What is the salary of a dive instructor on Roatan? Well, I get a LOT of emails from people asking me what dive instructors here on Roatan make (hint: not a lot), and what it costs to live here (hint: a lot). Since inquiring minds want to know, here you go:
How much do dive instructors make?
You can read more about it in my tipping guidelines for diving on Roatan, but the short answer is: dive instructors here do not make very much money. A few dive shops pay a small salary (around $25/day) plus commission (20% on courses) but most pay per diver at $5/tank and 30% commission on courses. So if you take out 24 tanks that day (8 divers going on 3 dives), you can make $120, but if you only take one diver out once that day, you end up with $5. It’s very inconsistent. Sometimes there is no work for weeks at a time and you make zero.
Most instructors make around $900-1500/month in high season (December to April) and $400-700/month in low season (the rest of the year). I made as little as $200 during a couple Septembers. There is no guaranteed work year-round and work will always go to the senior/permanent dive pros before newer or freelance staff.
What does it cost to live there?
Short answer: probably more than you think.
Roatan is not mainland Honduras. Honduras is a dirt cheap, third world Central American country. Roatan is a touristy island. Touristy + island = expensive.
Here’s a breakdown of where my money goes each month:
- Rent: $350/month for a 1 bedroom apartment 10 minutes outside of West End. I have hot water (electric) and A/C that I can’t afford to use. My electricity, drinking water, water and gas for the stove are all included in this price. This is a typical price in the area.
- Groceries: about $250/month at the American-style supermarket here. AKA overpriced shit but there isn’t anywhere else to get groceries. I sometimes get veggies off the veggie trucks that drive around but it’s not that much cheaper than the store.
- Cell phone: I paid $40 for a knockoff piece of crap Korean fake Blackberry type thing to use with prepaid minutes. It’s garbage but whatever, I didn’t want to use my iPhone cause it would get stolen in about six seconds. I pay about $5-10/month buying minutes for the phone.
- Internet: I used have to use a 3G internet stick at home because that’s just what you do here apparently. It cost me $25 for 5GB of data to recharge it. I couldn’t handle this at all (it was shitty internet and way too slow, and I burned through 5 GB every week) so once I moved somewhere I could get high speed internet installed, I did it. It’s worth the $70/month.
- Travel/medical/dive insurance: I paid for six months at a time, but it works out to close to $75/month for all 3 types.
- Storage unit back in Vancouver: $100/month.
- Scooter: I have to fill that bad boy up with gas about every 3-4 days. It costs me $5 to fill it. That ends up being $40ish/month or so for my transportation here. Before I had this, I was paying $10/week to take the van to work (and had an hour extra on my commute every day), and paying taxis to go to the grocery store and stuff. The scooter is cheaper.
- Laundry: I have to pay to get my laundry done once a week. I don’t have a washing machine where I live. I haul my dirty clothes to the laundry place where a cute little Spanish lady washes, dries and folds my stuff for me. It costs me about $30-40/month, depending on how many times I wash my sheets and towels.
Then there are things that I can only have IF I make enough tips that month:
- Going out – food & drinks: I didn’t come down here to stay at home all the time! I love going out with my friends to eat or a wild Friday night. But it doesn’t come cheap… going out for lunch usually ends up costing around $10-15, dinner maybe $20 or less… alcohol for me (local price…there are two prices at the bars here! sorry tourists!) is $2/beer or $2.50-3/mixed drink. I also have a small ice cream addiction that costs me $1.50/week. All these things can add up FAST!
- Shopping: the nice thing about Roatan is there’s basically nowhere I want to buy clothes or shoes, or anything really. But sometimes I like to get things for myself…what have I bought the last couple months? A reef fish ID book ($50), a rice cooker ($25), new sheets because the ones that came with this place had a weird stain ($25) and a used yoga mat ($15). I might spend around $25/month on random stuff.
 |
So there you have it! How much dive instructors make and how much it costs me to live here, in a nutshell. You can see that it can be pretty tough to make a go of it here unless you’re making a significant amount of cash. Yes, I made more money back in Canada. Yes, I had many more things I got to spend my money on in Canada. No, I don’t want to move back there!
You can also check out my updated budget post from housesitting, and then moving back to town again.
Hey there,
Thank you for the info. I am considering leaving the US to go to Roatan within the next year. I am a registered nurse and was wondering if you had any insight on the job market there for nurses?
