¡Bienvenidos a Nómada Caribeña!
Location: West End, Tortola
We’ve spent the past few days cleaning, fooding, and preparing the boats for session 2, and we can’t wait for our shipmates to arrive so we can get started! Nómada Caribeña is going to be our home base, where we learn to dive and sail, enjoy our meals, get to know one another, and find that AQ magic. Before we get the ball rolling, allow us to introduce ourselves: Jessica Stich is skipper and dive instructor, Garrison is the dive director and instructor, and Anya is our mate! Below, you can find more information about each of us.
Stich was born and raised in Sarasota, FL, and left to attend The Ohio State University. After graduating with a degree in Hospitality Management, she realized she missed the warmth and moved back to Florida to become a dive instructor on yachts. Stich continued to advance in her yachting career by getting her Yachtmaster and looks forward to sharing her passion for the ocean with the students this summer!
Garrison is a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor returning for his third summer to Action Quest as a Dive Director! He loves to show students the underwater world and doesn’t fail to point out some of his favorite marine animals. Garrison joined the GXG team in 2019 as a shipmate on S/Y Argo with the Seamester program. Realizing his love for the ocean, he pursued his dive instructor certification on Utila Island for six months. While on the island, Garrison became more familiar with Caribbean fishes and coral. Now, he goes to school at Vanderbilt, where he is a board member of the sailing team. His most significant flex at school is that he gets to spend his summers at AQ!
Anya was born and raised in Marin County, California, where she first developed her love for the ocean through surfing, fishing, and freediving along the northern coast. She migrated 6 hours south to attend school in Santa Barbara, where she is completing her undergraduate degree in developmental biology. Her interest in human health led to her getting her EMT certification last year. She hopes to pursue a career in emergency medicine (firefighting, teaching high school English, or being an Elvis impersonator). In her free time, Anya often lies in the nearest body of water, practices yoga, plots her next snack, or watches Legally Blonde/Legally Blonde-adjacent movies. This will be her first season with ActionQuest, and she is beyond excited for the fantastic experiences her students and crew are sure to have this summer!