In Other News Around The Shop…

We now have the new Roatan Marine Park bracelets for 2012 (red), and also the new Marine Park calendar.

Beer O'Clock (after the last boat comes in):  for the past few months we have been buying cans of Salva Vida from the supermarkets, as they were undercutting the bottle delivery service by quite a substantial amount.  Now that the offer has expired, we are back on bottles (hurray for the Port Royal drinkers out there!)

The extensive West End road works are, for the most part, no longer directly in front of the shop.  I did say, for the most part…

Also, the hand-painted island map (art by Brett Kroos) is being retouched and revarnished….Watch this space…

The tank path is clear...

The DMT board is also looking quite full again - Katy is leading dives and becoming a highly competent Divemaster, Ty and Bob are on their fourth day of training.  If Marco's wishes come true, this board should soon be an interactive touch screen!

Think "Minority Report"...

The deconstruction of the double-decker dock. (didn't there used to be something between us and Sundowners?)

Open Water swim test: swim to the freestanding posts and back, twice.

PJ, Sammy and Matt Howell are back on the rock from their trans-Central American road trip!

Recent Sightings:

Green Moray Eel feeding on a Lionfish @ Blue Channel

Ocean Triggerfish (doing their flappy dance) @ Lighthouse (in the blue, off the wall)

Spotted Eagle Rays @ Hole In The Wall

Half Moon Bay Weather Report:

Very calm, partly cloudy....It could rain.  Maybe aye, maybe no.

Island Diving

Welcome to our new location!  All your Coconut Tree information transmitted through the Coconut (Tree) Telegraph...

At the dive shop, every week is a different set of faces.  Divers come and go from all over the world - USA, Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica and the Netherlands, just to name a few places from this past week alone!  But what about the very people that actually come from this island?  Well, we're also here to get them into diving.  This past week we had Ander Miller (Cindy's son - if you've been here before, you have without a doubt experienced Cindy's cooking at the blue shack) and Dillow Brooks complete their Open Water courses.  They absolutely loved it, big smiles all around.

from left to right, Dillow Brooks, 15, Ander Miller, 17, and Rags getting ready for confined water

Getting interested in diving and eventually rising through the ranks to the level of Divemaster or Instructor can be a great way to increase their skill set and their employability on the island - many of the larger dive resorts have a large number of staff.  One of our success stories along this line was Gerald Mann, from West End.  He did his Open Water through to Divemaster at Coconut Tree, and now works full-time as a Divemaster at Anthony's Key Resort.

Gerald, during his Divemaster Internship

Recent Sightings: 

Common Octopus @ Dixies Place (they really aren't that common at all)

Black spotted Nudibranch @ Bikini Bottom

Nurse Shark @ Three Brothers (a newer mooring, between Turtle Crossing and SeaQuest)

 Half Moon Bay Weather Report: 

Calm seas, pretty hot in the sun, but with a nice cool breeze. (very precise and scientific, I know)