Tropic Ocean Airways-Where Caribbean Luxury Takes Flight

Tropic Ocean Airways is a large, standardized airline that just happens to land in the water. Founded in 2009 by Rob Ceravolo, Tropic Ocean Airways is committed to providing first-class private charter and scheduled service flights throughout Florida, The Bahamas and beyond. They love what they do, and they should, just as much as you will love flying with them. In fact, once you fly to the Bahamas and the Caribbean with Tropic Ocean, which is not remotely as expensive as you might think, you’ll probably never travel to paradise another way. Clean, the highest safety rating in the industry, no lines, pre-boarded and passport stamped before you board their impeccable aircrafts.

Behind what is the genius of Tropic Ocean Airways is an entrepreneur with a dream and the audacity to say what if, and to bring that dream to life. CEO Rob Ceravolo, a University of Florida alumni, was a TOPGUN Fighter Pilot in the U.S. Navy, serving as an active duty and reserve member, becoming an air combat instructor, and earning the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Ceravolo’s leadership and vision, coupled with Nick Veltre’s (COO) expertise in seaplane operations, led to the development of an award-winning seaplane company offering unmatched professionalism, dedication to safety, and guest satisfaction. Tropic Ocean Airways is the largest amphibious airline with a fleet of 13 aircrafts, and as travel to the Caribbean has now opened back up, it's Ceravolo’s foresight, strategic maneuvering, and proactive approach that will lead to a new era, and perhaps the magical tipping point for this amazing company that was once simply a dream.

Rob Ceravolo: The Bahamas are requiring a COVID test to re-enter the country...and there was a survey done by the Bahamas Outer Island Promotions board that showed that 80% of people would be willing to take a test to travel. We’re working with partners to make it very simple and we’ve even created a testing center here on site. It’s as easy as 1-2-3. You go online, you fill out a form, you take your test, you board your flight, and go!

Elevated Magazines: The experience of travel for people is going to be that much more valuable as people have had the opportunity, forced as it was, to really reflect on aspects of their lives and thus both reevaluate and prioritize. You take something away and people realize how valuable it is and perhaps how it might have been taken for granted or not valued as much as it should have been. Just as with home and design and people being forced to realize there is so much more than can do with their homes by having been forced to have been in them for an extended period of time, same with travel in that now having not had it, people are going to have a heightened, and real, sense of demand in general and at an accelerated pace, and further when it comes to someone such as yourself, having one of the most powerful, exclusive, unique experiences on the planet, but further being in the Caribbean, I would think it’s an exciting time?!

RC: You hit it on the head. The majority of us value experience. To design life around the idea that life is an experience and it’s something to be lived essentially. This crisis has helped people reevaluate what they really value in life.

EM: Life is the experience. So how do you make each and every moment of life the experience you want it to be? That includes of course when deciding to make that trip down to the Caribbean, it’s doing it with you. People must also think initially that traveling with Tropic Ocean is an incredibly high ticket such as most private aviation travel, while with you it’s not.

RC: It’s a good point. We’re not the low-cost alternative by any means. That being said, we’re not a private jet. I equate it to a price comparison to a Delta Comfort Plus or Delta Business Class experience. It runs anywhere for a $250 ticket where you’re buying a seat to a $15,000 round trip to fly you to your mega-yacht and everything in between. It’s not a $40,000 private jet flight by any means. Especially when you think about the homeowners in the islands. The time alone that you save is a huge value. If you own a home on Kamalame Key, you board one of our flights and we pre clear you, and an hour later the plane is landing in front of your house! While you’re sitting at the seaplane base in Florida, we stamp your passport and say “Welcome to the Bahamas!” You’re sitting in a lounge in Miami and you’re already cleared into the Bahamas.

Tropic Ocean Airways - a large, standardized airline...that just happens to land in the water.