SSI Honduras

About me

Hi, my name is Tobi and I am an SSI Instructor Certifier, which is the equivalent of a Course Director. I am working with Utila Watersports and Laguna Beach Resort on the beautiful island of Utila, in the Carribean Sea on the northern coast of Honduras. I would like to tell you about my personal and diving background, as you may be interested in the programs I am offering on this website.

From the first minute in the reef it was clear to me: this is my place! The only issue was: I was five. I didn’t know what scuba diving was at that time but my primary goal was to run along the beach and to explore the coral reef, equipped with mask and snorkel. I was living with my family in the Dominican Republic and the highlights of my early life were these frequent trips to the beaches around Santo Domingo with the inviting warm and thrilling Caribbean Sea.

I think that these early experiences let me many years later choose my way back to the sea. With a continuous interest in nature I decided to study forestry after high school in Germany, but I figured after awhile I would be happier moving from the green to the blue buisness. I began in 2002 intensively with diving after experiencing the excitement of being submerged and breathing for the first time from an aqualung. I started to explore the lakes and flooded quarries of my home in northern Germany but it was clear that I needed the coral reef and the only way to be there not just temporarily was to work there.

So I became in 2004 a scuba diving instructor in Phuket, Thailand and worked with great enthusiasm on Phi Phi Island in the Andaman Sea until the Tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 struck the west coast of Thailand. Having witnessed the sea taking so many peoples lives I wasn’t sure if I should rethink my relationship with the sea. But when I headed over to the Golf of Thailand I was soon feeling again like a fish in the water. I stayed working on Koh Tao, enjoying its vibrant diving atmosphere on land and its beauties underwater. Thirsty for a new place but with barely enough money in the pocket I decided to move on to another place, not far away, the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia after half a year. Reaching these green islands by boat, seeing them getting closer, they resembled a scene from Jurassic Park and interestingly the islands were packed with lizards.. I stayed a few months under rather primitive conditions but beautiful nature surrounding me and finally returned to the Andaman Sea to reclaim the subaquatic paradise that the tsunami had taken from me. The following years I enjoyed very much teaching diving on Phi Phi Island and I took over the coordination and development of an elaborate DM Internship Program with the biggest dive shop on the island. Teaching Divemasters gave me an immense satisfaction, seeing people evolving from beginners to pros. Many of my DMs continued to become instructors and I wondered why I couldn’t go this last step with them. So out of that wish resulted my further professional education with Staff Instructor training and in 2007 with the SSI Instructor Certifier rating. One of my main activities was then to introduce professionals to the SSI system, which I enjoyed a lot having all kinds of different experienced instructors working with me. But after almost 5 years in SE-Asia I was getting in the mood to move on. After some research I decided to go (back) to the Caribbean and one magnet for instructors seeking work in this area is Utila. After several months here I see the potential of the place and I love to live and work here. It’s a great challenge and privilege to help develop the area when it comes to professional programs with SSI.

Teaching professional courses is an absolute challenge for me. I have the wish to conduct my courses from a practical point of view for the instructor, preparing the candidate for the everyday scuba instructor`s life--beyond just training instructors to pass exams, I aim to equip them to conduct courses with confidence, professionalism and enthusiasm.

Please have a look also at my personal website as a diving instructor: