Flyaway Charters offers a history snorkeling tour of STJ.
Our interview with Leah & Colin of Flyaway Charters on St John!
Can you tell me a bit about it?
I’d love to! The tour, called St. John: UNCOVERED, is a fun and exciting adventure to start to learn some of St. John’s diverse and incredibly interesting history. We leave out of Coral Bay as we circumnavigate the island, Captain Colin takes you to various historic locations and brings history to life with his passionate explanations of what occurred there. We show historic locations located on land and locations in the sea. From accounts of power struggles, an incredible slave rebellion, corruption, hurricanes, droughts, pirates, Tainos, shipwrecks, privateers, Emancipation, occupations, St. John’s position in comparison to the other islands, a varied economy, and so much more, there is an abundance of history on our small island… We can barely scratch the surface on our tour, but we definitely can get you interested and point you in great directions to learn more!
I also think it is important to discuss the integrity of the information shared on the tour. Colin and I have done and continue to do massive amounts of research to make sure that what we are telling you is accurate information. Everything shared with our guests is not folklore or hearsay, but instead sourced, preferably more than once. Some of our information is information which will never be published but it is authentic information we are authorized to share. We have no interest in perpetuating folklore or misinformation, as the accurate information is incredible on its own.
Also, this tour is the same price as our standard custom USVI full day. There is no premium for the St. John: UNCOVERED tour. Just let us know if you wanna fall deeper in love with the island you love and learn more about her.
What inspired Flyaway to create this unique tour?
Captain Colin has always been in love with history, it is just his way. I (Leah, Colin’s wife) have always had the same historical passion, and when I met Colin, our shared love of the sea and history bonded us instantly. From the beginning of our relationship, we have always read anything we could about St. John history. Fast forward from many years ago to now, and our hobby turned into a passion and we want to bring this to others. We also feel like there is a missing dialogue in the tourism industry and that is a history. It needs to be made a bigger priority. There are people who visit and live here who want to know more, and we are excited to be a part of that answer. Make no mistake – this is not something we just threw together. We have been reading about St. John history and learning all we can for somewhere around 5 years. We got the notion to turn it into a specific charter sometime in 2016 before we took over FlyAway, but then Irma kinda changed priorities for awhile. We refocused our efforts on it last summer.
What do you hope guests take away from the Tour?
We hope that our guests gain a deeper perspective of St. John and want to learn more. We hope they will gain a whole new appreciation for all those who have fought to make lives here, those who have been here, sailed through here and how the island has been shaped. Because we have as we have researched, and read countless books. We have developed a hunger to know more. We would love to share that yearning and passion for knowledge about St. John’s history. The stories of the past, the echoes of lives gone.
Is the tour geared towards couples, families, groups?
The tour is geared toward anyone who wants to go! We can also do a half day version.
How far in advance should people book the Tour?
I advise always booking in advance for any charter but especially this one. We have two captains and others we can call on, but Captain Colin is the only Cap qualified to do the historical tour. Our other captains do know some history, but not Uncovered level history.
What happens if weather is bad?
We are always watching the weather, we joke that the weather is our boss, but we will always try to move a charter to a better weather day if the seas are too rough. No one wants to go out on a boat to get roughed up right? We always do our best to get our guests out. But our first priority is our guests’ safety, so if we can’t take you out safely, and can’t move to a better weather day, we will cancel the tour and hope for better luck next time.
Interested in Booking a St John History Charter?
You can get more information and connect with Leah and Colin via their web site or tel.
On the Web: https://flyawaychartersvi.com/
Tel: 340-514-9627 or 340-514-7403
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