Technical Diving in Roatan
Roatan Tec Center has run technical training from this site since 2007. The only dedicated tec center on the island, with the walls starting a few minutes from the shop and over 800 technical certifications behind it.
TDI and SSI XR · Open circuit and CCR · Sidemount through Trimix
Training that goes into skill, not depth
Tec diving isn’t a race to the bottom. It’s the point where planning, gas management and procedure stop being optional and start being the dive. Roatan makes a good classroom for it: deep walls, advanced training sites and signature dives all inside a short boat ride, in warm clear water that lets you concentrate on the work instead of the conditions. Courses run through TDI and the center is an SSI XR facility as well. Standards, depth limits and prerequisites differ slightly between the pathways. We’ll walk you through which one fits your certifications and where you want to end up.
Who teaches it
Monty Graham runs the tec side. He’s a TDI Instructor, TDI Sidemount Instructor, and one of two Advanced Trimix Instructors on Roatan. He’s been diving since 2001 and teaching sidemount here since 2007. Open circuit and closed circuit rebreather. Deep air. Mixed gas through to hypoxic trimix. Private guiding and expeditions. Equipment service, plus Dive Rite, Shearwater and XDEEP sales on site. Gas, fills, instructors and the service bench are all in the building you’re already diving from.
What the training covers
Problem solving under pressure, with a plan already written. Every tec course also requires a physician-signed medical inside the required window, DAN insurance or equivalent, the logged dives and prerequisite certifications for that course, a proper technical configuration, and instructor sign-off before any training dive.
01
Dive planning and gas management
Every dive starts on paper: depth, time, gas volumes and turn points, agreed before you kit up.
02
Decompression procedures and team protocols
Running stops to plan and working as a team, with every diver knowing the schedule.
03
Emergency procedures and gas switches
Gas switches and failure drills, practiced until they are routine.
04
Buoyancy, trim and equipment configuration
Holding a stop flat and still, in a configuration built for technical diving.
Tec Courses
Where you start depends on where you already are.
Advanced Nitrox
- Four dives over three days
- Prerequisite: Nitrox Diver
- Logged dive requirements apply
- TDI pathway
The way in. Technical planning, gas management and the first decompression concepts, taught as procedure, not as theory. If you’ve been circling tec diving for a while without starting, this is the course that tells you whether you want the rest of it.
Decompression Procedures
- Four dives over three days
- Dives to around 45 m / 150 ft
- Decompression cylinder in use
- Prior tec training required
Planning and running a real decompression dive with a deco cylinder. Theory, planning tools, emergency procedures, and the decision making that goes with having a ceiling above you. This is where the obligation becomes genuine.
Extended Range
- Four dives over three to four days
- Two decompression gases
- TDI to 55 meters
- Significant tec experience required
More complex plans, deeper dives, two deco gases and advanced emergency procedures. Depending on conditions and how you’re diving, the training can run on Roatan’s deeper walls and wrecks instead of a sand patch.
Trimix
- Oxygen, nitrogen and helium blends
- Staged decompression
- Multiple cylinders and gas switching
- Established tec experience required
Past the point where air and nitrox do the job. Helium in the mix to manage narcosis, staged deco, and several cylinders to keep track of. Mixed gas through to hypoxic trimix runs from this center, so talk to us before you book flights.
TDI Sidemount
- Five dives over two days
- Minimum age 15
- Dedicated sidemount equipment provided
- Open to recreational divers too
Sidemount is not just a tec course. It buys balance, redundancy and easier access to your own valves, which plenty of recreational divers want as much as technical ones. Setup, trim, propulsion, gas sharing and emergency drills, coached in the water instead of lectured at you. Taught here since 2007.
Is tec diving right for you?
There’s no polite way to put this: tec diving suits a particular sort of diver. It asks for patience with planning, tolerance for repetition, and a willingness to be told your trim isn’t good enough yet. For the right person it opens a completely different level of diving. It suits you if you want to go past recreational depth limits, you enjoy detailed planning and precision, you want to fix your buoyancy, trim and control properly, decompression diving interests you more than it worries you, you want gas switching and advanced procedures under your belt, and you are ready for a more serious training environment. Prerequisites vary by course and by agency pathway. Message the shop before you book anything, so we can check your certifications and logged dives against the course you have in mind and put you on the right rung.
Common questions about tec diving in Roatan
Where can I take technical diving courses in Roatan?
Here. Roatan Tec Center runs TDI courses from the Coconut Tree Divers site in West End, and has since 2007. It’s the only dedicated technical training center on the island.
What is the first technical diving course?
TDI Advanced Nitrox depending on your certifications, your logged dives and where you want to get to. Both cover the same ground at the start.
How deep does tec training go here?
Tec 45 runs to around 45 m / 150 ft. Extended Range takes TDI divers to 55 m. Past that it’s trimix, and the depth depends on the plan and the mix.
Do I need a medical form for technical diving?
Yes, and it has to be signed by a physician inside the required window. No signature, no training dive. There’s no way around this one.
Do I need dive insurance for a tec course?
Yes. DAN insurance or equivalent coverage, in place before you start.
Do you teach sidemount?
Yes, TDI with dedicated sidemount kit and in-water coaching. We’ve been teaching it here since 2007. Recreational divers take it as often as technical divers do.
Do you support rebreathers?
Yes. CCR training and guided diving, plus sorb, oxygen and diluent fills on site. Dive Rite, Shearwater and XDEEP sales and service as well.
Tell us where you are and we will tell you what comes next.
Message the shop with your current certification level, your logged dives and what you want to be diving in a year. We’ll come back with the course that actually fits, not the most expensive one on the list.
Where you start depends on where you already are.
Advanced Nitrox
- Four dives over three days
- Prerequisite: Nitrox Diver
- Logged dive requirements apply
- TDI pathway
The way in. Technical planning, gas management and the first decompression concepts, taught as procedure, not as theory. If you’ve been circling tec diving for a while without starting, this is the course that tells you whether you want the rest of it.
Decompression Procedures
- Four dives over three days
- Dives to around 45 m / 150 ft
- Decompression cylinder in use
- Prior tec training required
Planning and running a real decompression dive with a deco cylinder. Theory, planning tools, emergency procedures, and the decision making that goes with having a ceiling above you. This is where the obligation becomes genuine.
Extended Range
- Four dives over three to four days
- Two decompression gases
- TDI to 55 meters
- Significant tec experience required
More complex plans, deeper dives, two deco gases and advanced emergency procedures. Depending on conditions and how you’re diving, the training can run on Roatan’s deeper walls and wrecks instead of a sand patch.
Trimix
- Oxygen, nitrogen and helium blends
- Staged decompression
- Multiple cylinders and gas switching
- Established tec experience required
Past the point where air and nitrox do the job. Helium in the mix to manage narcosis, staged deco, and several cylinders to keep track of. Mixed gas through to hypoxic trimix runs from this center, so talk to us before you book flights.
TDI Sidemount
- Five dives over two days
- Minimum age 15
- Dedicated sidemount equipment provided
- Open to recreational divers too
Sidemount is not just a tec course. It buys balance, redundancy and easier access to your own valves, which plenty of recreational divers want as much as technical ones. Setup, trim, propulsion, gas sharing and emergency drills, coached in the water instead of lectured at you. Taught here since 2007.