Cat Ppalu and her crew made this one of the top dive vacations we have been lucky enough to enjoy.
Grace M.
The Vessel
Perfect for small groups, families and friends, the sailing catamaran Cat Ppalu was designed to create a space you can all share and still have some privacy. Private cabins can accommodate up to 12 guests in four (4) double beds and four (4) twin beds.
- Fully air-conditioned interior with six (6) private cabins
- Two (2) electric heads (toilets) and freshwater showers for all to share, a sink and mirror in each cabin
- Dining table seating for the entire party perfect for conversations and games
- Dive stations on aft deck for easy entry and exit to the water
- Forward trampoline area great for watching the scenery along the way and starlit dance parties
- The Cat Ppalu is a schooner rigged sailing catamaran.
Our dinghy is for diving safety and transporting guests to and from the islands and cays.
Meet Our Crew
Bill
Captain
Captain Bill loves to sail. He has been on the water since a teenager and has 24 years experience as a profesional yacht captain. He has done many yacht deliveries from UK to Mediterranean and back, ran a yacht charter company and was chief instructor for a sailing school. He has been with us since 2002. Also a keen foodie, he trained as a chef and even owned his own restaurant. From Glasgow, Scotland and much as he loves sailing the West Coast there, he finds The Bahamas slightly sunnier.
Alex
Captain
From Derby, England, Alex traded rainy skies for turquoise seas and never looked back. He first cut his fins working as a dive professional across Southeast Asia before joining AquaCat as a divemaster. With saltwater in his veins and a knack for adventure, he worked his way up to the helm as captain on the legendary Blackbeard’s boats.
Alex’s career has taken him from coral reefs to some of the ocean’s biggest predators—he even spent time on Grand Bahama as a professional shark feeder (where he also met Jen, now his wife and fellow Blackbeard’s captain—proof that nothing brings people together quite like sharks 🦈).
When he’s not steering ships or leading dives, Alex loves diving into tales of pirate history—fitting for a man who spends his life sailing the seas. Add in a love of travel, a talent for storytelling, and a life built around the ocean, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a captain who’s always up for the next adventure.
Jen
Captain & First Mate
Jen is originally from Germany and started of as a Carpenter for private Yachts. She fell in love with diving and has been traveling full time for 11 years. She has been with the company since 2019, starting off on Aqua Cat as Dive Instructor. After 2 years, she gave engineering a try on the mighty Cat Ppalu. Learning all the new things about Watermakers and Engines she figured she should go ahead and do her Captains license as well. After running the Mates role for a short time she got the opportunity to take over Sea Explorer as a full time Captain in 2023. Since then she has been running her and teaching the new crew Members how to find their way around the boat. 2024 she explored the wild white boat Yachting Industry as a second Engineer. But she realized that she misses the true Pirates life and joined us again in 2025 to train the new uprising Captains in the Company.
Chris
Chef & Engineer
I grew up in Plettenberg Bay South Africa. As a kid I loved going to the beach with friends and playing soccer in the sand. The first sea creature I ever saw I jokingly called an Elephant Shark. I later came to find out that there actually was an elephant fish. I took a cooking class that was offered in high school and my life was forever changed. I fell in love with cooking and the joy that it spreads. After high school I went into hotel management and started cooking full time and have not looked back since. It gives me great joy to see the happiness that a good meal can bring someone!
Mel
Chef
Half-French, half-Peruvian, Mel first drew breath in the grand port of Paris before being whisked off to the sun-soaked shores of Lima. A Virgo navigator with two feline deckmates, a taste for sport, and a divemaster’s badge earned in the warm southern seas of Spain, she’s most often found in her galley cooking up feasts fit for any crew. And when she’s not tending the pots, she’s beneath the waves, chasing the rush of battle-ready workouts or hunting down a bottle of wine fine enough to make even the saltiest buccaneer weep with joy.
Chris
Dive Instructor
Originally from the not so sunny UK and miles from the nearest Ocean Chris found his love for diving following on from a stint in the military. Diving has seen him be lucky enough to visit all corners of the earth from the Caribbean, South East Asia, South Pacific and beyond all whilst working his way up to the dizzy heights of PADI Master Instructor. When he is not diving, he can be found somewhere talking about diving or thinking about his dream diving destinations. On his travels around the world, he picked up the very unique skill of being able to levitate an orange with a scuba tank. Be sure to ask him to show you this very cool scuba party trick!
Kristen
Dive Instructor & Engineer
Kristen grew up as a competitive swimmer in the landlocked state of Colorado. She moved to Oregon to pursue a degree in education and quickly fell in love with diving, even in the cold, low vis waters of the PNW eventually becoming an instructor. After being a guest on Blackbeard’s several times, her dreams of joining the pirate crew have become a reality a she joins as an instructor. Kristen’s favorite sea creature is the octopus because of their intelligence. Her favorite dive spots include the Puget Sound, the Red Sea and the Bahamas. She speaks Spanish fluently and while in college picked up the unusual hobby of fire spinning.
We Are Now Hiring
We are always looking for adventurous
individuals to join the team.
Life on board is hard work but very rewarding-
send in your application today!
Dive instructors, chefs,
and engineer positions available.