june newsletter

Underwater Times
Utila Lodge Resort
Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center
Bay Islands College of Diving
Utila Lodge Resort
Welcome ‘Sweet Pete’
gave him his first taste of what it
meant to work in the dive world. He
Logotype
“We look forward to
spending Time with
you Underwater!”
Whale Shark & Marine
Conservation Program
Dates:
August 8-14, 2015
October 3-9, 2015
Coral Reef Spawning &
Marine Conservation
Program
In efforts to continually improve and
ensure that Utila Lodge and Bay
Islands College of Diving offers the
best possible experience to all of our
guests/clients we have hired a new
young face. Kyle “Pete” Gilbert is
joining the Utila Lodge team as
General Manager. Pete grew up in
cold Canadian waters doing most of
his diving throughout the Great Lakes.
He was dragged into the diving
industry kicking and screaming by his
father, a divemaster, and his
grandmother, a master instructor, at
the age of 16 (the water in Canada
really is cold!). He took over
managing the family diveshop, which
Dates:
August 29 - Sept. 4, 2015
quickly fell in love with not just the
sport but the entire scuba community.
Over the next six years he worked
with five dive shops, managing two of
them. He's also worked in the large
aquarium business as a
maintenance/show diver (ask him
about all the tricks he's taught
pufferfish!). With thousands of hours
spent underwater, six years of dive
industry experience and all the energy
a 22 year old can bring everyone at
Utila Lodge seems excited for what’s
to come!
For more information on
these programs email
[email protected]
Marine Ecology
Program
Dates:
July 11-17, 2015
November 7-13, 2015
December 5-11, 2015
Kids & Parents Camp
Program
Dates:
June 27 - July 3, 2015
July 25 - 31, 2015
Utila Lodge - Sandy Bay, Utila Bay Islands
Telephone: 855-ugo-dive (846-3483) Web: www.utilalodge.com
Join us for adventures under the sea! Contact us today at [email protected]
Underwater Times
Utila Lodge Resort
Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center
Bay Islands College of Diving
Utila Lodge Resort
Stories with Cpt. Albert
Cpt. Albert is one of Utila Lodge's
longest standing employees. Having
started working here 20 years ago as
a deckhand, he continued to work off
and on throughout the years and
worked his way up to divemaster.
During these times with us, he has
had the opportunity to collect some
pretty incredible experiences.
Recently he was kind enough to sit
down with us and share some of
these amazing stories.
Albert was working as a divemaster,
with Willie Sr. acting as his captain.
During the surface interval, they
managed to spot a 35' (10.5m) long
whale shark. Albert started briefing
the guests as to how to interact with
these gentle giants. As they got into
the water Albert stayed on board
giving instructions from the boat. The
whale shark took an interest in one
guest in particular and started
swimming right at him. (Note that
whale sharks can't actually see
directly in front of them and probably
couldn't see the guest at all). Albert
yells, “You gotta swim, he's coming
right at you!” He started swimming
and the whale shark kept swimming
behind him. Eventually the guest got
back on board and the whale shark
came right up under the boat and
gently rubbed the side of his face
along it. The boat however had just
received a new paint job on her
underside. As the whale shark swam
away, it had a bright blue stripe
along its face, matching the colour
of the boat.
In addition to being a captain and
divemaster, Albert has also worked
in tagging whale sharks. One day he
was out working with the late Jim
Engel. They had just purchased a
brand new tagging gun and
stumbled across a 35' (10.5m)
female whale shark. As Albert
jumped in Jim yelled “Whatever you
do, don't lose that gun!” Albert
dived down and took his shot, he
hits her right below the dorsal fin, a
good shot. As it hit, she twitched. In
doing so though, she bent the spear
at a 90 degree angle, hooking it onto
the line which meant Albert couldn't
detach it from the gun. Not long after
that she decided to dive, Albert is
still trying to detach the gun from the
spear and just hears Jim's voice in
his head “Don't lose that gun!” She
begins diving and Albert is now
along for the ride, doing everything
he can to detach the gun. Finally it
came loose and Albert looked up,
“Oh boy, that's a long way to go.” He
estimated she had dragged him down
past 100' (30m). He started swimming
up as fast as he could. Jim told him
later that when he broke the surface
he was going so fast his waist came
up out of the water!
