Letter from Tammy

Hi, I am Tammy. I moved to the Virgin Islands with Frank in 1988 to open up a Snuba operation. At that time, we anticipated staying for only two to three years and over 20 years later we are still here!

We started our Snuba operation on the south side of St. John while trying to obtain special use permits to operate in the United States, Virgin Islands National Park. In 1991 we obtained these permits and started operating Snuba out of Trunk Bay, one of the world's top 10 most beautiful beaches. Operating out of one of the most popular beaches on St. John has its ups and downs. There are many locals who say Trunk Bay is much too crowded that they would not go there but being a “local” that works at Trunk Bay, I know that the beach is usually only crowded (not really crowded compared to stateside beaches) for the short times that the tours are there and it is one of the largest and most beautiful beaches on the island. Usually only the locals that work on this beach know this secret, so don’t tell the others!

In 1998, we celebrated the birth of our daughter, Kaitlyn, and the opening of our St. Thomas Snuba operation at Coki Beach. Our dives on St. Thomas take place at Coki Beach, a very popular beach on St. Thomas. This beach is considered the top snorkeling spot on St. Thomas, due to the abundant schools of Tang, Snapper, Angel Fish, Parrot Fish, and Sergeant Majors.

Our daughter, Kaitlyn, is now nine years old and could give you the whole Snuba orientation herself. Kaitlyn is now being homeschooled so she is often on location to help out. She often fits the people with their fins and masks and then entertains them.

Teaching Snuba has left me with a valuable life experience. I have become overall a more patient person while teaching (notice I said while teaching!). I enjoy seeing people that are totally scared succeed and experience a wonderful time. Taking people out on their first undersea adventure while breathing underwater, seeing them experience the beauty of the underwater world and seeing the joy on their faces as they come out of the water makes my job exciting and fun! I always recommend to those that are certified divers and who are concerned that Snuba will be a lackluster adventure (due to their dive expertise), experiencing their spouse's, friend's or family member's first dive experience is an amazing reward in and of itself.

We hope you enjoy your visit to our islands and will try Snuba while you are here.

Sincerely,
Tammy