As I found out during a recent interview, Tropic Ocean Airways founder and CEO Rob Ceravolo is not a stereotypical seaplane pilot. And Tropic Ocean Airways is way more than a stereotypical seaplane operation.
“I had two dreams when I was a kid,” he says when I asked him what inspired him to buy his first seaplane with the goal of building an “amphibious” airline. “One of them was to become a fighter pilot.” He flew F-14s and the F-18s in the Navy and graduated Top Gun.
“The other was to start an aviation company when I retired.
“So, when I got out of the Navy in 2009, I was riding motorcycles through southern Italy with a buddy. Then I started reading Screw It, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson.” The rest, as they say, is history. As soon as he returned to the States, he said “screw it, let’s do it,” and sold everything he had to buy his first seaplane.
Why seaplanes? I ask.
“I grew up around the water,” he says. “I’m a water guy. I love boats, fishing, sailing, free diving. I obviously love to fly. But the idea of landing on an aircraft carrier is even better. That’s why I joined the Navy, not the Air Force. Seaplane flying is the same thing. It combines two of my passions—aviation and the ocean. The other thing about seaplanes is… they create the ultimate freedom.
“Imagine you’re flying around with your buddy and you’re like, ‘You know what? I want to go to land over there and go snorkeling. Or, drop me off, I’m going to go kite boarding in this remote location.’ Or bonefishing. We can arrange for a boat and a guide to meet you when you land that will take you to the most beautiful bonefishing locations in the world. It’s like heli-skiing, if you will, but on a seaplane.”
Yacht owners and captains are also catching on to the ease and freedom Tropic Ocean Air seaplanes make possible. Ceravolo’s seaplanes have delivered owners to superyachts anchored off remote islands in the Bahamas. And yacht captains love Ceravolo’s airline that prides itself on its ability to deliver the most outrageous special requests to yachts in the most far-flung locations.
And while Tropic Ocean Airways may sound like it’s comes right out of a Jimmy Buffet-esque seaplane in paradise song, Ceravolo’s upbringing and Navy background is much more professional, disciplined and safe than the more stereotypical “cowboy-type” seaplane service.
“The Navy does such a great job of developing pilots,” he says. “So, at 400 hours, you’re landing on an aircraft carrier, at night, after a mission over Iraq… because of the training. So, we applied that concept so we could make a real seaplane airline. Over the course of several years, we developed training programs. We developed the two pilot crew concept. We standardized the operation. We created a debrief loop where we talk to our guests. We talk to our clients. We talk to our pilots. We talk to our maintenance guys, customer service. Every day, we sit down and we say, ‘Okay, what can we do better?’ That’s what the Navy did. The Navy debriefed every day. Over the last 10 years we’ve created this amazing airline. Last year, we flew 35,000 people in five different countries with five star reviews. Name an airline that gets five star reviews! We don’t always get it right, but we always learn from our issues and get better.”
Ceravolo brings a refreshing attitude to giving back to the community from his upbringing and military service too. “I think that the military has a misconception. All of the veteran-started companies I know give back because service people are taught to volunteer in the community. It’s what you do because you are part of the community.
“What happens after a natural disaster? There’s a Navy ship. Within 24 hours, a navy ship pulls up doing relief efforts and all this other stuff. And it’s just kind of ingrained in that culture of service. So we said we’re going to do this by company because I feel very privileged to operate in where we do. I feel very fortunate that the company is growing and succeeding, so we give back because we can, and it’s the right thing to do.”
It’s obvious Ceravolo is as proud of his contribution to the community as he is of the success he is having in the Bahamas and beyond. Tropic Ocean Airline’s dock-to-dock seaplane service from Miami’s historic Seaplane base on Government Cut to Baker’s Bay (Discovery Land Company’s ultra-exclusive residential resort community in the Bahamas) is the most luxurious way to get there. And with regularly scheduled flights from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to Bimini, Great Harbour Cay and Fresh Creek in the Bahamas, and numerous private charter destinations all over in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, Ceravolo’s dream of creating an “amphibious airline” has become a reality.
