NEXT COURSE
During this course, one of our Instructors will guide you during 5 open water specialty dives of your choice. These dives may include Deep, Night, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Wreck, Fish ID and many others. This license allows you to dive anywhere in the world to a maximum depth of 30 metres/100 feet without professional supervision (where local laws allow).
Open Water Diver/Junior Open Water Diver
Medically fit for diving
12 years or older
All Book Materials & Taxes
Dive Equipment w/ Computer
2 Free Fun Dives
Free Nights at Mango Inn Resort Dorms
The PADI Deep Diver Specialty course, as part of the PADI Advanced Open Water program, offers scuba divers a structured, comprehensive introduction to deeper diving. In this course, you learn techniques for diving in the 18-40 metre/60-130 feet depth range, experiencing first-hand how to manage your gas supply, dealing with gas narcosis, and honing your navigation skills under the direct supervision of a PADI professional. The course also emphasizes the importance of directly observing and managing the physiological effects of deeper scuba diving, safety considerations, and potential challenges. This training equips divers with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the underwater world with increased confidence and competence, preparing them for new adventures in the deep blue.
The Underwater Navigation Specialty as part of the PADI Advanced Open Water course is designed to enhance your navigational skills under the water. You'll learn how to navigate using a compass, natural landmarks and by estimating distances underwater. This training involves exercises to familiarize you with the challenges and peculiarities of underwater orientation, like learning to estimate distance underwater, navigate different search patterns, find your way to marking points, and return to the exit point. The course promotes the mastery of advanced navigation techniques, enabling you to increase your confidence, improve your underwater orientation skills and enhance your overall diving experience. By the end of this course, you'll feel more in control and confident in your diving explorations, adding more fun and safety to your dives.
The PADI Drift Diver Specialty as part of the Advanced Open Water course is an exciting foray into the experience of riding along with ocean currents. This course introduces you to the magic of drifting with the current, feeling the sensation of flying underwater while the sea's motion does the work. You will learn about drift dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques, and potential hazards, as well as how to use and maintain specialized drift diving equipment like floats, lines, and reels. You'll also learn proper procedures for buoyancy-control, navigation and communication, and techniques for staying close to a buddy or together as a group as you float with the current. This unique form of diving allows you to cover a large area without expending much energy and offers a sense of exhilaration and adventure as you explore underwater landscapes in a dynamic way.
The PADI Night Diver Specialty, as part of the Advanced Open Water course, opens a new window into the underwater world, allowing divers to experience the ocean's nocturnal life. This course equips you with the skills and knowledge needed to safely plan and execute night dives. You learn about the equipment and techniques unique to night diving, including the use of dive lights, understanding changes in aquatic life behavior after dark, and managing your buoyancy and navigation at night. The training also covers communication and safety procedures specific to night diving, like emergency protocols and entry and exit techniques. Night diving offers a unique perspective, as many marine species are nocturnal, providing a different experience and revealing a different side of the sites you may have visited during the day. This specialty allows divers to explore the unseen, nocturnal side of the ocean, turning familiar dive sites into new, mysterious underwater landscapes.
The PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty, a part of the Advanced Open Water course, is designed to enhance divers' control in the water, leading to safer, more comfortable and more enjoyable dives. This course hones your buoyancy skills to a fine edge, with specific focus on minimizing your effort, reducing air consumption, and gracefully maneuvering underwater. Through practical exercises, you learn how to precisely weight yourself for optimum control, poise, and balance, and how to streamline to save air and move smoothly through the water. You also learn how to hover effortlessly in both vertical and horizontal positions. Good buoyancy control is also a key environmental responsibility for divers, as it helps avoid harming the underwater environment. This specialty course empowers you with the skills to glide effortlessly, use less air, and ascend, descend, or hover almost as if by thought.
The PADI Fish Identification Specialty, as part of the Advanced Open Water course, is a fascinating dive into the world of marine life, offering you an exciting opportunity to learn about the wonderful aquatic creatures you encounter while diving. This course focuses on teaching you how to identify common fish families and species, understand their behaviors, and record what you observe during your dives. You learn the techniques and strategies for fish identification, including the use of fish identification slates and underwater whiteboards. This course also emphasizes the importance of species protection and encourages responsible human interactions with marine life. By the end of this specialty, you'll be able to enjoy your dives even more, gaining a deeper appreciation for the biodiversity of the underwater world and becoming a more knowledgeable and responsible diver.
NEXT COURSE
4.5 Days
4 TRAINING
2 FREE/FUN
MAX 30m/100ft
Adventure Diver/Junior Adventure Diver (or qualifying certification) with completed Underwater Navigation Dive; EFR Primary and Secondary Care training (or qualifying training) within 24 months.
Medically fit for diving
Minimum age: 12
All Book Materials & Taxes
Dive Equipment
2 Free Fun Dives
Free Nights at Mango Inn Resort Accomodation
The Rescue Diver course will introduce you to more extensive safe diving practices, teach you how to better prevent problems, and most importantly, train you to be able to identify solutions to any dive incident. Here at UDC, we run the Rescue course over 4 days, making it much more substantive than versions offered by other dive centres. This is because we believe this is such important training and, as always, we provide the highest value of service to our customers. If you do not have a current First Aid qualification (which includes CPR) then you will also need to complete the Emergency First Response (EFR) section of the Rescue course which takes half a day.