Hi Greg, thanks for your comment. Nursing there is a job for locals, so unless you’re volunteering, I wouldn’t count on that for work. The not-for-profit clinics have loads of nursing students and doctors in training who come down from the US on rotations, so they’re pretty much set (and they don’t have a budget to pay staff anyway). The for-profit clinics only hire Hondurans due to labor laws. You likely wouldn’t want to work for a Honduran salary anyway…it’s about $300 USD a month for working six days a week, 9 hours a day!! Most expats on Roatan are dive instructors, business owners, or retired. There’s not really any room in the local labor force for foreigners, and most people don’t want to spend the money to get residency to work legally, just to make $300 🙂
Please have a look through my Roatan FAQ page up at the top, you’ll likely find some interesting info in the posts in there!!
I am so glad people find this useful… I was so mad when I couldn't find anything about this online! People want to know!
As someone who loves numbers this is extremely useful info, which like you mention is really NOT out there! I appreciate your honesty since it's important to know the reality behind this dream job! Thx Rika!
Thanks Rika –
Hope to see you on the street! Your Whale Shark Video was great!
Chris
On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 16:04:30 -0000, Disqus wrote
PS. If you have time, spend part of your trip over in Pico Bonito on the mainland… similar operations to your river tours going on over there, not so much here on the island. Cheers!
Hi Chris, definitely contact the Roatan Marine Park prior to your arrival as you will be here during a very busy time of year. They are always happy to have volunteers!
I don't like to publish my whereabouts online as there's plenty of creepy people out there 🙂 Just send me an email at cubicle.throwdown@gmail.com once you are here and I'll let you know where you can usually find me. You'll probably just see me in the street – West End is a very small place!!
Safe travels,
Rika
Hi Rika –
Thanks for the info.
I will be visiting 'your island' from Sat, Feb 21st – Sat, March 7th, with the intent to 'see if I like it there'. So far, I've looked in the Philippines, the Bahamas, and the Florida Keys, to no avail.
I own and operate ColumbiaRiverEcoTours.com here in Astoria, Oregon and am interested in starting a similar business on 'my island'. I have a degree in Oceanography/Ocean Engineering and am very interested in the Roatan Marine Foundation.
I was hooked on the ocean environment since about age 12, when I watched all those Jacque Cousteau documentaries, Flipper, and Sea Hunt! I'm excited to discover if Roatan is the place for me!
Would love to see what the Marine Park is all about, spend some time there, and volunteer as well.
Where can I find you, to say thank you?
Thanks for your assistance,
Chris (503) 468-9197
On Wed, 14 Jan 2015 01:44:45 -0000, Disqus wrote
Hi Chris, I would definitely recommend coming and finding a place to stay for a few months first – actually as long as you can afford to – before committing to Roatan. To be honest, most expat businesses here go under in a year or less and people head home with their tail between their legs… it is MUCH different to live here and try to operate a business than to be on holiday here. I think the market is fairly saturated with boat tour businesses here, but if you're set on Roatan then it would be really important for you guys to come down here for a significant amount of time first and do some research! Best of luck!
Hi Rika –
Great information…thank you! My sweetheart and I are coming down in Feb/March to consider relocating to Roatan. I want to start an Eco Tour business in Roatan similar to what I do here in Oregon: ColumbiaRiverEcoTours.com.
While visiting, we want to live like expats, or as if we already live there. Some have suggested that we just arrive, and then find a place to stay (for a month or so). What do you think?
I have a degree in Oceanography/Ocean Engineering and a United States Coast Guard 100-Ton Captain's license. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Chris
Glad you found it useful!! I always wonder this about other people, and I had lots of readers asking me about it! xx
Thanks for sharing that, it's always nice to see how people do what they do, I'm always so curious haha. Peace and love!
Thanks for all the info Rika.. I'm headed to WestEnd in a few weeks to do a Divemaster Internship. This will be my third trip to Roatan this summer. I'm seriously addicted to the lifestyle there. Maybe I'll run into you at Sundowners or Blue Marlin one of these evenings. Due to scheduling I will have to return again to get my Instructor certifications over at AKR. I'm a retired cop that does a little real estate investing now. I don't have a clue where in the world my diving will eventually take me, but I'm seriously addicted to that too. Joe
No problem at all, and thanks for the email…I'll respond to you there. Cheers! x
Thank you for sharing this informative share!!
Glad you found it informative!! A lot of people asked, so I figured I'd just get it all out in one go 🙂
Awesome article. I spent 2 months on Utila last year diving and living, fell in love with Hondo and diving! I am coming to Roatan soon and possibly purchasing a home in Sandy Bay. I look to do my DM and see what the market is like for freelance videographers (still learning the craft but love the idea of sharing that w/ others). I will basically be spending all my savings on the property, but have 800.00 U.S. that I get monthly from my army days…do you this it is plausible to live off that? Also I might start off only living there 4-6 months a yrs and hopefully generate some rental income (2bd house)…I'd love to hear back from you with any advice, I need a little motivation as I'm tired of the U.S. and the monotony that I find here now after exploring the world for a year. Thanks and again, awesome site!!
