A Divemaster intern describes his experience with Subway in Roatan

Honduran Adventures

Seahorse on Roatan reef Having decided that spending another summer in the armpit of Britain (Middlesbrough) just wasn’t an option, I started to look around on the internet to see what Divemaster courses were on offer. Subway seemed to be one of the more organised internship programs so after a few initial emails to Gillian and some very friendly replies I booked my place on the intern programme. In all honesty….pulled a bit of a masterstroke there, because last summer was one of the most memorable summers I’ve had.

I arrived in Roatan in the middle of July to be greeted by Gillian and her friendly dive dog Lily. I would like to give a bit of advice here to all future DM’s, if travelling to Roatan via the US listen to what Gill says and really do allow 3 hours minimum between arrival and departure……….TACA employees do not own hearts and if you’re a minute after check in closes well tough luck!!!(As I found out to my cost!!)

Christmastree worm on Roatan reef So anyway……………..Gill picked up Sarah (another intern) and myself from the airport and took us to meet our new friends at the dive shop. I do mean new friends aswell, that is one of the biggest plus points about Subway, from the moment you arrive you automatically gain a circle of maybe 15 friends, whether they be fellow DM’s, instructors, boat captains (some of the most random quotes of my life have come from Boris) or friends of Subway, they are all SO WELCOMING you feel instantly at ease and makes the next big experience that little bit less terrifying………………..the first dive!

Now for me this was a little scary, its not the thought of going for a dive that was scary, it was the thought of going diving with all these awesome divers who were going to look amazing underwater and I was going to be a slightly chubby northerner who wouldn’t be able to sink. I’m going to let you into a little secret now…... everyone’s first dive is a little ropey but the staff know this, they were there once upon a time a long long long long long long time ago, they know exactly what your going through so just remember to relax and keep an eye out for eagle rays and whale sharks!

Roatan reef the office of an intern Another plus point about Subway is the amount of dives you can get in. Diving twice a day is so much fun and believe me your competence under water increases ten fold within no time and you can really start to concentrate on becoming a good divemaster and more importantly having the DM pose perfected – arms crossed, body horizontal, air consumption minimal! You may be thinking what is the hell am I going on about but give it a fortnight in Roatan and you to will be striving for it!

Not only will your diving ability increase over the first two weeks so will your upper body strength! Believe it or not Subway has its own form weight control programme in place, eat as much rice and kidney beans as you like (this is the free staff dinner you are supplied by the hotels kitchen) and move scuba tanks all day!! After a few weeks the chubby northerner was no more! Thankfully! Yes this is a working holiday, ever been on a diving holiday and all you have had to do is sit on a boat while someone makes sure you have everything required for the dive??? Whilst at Subway you are that someone, you really learn about customer service and tend to every need of the customers. This is important to learn and if you go diving after you have completed your DM you will feel compelled to give the DM a hand and tip the poor kid!! I will emphasise again you do work, but it doesn’t feel like work once you get into a routine it all becomes second nature and you enjoy seeing the customer feel comfortable and enjoy themselves.

Your trip isn’t all about diving, Wednesday and Friday nights usually involves a trip to the West End to hang out with all the diving DUDES!!! You will be able to spot them; they will have long hair and a distinct lack of upper body clothing! It is actually such a laugh when you go to west end, no doubt if you have typed Roatan into Google, you will have come across the Sundowners bar. This really is the stereotypical beach bar, palm tree’s growing through the bar, amazing view, really nice cocktails and a BBQ what more could you ask for?? However enticing the wide selection spirits and crazy alcoholic concoctions may be when you first arrive (and they are!!), the truth slowly dawns on you that one night the majority of them will be poured down a snorkel and into your mouth when you do the dreaded snorkel test, so it tends to lose a bit of its appeal!! Don't fall asleep in a bar Regardless it was an awesome bar, further down the road was the Purple Turtle which is attached to another diving company called Reef Gliders. Again, a really good bar, everyone goes there and you get to meet some colourful characters. For the party animals out there, Fosters and Fubar are open till late but due to my alcohol induced narcolepsy I was usually passed out, generally in the street or a quiet corner of purple turtle or stood up next to the DJ booth in Fosters………………..ok the message I’m trying to get across is, there is some nightclubs in the West End but I can't handle my drink and was usually passed out by that point!! So if you want to know what they are like I am not a reliable source of information!

Sharing a house with the other DM’s and instructors is so much fun, you really get to meet different characters from all over the world. Whilst I was there I lived with 1 German, 1 Colombian, 5 Americans, 1 French (angel fish! Helene I miss you!!!!!) 1 Australian and a couple of fellow Brits so you really do get to meet people from all walks of life.

If I had to make a list of a few things to do whilst staying with Subway it would be as follows……..

Take every opportunity you can to dive and make sure you dive dolphins den, such an awesome dive!
Make the most of it, as it says on the website Roatan is a little rustic (nice wording Gill) but it is so much fun, you will be presented with so many random situations and will leave with so many stories to tell your friends and family.
Make sure you go to Hole in the wall, all you can eat lobster and steak for 20 dollars and a damn fine rum punch!
If there isn’t any customers go on exploration dives, they are great to hone your skills and to have a laugh under water
Be good to your instructors!!! Remember they control the severity of your snorkel test!

rafting with Omega tours Whatever you don’t book your plane ticket to home directly after your DM is finished, round up the rest of the fellow DM’s and central America is only a ferry ride away. It is such an underrated travel destination!! Myself and three other interns visited Honduras mainland. Patrick arranged for us to be picked up by Omega tours and they took us to an eco-lodge for a couple of days of lounging about in the cool bug free mountains which was such a relief after 8 weeks slowly roasting on Roatan. Omega tours is such a cool place, you can do any number of things from horse riding to white water rafting, I went for white water rafting, laying in a hammock eating lots of tasty food and drinking from their heavily stocked and well chilled fridge! After omega tours we headed to Copan which is the nicest little Spanish village! We stayed at Café Via Via (I would recommend) we visited the Mayan ruins and generally chilled out for a few days. Upon leaving Copan the troops emotionally dispersed, sob sob (Rob wailed like a little girl) Or was that relief at finally getting rid of me? I wouldn’t like to say! Rob and Sarah headed onto adventures new around the rest of central America whilst myself and Rachel headed back to Roatan for a few more dives and to catch our flights home!

I would like to thank everyone so much who I met whilst I was in Roatan, you all made it such an awesome experience and I would recommend it to anyone!

Until I see my Roatan chums again,

Paul

If you liked this story; here is what other interns had to tell about their experience:

Intern Emily describes her summer at Subway in 2006

Intern Graham describes a typical day of a Subway intern in 2004.

Jim and Ellen tell about their Roatan experience in 2002

Or just read a few comments from guests.

Sometimes pictures say more!
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