Big Blue Excursions, St. John

We recently had the chance to meet Sharp & Margaret Kemp of Big Blue Excursions during our recent trip to St John and just love their story. Here’s the abbreviated version.

Sharp grew up on the coast of North Carolina on and around boats. As he grew, he developed an insatiable desire to be on the ocean and to travel. He began working and hopping around the Caribbean and Central America searching for perfect waves to surf and places to go fishing any chance he got. Once, while surfing in Costa Rica, he met a girl named Margie who had a passion for sailing, surfing, and traveling as well. She was living in the Virgin Islands.

Margie is a 100 ton master captain. Like Sharp, she grew up on and around sailboats and with her family, experienced incredible sailing adventures around the world. The longest leg was the four thousand mile intense journey across the Bearing Sea from Russia to Alaska. She also sailed across the English Channel in a tiny little boat with some old salty dogs at age 19. She said it was some of the gnarliest sea conditions she’s ever seen. At 26, when Sharp and Margie were married, she had been working as a sailboat captain for years in the islands.

They moved aboard their 46’ Pan Oceanic cutter to live, laugh, surf and sail their way around countless islands in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. In 2016 they sailed more than 13,000 nautical miles from their home on St. John through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific Ocean to Australia. They really enjoy creating new memories and meeting new people.

Upon their return to St John, they purchased a boat excursion company named Big Blue Excursions – a mere 2 months before not just one, but two Cat 5 hurricanes hit the Virgin Islands…

Even though they lost two of their boats in the storm, this couple exudes an infectious positivity, pleasantness and zest for life, possibly, in part, derived from the amazing things they’ve seen and experienced. Although rightfully a bit frustrated with the wait time for insurance reimbursement, Sharp and Margie look forward to re-building and expanding their brand and company on St. John and with the unique experiences they offer, I know they will. Even thought the tourism traffic in the VI is not yet back to where it was before the hurricanes, they are experiencing strong bookings and great reviews.

Your day, your way, your pace is Big Blue Excursions motto. We had the pleasure of spending a day on the water with them on their boat “Gypsea Girl”, during our recent stay in St. John. When asked what we most wanted to see and do, we said “everything”! We ended up requesting some time in Jost Van Dyke to check on the progress since the hurricanes and then asked Sharp – our captain for the day, to choose the remainder of the days itinerary.

We met Sharp at 9am on the St. John National Park Dock for our full day excursion. Margie was there to welcome us too, but was unable to join us for the day. After an introduction and safety tips, we were off to explore.

Honeymoon Beach, St. John

We headed out, passing the scenic St. John north coast as Sharp passed on interesting information on the different beaches and landmarks as we cruised by.

The rest of the day was spent exploring and enjoying beach and beach bar time on White Bay and Great Harbour Jost Van Dyke,

Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke
White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Gypsea Girl in White Bay

checking out beautiful Sandy Spit (even without any foliage!),

Waiting for lunch at Pizza Pi, Christmas Cove, USVI

and enjoying a delicious Blumin’ Onion pizza at Pizza Pi in Christmas Cove, St. Thomas (delicious pizza made on and picked up from a boat!). To top off the day, we spent some time snorkeling on the south side of St. John in Rendezvous Bay before heading back, sun kissed and full of the day’s adventures. Captain Sharp packed a lot into our day just as we had requested, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

If you’re heading to St. John or St. Thomas soon (Big Blue Excursions can arrange pick-ups in St. Thomas too), be sure to give Sharp and Margie a call. They offer full and half day excursions for your group of up to 11 people and will tailor a VI adventure just for you. Although all of the Big Blue Captains can take you to not only the well-known spots, they would absolutely love to show you the hidden VI gems that not everyone gets to see and experience. Want to snorkel all day? No problem. Island hop and catch a lobster? Check. Lounge on beautiful beaches and visit the local beach bars? Yep. Your day, your way, your pace!

Contact Big Blue Excursions to set up your perfect Virgin Islands excursion!

By phone: (340)201-3045
Email: [email protected]
Online (includes a 10% discount!) Click the Book Now button on the lower right of page: BIG BLUE USVI