TREKking Along, On Both Sides of the Road

Sea TREK is enjoyed all over the world, including some truly beautiful islands. Recently, we sent Director of Water Operations and Safety, Carl Hanson, off on a whirlwind tour of three separate, sunny locales: St. Thomas, Grand Cayman, and St. Maarten. Pure torture for poor Carl!

While Carl certainly gets the opportunity to spend time in some unique locations, he is also working hard to ensure that Sea TREK operators have everything they need. From training staff to ensuring safety standards, we can always count on him to keep our operators happy, and in turn, keep our guests happy! Here’s what Carl had to say about the islands and his whirlwind “tour”.

How long did you spend on the islands?

I spent two days at each of the three locations.

Sea TREK Staff, Grand Cayman

What kind of work did you do while visiting each island?

My first stop was Grand Cayman, doing a typical site inspection, which includes checking on staff and answering any questions they may have, ensuring safety standards are adhered to, and reviewing updates in training. I also scoped out a potential site for a new Sea TREK operation!

St. Maarten was my second stop. I did a similar site inspection, but it was a bit different, since they are still recovering from the recent hurricanes and had to rebuild much of their operation.

Last was St. Thomas- it was nice to be back in the U.S.A! St. Thomas has not been operational since Hurricane Irma, and they incurred some staffing issues, as residents vacated the island. I spent time training brand new staff, and refreshing returning staff, to ensure the crew was ready to get back up and running. As of June 1st, Sea TREK will be fully operational.


How did you travel from one island to the next? 

Although the islands are not that far apart, flying from one island to the next is not always an option. Airlines don’t always travel from one to the next, and what should have been about two hours of travel ended up taking a full day. I began my journey flying out of Miami and arriving in Grand Cayman. I had to fly back to Miami to go to St. Maarten, even though those islands are pretty close together! To get to St. Thomas, I flew to Puerto Rico, then to the island.

Island of St. Thomas

What are some of the differences between these islands?

All of the islands were beautiful, but I found driving a bit disconcerting! In Grand Cayman, driving is on the opposite side of the road, compared to how we drive in the U.S. Much like in the U.K, the steering wheel is on the right. In St. Thomas, which is a U.S. territory, the steering wheel is on the left, but driving is on the opposite side of the road as what we’re accustomed to. In St. Maarten, a Dutch territory, they drive like in the U.S! This was pretty disorienting!


What animal did you encounter at each location?

In St. Thomas, we saw tarantulas; in Grand Cayman, blue and green iguanas (the blue are island natives while the green are invasive); in St. Maarten, we observed mongooses, which I have never had the opportunity to see before.

In the water, barracudas, tarpon, rainbow parrotfish, and yellowtail snapper are common sightings at all locations.

St. Maarten

How are the islands doing with recovery from last year’s hurricanes?

In St. Maarten, hotels are beginning to come back. Up until just recently, only cruise ship passengers were getting in, as hotels were not available. The people of St. Maarten are unable to go to see a movie (no theater yet), but restaurants are mostly back in operation. In regard to Sea TREK,  the walkway, platform and decking have been rebuilt, with the help of other dive operations. Everyone really pulled together to rebuild.

St. Thomas has the advantage of being a U.S. territory, so FEMA has been involved, and their building is proceeding faster. There are still a lot of blue tarps, but things are progressing. Much like St. Maarten, communities banded together to rebuild. Restaurants are open, but some have relocated.


You certainly worked hard while visiting the islands! What did you do when you had down time?

In Grand Cayman, I went diving with the Sea TREK team and we visited the Wreck of Cali, which was an interesting yet easy dive. I saw the largest rainbow parrotfish I’ve ever observed while diving!

In St. Maarten, Sea TREK St. Maarten owner, Bobby Keough, and I went zip lining on the world’s steepest zip line called The Flying Dutchman. We also did the canopy zip line, which offers a 360-degree view of the island. It was a crystal clear day, and the views were spectacular.

In St. Thomas, we got to see one of Blackbeard’s castles, and took in stunning views. It was so clear that we could see some of the distant islands.

Where's Carl? Sea TREK St. Maarten

Did you have any surprises while island hopping?

Besides the crazy driving?! Each location is so unique, yet they all have hard-working people who are intent on being successful. They are visionaries. On St. Maarten particularly, I felt like I was family. Everywhere I went, I was welcomed, and never felt like a visitor.


Where are you headed next?
It’s going to be a surprise…for all of us!