That wasn't the only time a whale
shark caused Albert to come right up
out of the water. One day while he was
tagging with Captain Willie Sr. he had
been swimming alongside one of the
sharks and lost sight of it. He yelled up
to Captain Willie and asked where the
shark had gone. Willie yelled that he's
coming back around and is heading
directly at Albert. Albert looked all
around but doesn’t see it anywhere.
That is until the giant shark came right
up under him, picking Albert up on his
head and lifted him clean out of the
water. After a few moments the gentle
giant dipped back down, leaving Albert
floating on the surface in disbelief.
Here’s to hoping that you
come dive with us and make
your own great memories!
For more info check out our website:
www.utilalodge.com
Utila Lodge - Sandy Bay, Utila Bay Islands
Telephone: 855-ugo-dive (846-3483) Email: [email protected] Web: www.utilalodge.com
Times
Whale Shark Underwater
and
Oceanic
Research Center
Utila Lodge Resort
Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center
Bay Islands College of Diving
WSORC
The Whale Sharks are back
Voyage of BZ-001
Welcome Raf!
After unseasonably low whale
shark sightings in April this year, we
were finally rewarded with some
In April, we were sad to see the
great encounters in May! Although
all whale shark encounters are
amazing experiences, we were
especially excited about the return
of one particular shark. First seen
in Utila in 2012, this individual has
been spotted going back and forth
between Utila and Gladden Spit
five times over the last five years
before heading up towards Cancun,
Mexico for an impressive seven
years of spring break. Just like
most of the people who come to
Utila, he just couldn’t resist the pull
to return to our little island and was
nice enough to let the WSORC
team swim with him three times!
departure of Volunteer
Coordinator Mark Wilson, who
has moved to Greece to further
his dive instructor career. Mark
joined us in December, and was
instrumental in overseeing the
completion of several community
outreach projects, including the
painting of the coral reef mural in
the municipal park outside the
WSORC office. We were
delighted to welcome Rafael
Manrique as new Volunteer
Coordinator, who joined us after
completing his undergraduate
degree in Marine Biology and
Eco-businesses. After coming to
Utila and studying to become a
PADI dive instructor he joins the
Whale Shark Oceanic Research
Center team as volunteer
coordinator helping manage and
develop the volunteer program.
Welcome Raf!
Lionfish Derby
In April, WSORC had the
opportunity to participate in a
lionfish derby where we collected
data on 149 lionfish! WSORC
staff and volunteers worked
tirelessly to do the gritty job of
recording the size, weight and
stomach contents of each lionfish
brought in by the divers, and were
rewarded with a free meal each
and a few free drinks from
onlookers who looked happy to not
get their hands dirty! It was a long
day, but the team managed to
collect valuable information on the
lionfish population and their
impacts on the local coral reefs.
To find out more about our research, community
outreach programs and volunteer programs,
visit wsorc.org, find us on facebook at
Facebook.com/WSORC, or our twitter page
twitter.com/wsorc.
“WSORC is a local non-profit conservation organization
whose mission is to facilitate conservation through scientific
research and education, and promote the sustainable use
of Utila’s natural resources to protect and benefit both the
natural environment and the local community.”
Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center - Sandy Bay - Utila, Bay Islands
Telephone: 855-ugo-dive (846-3483) Email: [email protected] Web:
www.wsorc.org
Underwater Times
Utila Lodge Resort
Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center
Bay Islands College of Diving
Bay Islands
College
Of Diving
College
of Diving
BICD News Letter – 3rd Quarter 2015
Staying True and Getting
Better
From the very beginning of the startup
of BICD it was the owners wish to see
the students learning never get
compromised. We are better known
for our smaller group sizes we allow,
which ultimately benefits the students
greatly. Instead of having 12 or 15
other students in a course, our max
size is six. Those classes are only
allowed to be taught with an
experienced instructor, who by more
times than not, is accompanied by a
Master Scuba Diver Trainer and
several Divemasters in training doing
(USA), Kathrin (Switzerland) and
Andrea, Devon and Donna
(Honduras) showed the world (and
the PADI examiner) what they are
made of and are now starting exciting
careers in the recreational diving
industry. We wish you all the best of
success!