Hey John, I hope you check back in here because your profile info has no contact information for me to get in touch with you!!
Great that you're looking to come to Roatan!! Definitely come and visit first for at least a year before you commit to buy. You will hear everyone on the island telling you the same thing. Most people do not have the same view after a year here.
It's plausible to live off $800 if that was the number for after buying a house – so if there's no rent or mortgage/loan payment included in that $800. Otherwise it's a pretty tight squeeze. I've made anywhere between $950-$1400/month teaching…and with paying $400 in rent/utilities, then on top of that internet, laundry, gas for my scooter, a few nights out and American groceries leaves me with almost nothing at the end of every month.
I would not count on being able to get work as an UW videographer here, just because the only places that employ them are Anthony's Key for the dolphins and Waihuka for the shark dive, and they both only hire locals. And with only a DM, you will not be able to get paid employment here as a foreigner. There are too many islanders who have their DM and preference is always given to locals for that. The only way to get hired is as an instructor as there isn't enough locals to fill that void.
Hope that helps and please feel free to email me anytime if you have questions!
I have really enjoyed reading this. My wife really wants to move to Roatan. We have researched a lot but I have enjoyed the most reading your blogs. Thanks and many blessings to you!
I'm so glad to hear that Brian, thank you! Have you guys visited here before? If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help – I'm all about people living the dream down here!
I definitely know about a tight budget right now being not legally employed in Germany and counting on inconsistent pub shifts and desperately seeking a babysitting job. How do you cover the other expenses? Do you have a savings account you dip into? That's what I've had to do in Germany some. Anyway, great breakdown! Super interesting to read!
Hey Alex, it's not that fun is it? Damn money! The other expenses get covered with my tips and commissions…if I don't make enough in those, I don't put minutes on my phone, or go out to eat, and I cut back on groceries quite a bit. If I'm really desperate, I put things on my credit card once in awhile since my savings got eaten with the cost of my dive instructor course. But I've been lucky enough that I'm usually only short the amount it costs me to go out to the bar on a Friday, so I cut that out first 🙂
I don't blame you for not wanting to move back home. When you make a life choice like this, it's not all about the money you can make but how rich your life is in terms of the experiences you have. I'd much rather be rich in happiness than have an overflowing bank account but no time to spend it on anything other than material things.
Exactly, I much prefer having great experiences than piles of cash. Although wouldn't it be great if we could have both? 😉
That is quite a tight budget, some would even say the breadline.
It is a good job that you enjoy what you do because clearly it's not for the money.
I hope that people become more generous so you can treat yourself to a few more massages.
It is really, really tight! For some reason it always seems to work out, and I do have some great friends here when things get rough. I definitely don't do this for the money! Thanks for the well wishes 🙂 xx
I really liked this read. And thanks for sharing. I always appreciate it when people are real about money because I don't think everyone (including travel bloggers!) is.
You will be pleased to hear that I did 5 dives here in Saba and they were FANTASTIC! This post made me think of one of my dive instructors… as she was hauling tanks she just said "Cheaper than the gym!" …so at least you don't have to worry about that extra cost tagged on.
If you ever want somewhere else to dive/live, check out Saba. I don't think you would regret it…
Yeah, I had a really hard time finding real info about how much living here would cost and what I would realistically make as a dive instructor here…so I hope this helps someone else in my shoes!
I'm so glad your dives in Saba were awesome! I don't know much about Saba so I'm off to Google all about it!
I have often wondered, as I'd like to go for my instructor cert as well. I've ended up feeling like there's no way to do much more than break even, though, which is depressing.
Well, not here anyway. There are places where the cost of living is cheaper and there are opportunities to make more money…like Thailand or the Caymans for example. Also, the dive instructors at other shops make a lot more than I do in high season because they work on commission. But during low season, they sometimes make nothing and I still get the same salary. But generally, a dive instructor doesn't make much money and it costs a ton to get to that level. However, you get to live in exotic places and do what you love every day 🙂
Working while travelling is a good option. I am agree some jobs don't pay you enough but you can learn a lot and some people join a job only yo be a part of local people. Dive instructor job can provide you a chance to meet new people everyday. I think this is cool.
Thanks Peter! Yep, working as a dive instructor provides an incredible opportunity to travel and work at the same time. I'm really lucky!
Thanks for the breakdown. I want to move to Roatan some day, and you open my eyes to many things! Keep on Bloggin!
Hi Linda! This is just what it's like for a dive instructor…is that what you do? Thanks for the blog love!