Captain Red is the best of the best -- knows his stuff and obviously very committed to customer safety and experience.
James Palkovic
The Vessels
Blackbeard’s cruises are delivered on one of our two 65′ diving liveaboard sailboats, the Sea Explorer and the Morning Star.
- Exceptional oceanfront and island views
- Dining – picnic-style outdoors in the horseshoe or inside near the kitchen (galley)
- Bunks – beds come in doubles and singles as uppers or lowers
- Bathrooms (heads) – small and shared with your mates
- Showers – hot water and long showers are a luxury – enjoy them before you arrive
- Kitchen (galley) – yes, a compact space where all your meals are prepped. We’re serious.
Don’t pack tons of clothes. We’d rather have room to store all the food we’ll eat each trip.
Our dinghies are our transportation to and from islands.
Meet Our Crew
Drew
Captain & Assistant Crew Chief
Drew has a long history with Blackbeard’s! going to his college days at Ole Miss where he was the scuba club sponsor and brought new students out each year for spring break. We finally lured him to the life at sea and he joined us as an instructor working his way up to captain. He hails from Itta Benna, MS and now lives in Miami Beach when not on the boats.
Ian
Captain, First Mate, Engineer
Ian “Hoppy” comes from a small town in sunny South Africa. He is a PADI dive instructor as well as a PADI Freedive instructor. He has been working as an instructor for the past 5 years along the South African coastline. Ian is passionate about the ocean. Ian loves playing soccer and is an avid cricket and rugby fan. Something no-one knows about Ian, he loves all animals except for squirrels.
Iain
Captain, Dive Instructor, Engineer
AKA Podgey, this criminal psychologist major decided to pursue diving as a profession back in 2008 but has been diving since he turned 14. He enjoys watching real football and also playing it. He likes to go out, take long walks on quiet beaches and has no intention of telling us a secret about himself so we’ll be creative and make one up — Podgey likes to take bubble baths with rose scented soap!
Chris
Captain
Hailing from San Diego, Chris is a professional Uno player and believes you can stack multiple pickup cards on top of each other. A recently certified diver, working towards his rescue course, he now enjoys the recreational activity of practicing rescue breathing on damsels in distress. His favorite color is pink, he owns the most magnificent flamingo shirt. He traded in his bar tending skills and cold water fishing expeditions for the sunny teal blue skies of the Bahamas. Tinkering is his strong suit, therefore as one of our engineers, he plays with all sorts of tools.
His hobbies included crafting animal figurines out of used o-rings, and racing Japanese imported hamsters.
Charlie
Dive Instructor
James joins us from Bournemouth, UK where he attended school and learned to play the saxophone. He’s been lucky enough to travel to 32 countries so far. He learned to dive in Thailand and has most recently been in Mexico as a shark wrangler before joining our team.
Laura
Cook
Laura was born in New Jersey, but found that seasons just weren’t for her. So, after too many cold winters up north, she decided that she wanted to find an adventure in the sun. When she’s not out and about, she enjoys video games, watching hockey, attempting to learn French and ASL, and of course cooking. Her favorite food is any and all seafood. She’s really excited to one day meet an octopus.
Morgan
Engineer
Morgan, or Biggins as his friends know him, comes to us from Orlando, Florida. When he was just eight years old, he took a trip to Boston with his family and ended up meeting his father’s scuba instructor, Steve. Morgan was fascinated by the underwater photos that were on Scuba Steve’s walls and told himself that he too, would one day get scuba certified. He got his scuba certification in 2010 and has loved being on the water ever since. All thanks to Scuba Steve! Morgan took to the water for 4 years with The Navy as an Aviation Electrician and when he got out he went to the Marine Mechanical Institute in Orlando for a year. In his spare time he loves metal working and aquariums. When you see him, please make sure he has put on sunscreen!
Josh
Engineer
Originall from Lakewood Colorado, Josh went to high school there, and most of his family still lives there. He grew up hunting and fishing with his dad and grandfather. As he grew older, he developed a passion for the ocean. He decided to sell everything he owned to buy a sailboat and sail around the world. Then COVID-19 came and changed the sailing around the world plans. Josh has sailed The Bahamas and a few other places so far! When not working, he loves to spend time with his girlfriend and her 2 boys.
Matt
Engineer
Matt is from Virginia Beach. his early life growing up around the water made him realize that he was always going to be on the water. Upon college graduation, he entered the maritime industry and has never looked back! His favorite underwater animal is the Reef Squid! He loves how they sit back and study your every move as you are approaching them. When he’s not on a boat or scuba diving you can find him reading a good book!
Sarah
Dive Instructor
Sarah comes to us from Ontario, Canada. While working at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto, she got her Open Water certification and never looked back knowing life on the water was where she was meant to be. After an unusual journey to become a PADI Dive Instructor, Sarah has worked in Cozumel and Italy, and diving everywhere in between, with The Bahamas having a special place in her heart. When she’s not diving you can find her doing yoga, reading every book in sight or pursuing her other passion as a professional hammock sleeper. She is known to be the human form of a pineapple and her favourite animal is the Great Canadian House Hippo.
Sarah
Chef
Sarah’s from the sunny beach town of Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. Starting from a young age when she was able to look over the kitchen counter top, food overtook her imagination and most of her free time. If she’s not busy you’ll find Sarah baking something delicious, running around barefoot on an adventure, or asking a billion questions about everything to anyone who’s listening. Hobbies include baking, reading, hiking, swimming and photography. You would never guess that she’s secretly a qualified ninja, and her favorite animal is a penguin!
Stephen
Dive Instructor
Stephen was born in Michigan, the land of 10,000 lakes. He started diving in the Great Lakes and local quarries & fell deeply in love with diving while visiting his parents in Fiji in 2018. Stephen came home, quickly sold everything he owned and quit the corporate lifestyle to make the ocean his office. He believes his passion for the water came from his parents raising him on a houseboat, literally spending every waking moment on or in the water! He is a big fan of anything water sports, fishing being his #1.
Santiago
Dive Instructor
I was Born in Colombia but grew up state side, in Loveland Colorado. There I attended Colorado state university and lived surrounded by ski bums and mountain sports. It was way too cold for me. After graduating, I moved to China to teach English. However, I quickly found I was using all my holidays to go diving. Naturally a career change followed! I enjoy any outdoor activity, group card games, and practicing Mandarin!
Chris
Chef
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!
Jake
Chef
Jake is from Evanston, IL and enjoys cooking, gardening, biking, snowboarding, making and listening to music. He loves exploring new places nd meeting new people! His favorite sea creature is the cuttlefish. He speaks English and knows a bit of Spanish too.
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.
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