dive planning with nitrox including the use of nitrox computers, tables and analyzers.          

The course is conducted at the wreck of The Odyssey, a 300 ft freighter sunk intentionally in 2002. The wreck is located adjacent to a reef wall (making for interesting 3 minute safety stops) as well as being home to many large grouper, snapper and a resident Moray Eel. The wreck has many points of entry, including stairways and engine holds that wreck divers can penetrate. Practical Training on the shipwreck will include mapping, wreck gear configuration, reel use, additional safety skills, finning techniques and wreck penetration techniques. There are 4 dives included in the course.

Night Diver $200

The reef undergoes a drastic change when the sun goes down, most of the reef fish go to sleep and there are many amazing creatures who only come out at night. This is a 3 Dive Specialty course, training will cover the essentials of night diving equipment, safe diving practices at night with a special emphasis on the unusual reef inhabitants that we will encounter at night. Come dive with us and see the famous Roatan ‘String of Pearls’

Underwater Navigator $100
*Prerequisites include PADI Adventure Diver certification, minimum 15 years of age

This 2 dive course will focus on navigating underwater, including using the natural features of the reef to find your way around. During the first dive, students will use compasses to swim patterns and learn to estimate distance underwater. During the final dive, students will complete an underwater orienteering course at Lighthouse reef, a popular Roatan dive site which includes both deep and shallow water reef.

Naturalist Diver $100
Prerequisites include PADI Adventure Diver certification, minimum 15 years of age

A Naturalist diver is a 2 dive course includes a presentation on the reef eco system, including coral shape and structure, fish and creature identification techniques and the inter-relationships between the reef's inhabitants. The first dive will be completed at Blue Channel, a popular dive site where students will observe the complete reef system, from the deep reef wall right up to the shallow water lagoon. During this dive, students will observe the change in coral structure and fish species as we ascend from the wall into the lagoon where juvenile fish and turtle grass is abundant. On the second dive, students will visit Hole in the Wall, a dive site popular for invertebrates as well as swim-throughs and small caves where several types of fish species spend their entire life.

Fish Identification $130
Prerequisites include PADI Adventure Diver certification, minimum 15 years of age

Taught in conjunction with REEF, students will focus on identifying the fish species found in our waters and complete REEF survey dives during their course. There are three dives in the course and all data collected will be submitted to the REEF organization.

Peak Performance Buoyancy $100
Prerequisites include PADI Adventure Diver certification, minimum 15 years of age

This is a 2 dive specialty certification where fine-tuning your buoyancy will help you increase your underwater dive time, improve your air consumption and lose some of that weight off your belt. The first dive will be conducted at Blue Channel where students will repeat some of the buoyancy skills from the open water course and then learn new, advanced techniques before navigating some swim-throughs, where their buoyancy skills will be put to the test. The second dive will be at Hole in the Wall, where students will focus on buoyancy in deeper water and again navigate swim-throughs and small cave systems.

This course is a strongly recommended certification for any diver who has not been diving in a while, who has never dove in warm water or has plans to pursue certification in; wreck diving, photography, or videography.

Dive Packages

Our divers stay at the Sea Breeze Inn, just across the street from the dive shop and home to the Cannibal Cafe.

Master Scuba Diver internship

PADI's Master Scuba Diver rating is the highest non-professional rating a diver can achieve. Join us for a one month internship program where you will complete the PADI Rescue diver and EFR course as well as five specialties of your choice.

Galleries

Click here to check out some pictures of scuba diving, reef fish and creatures found here in in West End as well as pictures of Roatan and La Ceiba.