Go Pro at Coconut Tree Divers
Divemaster interns and instructor candidates train inside our daily operation: on our boats, at our dock and with our guests. The programmes themselves are run by Go Pro Caribbean, the professional training team based at the shop and led by PADI Platinum Course Director Will Welbourn.
627 Divemasters Certified
485 Instructors Trained
2,336 Professional Certifications
West End, Roatan
Start with the route that fits where you are now
The professional training team based at Coconut Tree Divers.
Divemaster and instructor packages, grouped by where you're starting from.
From your first certification to teaching your own students.
Where you train decides what kind of scuba pro you become
Your first professional credential is the one that sets the habits. So the shop matters more than the certificate does.
We’ve certified 627 Divemasters and put 485 instructors through the IDC from this dock in West End, Roatan. Those figures come off our PADI record, PADI 5 Star IDC Centre #18092. Total professional certifications issued here sits at 2,336.
Both programs run inside the live operation. Four boat dives a day, students on the beach, tanks to fill, guests to brief. You’re part of that from week one, not watching it happen.
Talk to us before you book flights. Both programs have prerequisites and start dates. Message us first and we’ll check you’re ready and sort any course you still need.
Divemaster, then Instructor
The route to PADI Instructor runs through Divemaster. You can do both here at our dive center in West End, Roatan.
1. Rescue and EFR
The recreational prerequisites. Rescue Diver $400, EFR $145. We run both here if you need them.
2. Divemaster Internship
Six weeks in the live operation.
3. Instructor Development
14+ days with Course Director Will Welbourn.
4. Instructor Examination
The separate PADI evaluation, held here on Roatan.
A working shop, not a training simulation
Four boat dives a day
The volume is the training. You work alongside the crew from the start, not shadowing it.
Over 80 sites in range
Walls past 40 metres, coral gardens and swim-throughs on the Mesoamerican Reef.
Multilingual instructor crew
Every one of them a PADI Instructor, working this dock every day.
Roatan's only TDI Tec Center
Technical and sidemount training on site with Monty Graham.
Divemaster vs IDC
Different prerequisites, different lengths, different career paths.
PADI Divemaster
- Six weeks minimum, longer if you want it
- Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver required
- CPR and first aid within the past 24 months
- Minimum age 18
PADI IDC
- 14+ days, plus the separate Instructor Examination
- Led by Course Director Will Welbourn
- PADI Divemaster or qualifying leadership rating
- Certified diver for at least six months
- Physician-signed medical within the past 12 months
Going pro, answered
Does finishing the IDC make me an instructor?
Does finishing the IDC make me an instructor?
No. Completing the IDC makes you eligible for the PADI Instructor Examination. You earn the Open Water Scuba Instructor rating after meeting all requirements and passing the IE.
Can I do both programs back to back?
Can I do both programs back to back?
Yes, and a lot of people do. Finish the internship, roll into the next IDC. Message us with your dates and we’ll line the two up.
Where is the Instructor Examination held?
Where is the Instructor Examination held?
Here on Roatan. No extra flights or accommodation at the end of the course.
Will there be work at the end of it?
Will there be work at the end of it?
We can’t promise a job. What we can say is that a lot of the instructors working this island trained here, and the shop is a reference people take seriously.
What's going pro like in Roatan?
Four certified dive tours a day leave this dock, plus night dives on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That’s the repetition you need, with changing sites and different guests every day.
When a north swell pushes into West End between October and January we move the boats around to Flowers Bay on the south shore. Seven minutes by road, and its own lesson in how a dive operation runs.
Ready to go pro?
Send us your certification level, logged dive count and the dates you’re thinking about. We’ll confirm your prerequisites and talk through the schedule before you book travel.
Where to start
Your starting point depends on what you’re holding right now.
Not Rescue certified yet
Rescue Diver $400 and EFR $145. Both run here and can go back to back before the internship.
Rescue certified, ready to work
The Divemaster internship. Six weeks, with unlimited diving while you’re with us.
Already a Divemaster
The IDC. 14+ days with Will Welbourn, then the Instructor Examination here on Roatan.
9,038+ PADI Certifications
24+ Years Open in West End
4+ Daily Certified Dive Tours
Roatan's Only TEC Dive Shop
Diver Experiences
. It was clear from the very beginning that we had made the right choice of dive shops to further our development as scuba divers. What also struck me was the rapport that the owners and Instructors have with the customers, greeting them on a first name basis as friends would. There is definitely a feeling of camaraderie that pervades the entire shop, and I truly believe that the customers can sense that, just as certainly as we sensed it. But make no mistake, this is not just a friendly shop. It is also a shop that has extremely high standards in safety, education/training and environmental issues. This is due in large part to the staff of Instructors that the owners have assembled. In my time at the shop I have witnessed first hand the Instructors’ adherence to safety first practices, whether it be the guidance and suggestions they offer their customers, or whether it was through their teaching us as Divemaster trainees. The result is that I firmly believe this shop was the right choice for me, and a sound and safe choice for the diving public of every level of experience. The fact that they are able to maintain a fun light hearted atmosphere is simply an added bonus.
One of the island’s longest running dive shops, Coconut Tree Divers is a PADI 5 Star IDC and the only TDI Dive Center in West End, Roatan. Our crew is multilingual; we run courses from beginner to professional and we do at least four certified dive tours daily.
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Contact
- Half Moon Bay
West End, Roatan, Honduras
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