Dive Crew

PJ Rowntree
Owner – England

PJ comes from Hampshire in the UK. He started his diving career while as a fisherman, wanting to know more about the habitats of the underwater creatures he was catching. He learned to dive by exploring the shipwrecks in the chilly waters off the south coast of England in 1985. During his seven-year tenure in the Cayman Isles, he worked with several world-famous dive operations, including Jean-Michel Cousteau and the Cousteau Society. Looking for a quieter setting, he moved to Roatan in 1995 where he managed several dive operations around West End. He assumed the role of "The Boss" when he started his own dive shop at Coconut Tree Resort in 2002. As the owner of Coconut Tree Divers, his many specialties include equipment repair, compressor engineer, boat engineer, car mechanic, and father of two. He loves his wife Gaynor's cooking, riding the BMW "Beast" around the island, and cheering on Dale Earnhart Jr. in the weekly NASCAR race.

Gaynor Pook
Owner – England

After traveling the world for many years searching for the right place to call home, Gay finally found her little piece of paradise on Roatan.  In 1996 she learned to dive on Roatan's reef and met PJ.  Five years later, she had had two beatuiful children, Sammy and Nina, a lovely house, and a dive shop.  Gay, who generally handles customer service at Coconut Tree's reception desk, is always good for a delicious cup of tea and a solid laugh.  As one of the founding directors of the Roatan Marine Park, Gay juggles her time between addressing environmental issues, handling her kids social life, dealing with the shop boys, and keeping fresh on the latest Roatan gossip.  She particuarly likes chasing hot young boys in her fast car whilst smoking marlboro lights.

Tree
Manager – Canada

Tree has been with Coconut Tree Divers since we opened the doors, 20th, April, 2002. He hails from from Canada and has found his niche here at CTD.  He can usually be found in his cozy "office" at the back of the shop, not because we like to keep him away from the customers, but because it is the coolest room in the diveshop.  It is here that he wields his magic, responding well to the many demands placed upon him as Operations Manager.   He is always there when needed, repairing equipment, replacing batteries, filling tanks, boat repair, motorbike repair, and pretty much anything else around the shop that needs some tender love and care.  As a diver of over ten years, he knows what you'll need to get the most out of your diving experience on Roatan.  Prior to becoming shop manager, Tree snapped pictures of fish and divers as the dive shop photographer.

Carl Wagner
Boat Captain – Honduras

Captain Carl is a true Roatan icon.  Born and raised on the island, his boat captain career kicked off at age sixteen while ferrying visitors to and from Anthony's Key Resort.  By eighteen he was working full-time as a boat captain for various dive shops around West End.  Over the last thirty years he has captained many different kinds of dive boats under all sorts of weather conditions.  To quote the man himself, "almost all of my life has been spent on the water."  Captain Carl has worked at Coconut Tree Divers since the shop's inception.  Taking the helm of Potlicker or Wish U Were Here, he will drive you to all the sites in the Roatan Marine Park.  Carl will also assist divers with equipment setup, entering and exiting the water, and making certain that everything about your dives goes as smoothly as possible.  He loves to snack on chicken and tell crazy stories of yester years on Roatan.

Fred Hamilton
Boat Captain – Honduras

Fred left his island when he was 21 years old to work on a cruise ship.  After 15 years he left for the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico and then to Italy to help build a new port.  After 7 years of running inter-island freighters he has returned to his native island to take the helm of Potlicker.  Fred loves fishing and his 17 grandchildren.  True, buddy!

Will Welbourn
Course Director – England

Roatan's longest serving Course Director Will Welbourn started diving in 1989.  Will explored the waters of Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Crete, Sri Lanka, Bocas del Toro, and the Corn Islands.  Tired of his job as an accountant, he left sunny England in 2003 and completed his PADI Divemaster and Open Water Scuba Instructor certifications in Roatan. 

Will serves as a Coconut Tree Diver's PADI Course Director, PADI/DSAT Tec Deep and Trimix Instructor Trainer, and Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer.  He is currently a PADI Instructor Trainer in the following specialties: Deep, Night, Wreck, Enriched Air Nitrox, Digital Underwater Photography, Emergency O₂ Provider, Boat, Drift, Multilievel, Naturalist, Underwater Navigation, Search and Recovery, Equipment, and Gas Blender. 

When not teaching PADI Instructor Development Courses or exploring the depths through Tec Diving, Will also works as Coconut Tree Diver's Retail Manager.  Will loves his wife Loren's cooking, sailing, skiing, snowboarding and Chelsea FC.

Marco Alvarado
IDC Staff Instructor – Honduras/USA

Marco got certified at Coconut Tree Divers Aug 2005.  Having discovered a new passion he eventually returned to complete the DM, IDC/IE courses in Feb 2007 and May 2007 respectively.  On Sep 2007 he earned the PADI rating of MSDT.  He staffed the September 2009 IDC here at Coconut Tree and earned the IDC Staff Instructor rating.  

Prior to diving he earned a BS in Psychology from the Univ. of Florida and a Masters in Human Resource Development from Clemson Univ.in South Carolina.   He designed, developed, and delivered hands-on instructor-led computer software training at academia and in corporate environments.  Served three years in the U.S. Army after 9/11 and ended up at Pulte Homes as a Customer Relations Manager.  Eventually he traded the khaki slacks for shorts and the shoes-optional lifestyle.

