...and there was much relief!

Thankfully, more pectin has been located in French Harbour. That was a close call.
The Seagrape jelly experiment can now continue.

Oh and for those of you who are wondering...you're right, PJ doesn't ever wear a shirt.

The Seagrape Jelly Didn't Set!!

PJ's seagrape jelly experiement continues...

It has been a rough few days with the jelly showing no signs of setting.
There has been much pacing.

More pectin is desperately needed. Although PJ says it tastes delicious, it isn't close to ready.
The question now is, who will be heading to French Harbour to get it?

The seagrape jelly saga continues...

Diver, diver! Are you okay?

Drop your weights! Inflate your BCD!
It's all about rescue this week with Marco teaching four students the ropes! Ken, Casey, Sigita and Riccardo have been sleeping like babies at night after long days of practice. The rescue course takes your skills to a new level and creates a much more confident diver.
There won't be much these four can't handle after this!

While some are practicing surfacing unconcious divers, others are enjoying their 100th dive with CTD! Congrats to JR (pictured with his lovely wife Peg) on making his big dive at Bear's Den earlier this week. JR came to us five years ago to do his Advanced
Course and has been back to the shop four times.

He says he keeps coming back because he, "loves the people and the reef...in that order."
His fave sites include Overheat Reef and the West End Wall.

Thanks for coming back guys! See you next year!

Meanwhile, Sam continues his new job as the shop assistant.
Today's tiring task was bailing water from one of the boats.
PJ says he'll tell him about the bilge pump next year ;)

Another Great IDC & IE!

Congrats to Layne and Nate for becoming CTD's newest Instructor Development Course grads! After an intense Instructor Exam where they laid out their skills, they celebrated at Will and Loren's infamous IDC BBQ! Kudos to Bear for assisting on his first IDC as a staff instructor and for beating Jose to the title!

Love is in the Air!

Oh yes, you heard it folks...love is in the air on the CTD deck this week! Bow-chicka-bow-wow! California couple Jen and Jason have been together for three years and couldn't resist a little alone time together in Roatan. They are adorable and Natasha says
Jen is her lucky diving charm! These two lovebirds tagged along for the wreck dive on Natasha's Advanced Course and they spotted TWO Moray eels, extra-friendly garden eels, the biggest grouper EVER, massive schools of Blue Tang and a turtle to
top it all off! Incredible!

Speaking of the Advanced course, congrats to (in order of appearance below) Phil, David and JP for finishing theirs! Phil is a Grade 7 teacher and avid surfer from California while David and JP are highschool teachers from Montreal. These three could simply not believe the String of Pearls last night and didn't want to get back on the boat! JP described it as, "the best experience of my life!" That was, of course, until he fell in-love with El Aguila
(the wreck) this morning!

Sadly we do have to say goodbye (for now) to our longtime friend, Andreas. This New Yorker has been to Roatan FIVE times to dive at CTD and has logged over 120 of his 183 dives on our reefs! His fave sites are Hole in the Wall, Spooky Channel and Bear's Den. Nice to see you again, Andreas! We'll catch you on the flip side.

On a not so side note, a very big welcome to our three new DMTs. Abner and Ewilina are two more lovebirds here to learn the ropes.

Bob (below) has decided to take a career break after hearing about CTD and the DMT program from Instructor Bisch (a former DMT and IDC star). A Roatan regular, he's already fitting in very well.

Before we sign off this post, we'd like to mention Seagrape season! UGH. While it is the absolute bane of Gay's existence (sweep, sweep and sweep the deck some more), PJ has decided to see the glass as half full. He spent his only day off making Seagrape jelly and, although the initial tasting was "f*ck!ng disgusting" according to PJ, 4 1/2 cups of sugar sure made it taste better. The verdict is out until the official taste test next Wednesday.
We have yet to decide on who the victim...err...lucky person will be!

The New Key for Wish!

After a particularly interesting "incident" involving a lost key and Tree acting as a snorkel guide so that he could hotwire the boat, we have a new keyring! This key isn't going anywhere thanks to PJ's creativity!

Oh and yes, Carl, this is for real.

FROGFISH!

It was quite an exciting day for the IDC group yesterday. Bear (who's finishing up his Staff Instructor rating) found a Frogfish at Mandy's Eel Garden! Great find! Thanks to Will for the photographic evidence!

Our New Employee

The shop has a new employee these days. He may look a tad familiar...yup, it's Sam! Gay and PJ's son has joined us for the summer as the new shop assistant. So far so good...but we'll keep you updated on his work ethic!

The Rones Family Discovers Scuba!

It's a fun day for the Rones family from Atlanta! David, Wendy and their three sons are exploring Roatan via a cruise ship and are having a blast doing a discover scuba diving experience with Rags! David is already a certified diver and can't wait to get his whole family involved in his passion for diving.

After a quick session in the classroom this morning, they made their way into the bay
to practice some simple skills. Soon they will be taking over Wish U Were Here
for their own private diving adventure on our gorgeous reef!
What a great memory for this awesome family.

(Above) Rags explains the basics of buoyancy control.

Tamara helps the family gear up for their confined water session.

Full Boats!

It's been a busy week so far with fun divers and courses like crazy! This is a photos of
today's full boat list...not a single spot to be had (not even on the night dive)!
This morning's dives at West End Wall and Shallow Seaquest were a turtle-lover's
dream and a great start to an awesome day of diving at CTD!

Chef Marco's Communal Cooking!

Most everyone who has paid a visit to CTD knows that we work AND play together! Communal cooking nights have become a tradition and this week was no exception. Chef Marco came to CTD to do his open water course and has since done his advanced, rescue, nitrox and sidemount certifications! Next year he will be back to do his Divemaster course.

Knowing his culinary background, Instructor Marco convinced him to share his talents at a communal cooking night. The menu consisted of fresh salad (the most veggies some of us have had in a while), homemade dressings, fresh bread, herbed chicken, ratatouille, rice and a DELICIOUS dessert. Everyone left stuffed and happy. Next week we'll be doing homemade tacos...you should join us!

The homemade salad dressings were AMAZING!

Although we sure wouldn't be able to spell the name of this dessert, it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and topped with pineapples and apples cooked with sugar and RUM!

The final masterpiece!

We all ended up stuffed, happy and tired!

Lordy, lordy, looks who's 40!

Happy birthday to Jose who turns 40 today! He's having a huge beach celebration tonight to ring in his four decades in true Coconutter style! Enjoy your day off tomorrow.
You'll surely need it!

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Another birthday cake was made on the deck today! Happy birthday to our DMT Austin! We couldn't let your special day go by without making you a Coconutter Cake...

Another Great Week in Paradise!

It's been another busy week at CTD with loads of people seeing our incredible reef for the first time. Last weekend we had 17 people take over Wish to undertake their Discover Scuba Diving experience. Tomorrow we have 20 more people about to get hooked on compressed air!

Things are changing on the DMT board as well with guitar-playing Dragon Dan leaving us to go back to the UK. He went out with a bang having nailed his snorkel test last night. We'll miss you Dragon!


While are are saying goodbye to some old friends, we are saying hello to a new crop of DMTs eager to learn the ropes. A big welcome to the Gallegos family from California. Mike, Tamara, Persephone, Emiliano are adding a family-friendly vibe to the deck!




A big welcome to Austin from Texas. This southern gentleman is bringing his own flair to the deck with his aviator-wearing, laidback style.


Also new to the crew is Cas from Holland. He has decided to take the summer to travel before beginning his medical residency back home.