During your course, we’ll train you on how to use a dive computer, an essential tool for divers! We are the only Dive Centre on the island that can offer this service, and with a dive computer you will have a more enjoyable and thorough dive experience!
The highest standard of professional SCUBA Diving training requires proper, well maintained equipment.
With the largest equipment room and rental fleet on the island featuring all new wetsuits, masks, BCDs and regulators that are stored and maintained to the highest degree of sanitation and hygiene, no one’s got it better than us!
Don’t settle for old gear, masks that don’t fit and regulators that aren’t properly cleaned – dive with the newest gear, the most experienced instructors, and the fastest boats at the most reputable dive training facility in the Caribbean.
1 DAY
2 OPEN
DIVE PLAN
The UDC Caribbean Lionfish Containment Diver course addresses the invasion of the non-native, predatory lionfish in the Caribbean waters. This course is designed to educate divers about the environmental impact of this invasive species, and train them to safely and effectively cull lionfish with a sling spear thus reducing their impact on native marine life and reef ecosystems.
Lionfish, originally from the Indo-Pacific region, have become a significant threat to Caribbean marine ecosystems due to their rapid reproduction rate, lack of natural predators, and voracious appetite. They consume a wide variety of native fish and crustaceans, leading to decreased biodiversity and imbalances in the ecosystem. The purpose of the Caribbean Lionfish Containment Diver course in the Caribbean is:
Awareness: To raise awareness among divers about the ecological threat posed by lionfish.
Conservation Effort: To support conservation initiatives aimed at controlling the lionfish population and preserving native marine ecosystems.
Local Community Support: Engaging divers in this effort helps support local communities in their initiatives to control the lionfish population, both through culling and by promoting lionfish as a sustainable food source.
By participating in the course, divers contribute to a larger conservation initiative, helping to protect the biodiversity and health of Caribbean marine ecosystems.
1 DAY
2 OPEN
DIVE PLAN
The PADI Enriched Air Diver course, commonly known as the Nitrox course, is designed to train divers to use enriched air (nitrox) safely for no decompression recreational diving. Nitrox refers to any gas mixture composed of nitrogen and oxygen; in the context of scuba diving, it usually pertains to mixtures with an oxygen concentration higher than atmospheric air (21%). The primary benefit of diving with enriched air is that it allows for longer bottom times compared to diving with regular air, due to reduced nitrogen intake.
During the course, divers learn:
Upon completion, divers are certified to use enriched air nitrox mixtures up to 40%, which is the most commonly used mix in recreational diving. The course enhances safety awareness and extends the potential for exploration in the underwater world.
Dive deeper into comfort and communication with our Full Facemask courses, ensuring you a serene yet interactive dive like never before. Join us and redefine your underwater journey!
Enhanced Communication: Talk underwater with ease.
Improved Vision: Wider field of view for unparalleled underwater vistas.
Reduced Exposure: Keeps face dry and warm, ideal for colder waters.
Advanced Safety: Positive pressure helps keep water out.
Comfort: Custom fit, avoiding jaw fatigue common with regular regulators.
Embark on an unparalleled underwater journey with the PADI Sidemount Diver Course at Utila Dive Centre, located in the pristine waters of Utila, Honduras! This course unveils the techniques and benefits of sidemount diving, a configuration that offers enhanced flexibility, streamlined movement, and extended dive times by allowing divers to mount extra cylinders at their sides. Whether you're a recreational diver desiring more convenience and agility or an aspiring technical diver seeking advanced underwater potential, our expert instructors will ensure a comprehensive learning experience, imparting essential skills and knowledge needed to maneuver and manage multiple tanks efficiently. Dive into this specialized training and experience the freedom and versatility of sidemount diving amidst Utila's rich marine biodiversity, exploring hidden underwater treasures with newfound ease and confidence!
Utila Dive Center (UDC) offers a diverse array of scuba diving courses tailored to the varying interests and skill levels of underwater enthusiasts. From the foundational Open Water Diver certification for beginners, to advanced courses like Deep Diver and Wreck Diver, there's a course for almost every underwater pursuit. Additionally, they emphasize conservation and environmental stewardship with courses such as the AWARE - Fish Identification and the Project AWARE Specialist. Whether you're interested in exploring underwater photography, night diving, or mastering buoyancy control, UDC's extensive course offerings ensure that every diver can further their skills and knowledge, making the most of their underwater adventures.
We offer accommodation with all our recreational courses at the Mango Inn resort. The Mango Inn is away from the main settlement of Utila in quiet gardens, yet is only a few minutes walk from all amenities and conveniences should you need to procure any items or accessories. Outside the rooms you are surrounded by luscious gardens with accommodation, freshwater training pool, and restaurant a few steps away. The tranquil gardens of the Mango Inn are the perfect location in this tropical paradise for a low stress learning environment, and you are no more than a 10 minute walk to our dive center.