VIVE L'AMOUR

CAPTAIN Tyler van Roden & CHEF Valentina Kochian

Captain Tyler van Roden grew up hunting in the woods of Pennsylvania and fishing along the New Jersey coastline. Later he attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the Semester at Sea program. Since 2013 he has run charter sailing yachts in French Polynesia, Western Mediterranean, North Eastern Caribbean and southern Sea of Cortez. His charters include activities such as, freediving, kiteboarding, spearfishing, scuba diving, fishing, surfing, shark dives, swimming with whales and dolphin encounters. Captain Tyler will often catch fresh seafood for his guests. After safety, his main priority is to understand his guests desires to provide the best tailored experience on the water possible.

Chef Valentina Kochian grew up diving in the Caribbean sea along the Mayan Riviera. She graduated with a degree in Marine Biology in Southern Baja California and now finds herself most days on a boat in search of big marine life encounters while providing tasty, healthy meals to keep her guests happy, full and energized for the next encounter. Valentina has crewed as chef in the Mediterranean, Sea of Cortez and French Polynesia, and loves adding the local fresh ingredients wherever she finds herself to make delicious plates. Valentina is also an AIDA freediving Instructor, so her time is spent between the galley and the dive line.

Valentina and Tyler met in the Bahamas in 2016 where they formed a bond that has led them to many water adventures. Now they are back in the Bahamas to continue those adventures in one of their favorite places on earth. They will be offering shark diving, dolphin encounters, spearfishing and kiteboarding charters throughout the hundreds of islands that are the beautiful Bahamas.