He completed the PADI TecDeep Course with Monty October, 2011.  Spends time helping increase our web presence via Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor, and our DiveGearReview blog.  You may find him behind the desk or answering emails when Gay and PJ are busy with other things. He recently had his first baby boy, Alex, who visits the diveshop on a regular basis. 

Monty Graham
IDC Staff Instructor – Canada

Deep & Trimix Technical Instructor
Sidemount Recreational/Tec Instructor

Monty's diving career began in 2001 when he was trained as a deep sea/commercial diver in Seattle, Washington.  His diving adventures have carried him to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Martin, St. Thomas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Isles, Antigua, Cozumel, Curacoa, Aruba, Venezuela, St. Lucia, and Canada.  Monty is the Technical Deep and Trimix Instructor, one of only two on Roatan.

Monty holds specialities in Deep, Night, Navigation, Nitrox, Drift, Gas Blender, Chamber Technician, and Emergency First Response.  He likes to smoke cigars and chase fast women on his slow scooter whilst playing hockey.

Ragnhildur Seatter
IDC Staff Instructor – Iceland/Scotland

Rags first jumped into the water in 1999 in Thailand, and hasn't looked back since. 

A stint of volunteer marine research with Global Vision International in Mexico in 2007 put Roatan on her to-dive map.  Rags then went on to complete her Divemaster and Open Water Scuba Instructor training at Coconut Tree Divers in early 2009, eventually going on to teach her first Open Water course in French.

Out of the water, Rags loves playing poker, cooking interesting food (try the deviled eggs!) and taking photos.  She also maintains the dive shop dive shop blog.  Up next: tec diving!

Ted Anger
IDC Staff Instructor – Canada

After first learning how to dive in the cold water lakes of Canada back in '94, Ted arrived in Roatan 15 years later to complete his Divemaster program.  Since then, he has received the IDC Staff Instructor rating, as well as completing the PADI Tec Deep course with Monty.  Ted has enjoyed spending the last three years photographing Roatan’s littlest species of fish and creatures whenever he has had the opportunity to take his camera down with him.

Sigita Musteikyte
Master Scuba Diver Instructor – Lithuania

Hailing from Lithuania, Sigita had been chasing the warmer weather for 7 years.  Instead of taking the direct route she spent some time exploring parts of Europe until finally taking the plunge and buying a ticket to the tropical island of Roatan.  It was here she decided to pursue her love of diving and become an Open Water Scuba Instructor with Coconut Tree Divers.  Fluent in Lithuanian, Italian, Russian, and English she opens the door to many potential new Open Water students.  Up next she is working on Spanish.  As an instructor Sigita loves to see the excited eyes of people diving for the first time and  will quite happily exchange a certification for a beer at Sundowners anytime.

Emilie Thibaudeau
Open Water Scuba Instructor – Quebec, Canada

Certified Open Water Diver in 2002, in really cold weather (-2C), but wasn't really diving until a trip in the caribbean. Leaving for vacation after a master in food science at Laval University (Quebec), she fall in love again with diving and the warm weather in Utila febuary 2012. She did there her divemaster and work as a DM until the big jump to become a scuba instructor in november at Underwater Vision (Utila). She move in Roatan in may 2013 to join the amazing crew at Coconut Tree Divers. Emilie loves to see turtles. Favorite fish : Disco Fish. 

Rolando Puerto
Divemaster – Honduras

A native Roatan islander, Rolando completed his Divemaster certification at Coconut Tree in 2005 and now leads visiting divers around his favorite dive sites.  Rolando loves driving his skiff, drinking rum, and impressing the ladies by diving headfirst into the reef.  When not in the water, he can be found managing the Coconut Tree Resort.

Steve Vincent
Coffee Manager – United States

When Steve Vincent first arrived to Roatan aboard a cruise ship, he knew he had found somewhere special.  Years later, he officially left the frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wisconsin, driving his RV thousands of miles south to the Roatan's Caribbean shores. 

Steve is responsible for making the delicious pots of hot coffee in the morning, which keeps the dive shop functioning at 8am!  In his spare time, Steve loves diving, playing with his puppy, taking people out on jungle hikes and pulling for the Green Bay Packers.

Precious
Shop Cat – Honduras

Precious, a beautiful calico Honduran feline, adopted Coconut Tree as her new home after receiving a warm saucer of milk. She has since given birth to several litters of kittens and recently became a grandmother herself when one of her offspring had a litter at the shop. Precious loves sunbathing, curling up inside a towel, and constantly getting pregnant loving her kitten litter now that she's fixed.

Malleable Kitten
Shop Cat – Honduras

Part feline, part putty, "Mally" is the living Honduran version of Gumby. The kitten of Sh!tty K!tty and grandkitten of Precious, Mally's gelatinous properties are due to the fact that all three cats share the same father. Adorable, cuddly, and insanely lazy, Mally can most likely be found collapsed on the dive shop office counter.

Chucky
Rescue Victim – Kazakhstan

Chucky washed ashore one fateful morning in 2007.  His algae-encrusted hair, sulfuric stench, and hideous face made him the perfect fit for Coconut Tree's shop mascot. 

Chucky is a notoriously poor diver who constantly gets lost on Rescue courses.  When he's not lounging around on the ocean floor with his custom-made weight belt, he lurks around the side of the dive shop awaiting his next chance to go diving (or frighten new customers).