Our next Instructor programs start on
June 29th and August 3rd, with a
complete schedule available on:
http://www.dive-utila.com/#!instructordevelopment-course/c1pbc
certifications than any other shop on
Utila. This is a huge feat for our shop
as we obtained this achievement by
not compromising our own personal
standards which makes BICD
everyone’s favorite shop. Diving
forward we plan on always remaining
a family orientated shop with the
highest emphasis on professionalism
while maintaining our small family
feel. Thank you for being a part of our
success, we hope to see you on this
rock again in the future!
Bay Islands College of Tec
Diving
On August 26 of this year, Utila Lodge
and Bay Islands College of Diving will
also be offering PADI Tec rec courses
for those who are interested and meet
the necessary prerequisites. Courses
are conducted on sidemount by BICD
PADI Course Director Michel
Wouterse.
Booking is necessary and more
information can be obtained by
emailing: [email protected].
April and May IDC's again
100% Success
their internship. We steered clear of
any teaching style or actions that gave
us a title “certification factory”. It was a
proud moment that on PADI’s last visit
to the island they congratulated us on
having more recreational dive
A big congratulations to 7 new PADI
Open Water Scuba Instructors after
successfully completing our state-ofthe-art 14-day Instructor Development
Program.
Jacob (Belgium), Pete (Canada), Jeff
Bay Islands College of Diving - Sandy Bay, Utila Bay Islands
Telephone: 504-2425-3291 Email: [email protected] Web: www.dive-utila.com
Underwater Times
Utila Lodge Resort
Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center
Bay Islands College of Diving
Bay Islands
College
Of Diving
College
of Diving
Award of Excellence
The College is proud to announce
that for another year we have won
Trip Advisors Award of Excellence.
Thank you to all of our great
customers who have taken the time
to go online and rate our beloved
shop, we couldn’t do this without
you. We love all the reviews we get
and among them here are some of
our favorites!
experience parts of the island that you likely
wouldn't see otherwise.”
nights started out with two “stow aways”
AKA former employees who even though
they have moved on, still wanted to be on
the boat as part of the crew supporting
our staff dive – once you’re family, you’re
always family - . Everyone had a great
time as the bioluminescence was
unbelievable! We saw huge snappers,
octopus and various inhabitants around
the wreck. The night was well ended by
having a few beers in Utila Lodge,
needless to say everyone wants to know
when and where the next staff night dive
will take place!
Eerie Night Fun with Our Staff
(Kelsey) made diving waaaaay less scary that
I thought it would be!!! Not only that but there
were always three other Divemasters with us
so you always felt like someone had your
back.
“Bec was my instructor and she was
awesome. She thoroughly explained
everything and made sure everybody
understood each skill before moving on. We
had at least two dive masters or DMTs helping
us each time, so we all received a great deal
of one on one instruction.”
“The instructors are professional and funloving which makes the learning experience
very enjoyable. It also creates a good
atmosphere around the school. This
atmosphere and a greater sense of
community/family (which was very evident in
the dive masters in training) is actively
maintained by the school through Sundays
aka 'family day'. On these days you along with
other students/DMTs/instructors get to
Here at The College, we think of our
staff as family and they have been
handpicked entirely for their attitude,
personality and professionalism. Life in
the “fast current” can be exhilarating
but it is also a lot of hard work and
dedication. You live, breath, eat the
water you work on. It is just as
important to make sure that you get to
dive with your colleagues and have
your own personal fun dive. This
quarter we decided to do a night dive
at the famous Haliburton! This ship
wreck is a 30 meter long wreck that is
30 meters to the bottom. This is a
great chance for our interns – Dive
Masters in Training to get to
experience a deep night dive and
great way for our Instructional staff and
Dive Masters to let loose and get to
captivate a Wreck at night which gives
it a whole new eerie element. Our
John Bodden
Our Rising StarJohn is our ‘local
legend and
lionfish slayer’.
It’s possible he
may be the first
person you see
when you come
off the ferry as he
calmly waits to
greet you. He is a team player whether
we need him in the shop, doing lionfish
workshops, setting up the slack line,
teaching or being a divemaster. He is a
huge part what makes our shop have
more of a "family feel" as we have had a
part in helping him through his own
personal success. He is our commitment
to our customers that we are not only
searching for the best but we train the
best. All of his diving credentials came
from BICD directly and all of his diving
has been through us, he is everyone's
little brother.
Bay Islands College of Diving - Sandy Bay, Utila Bay Islands
Telephone: 504-2425-3291 Email: [email protected] Web: www.dive-utila.com