About
Blue Canyon Charters is a Fishing and Scuba company based out of St Croix, USVI. We run a 26 foot Glacier Bay Power Catamaran repowered in 2020 with new Mercury V6 200 horsepower motors. Blue Canyon Charters offers specialty trips such as spearfishing and lobster hunting. One of our favorite and most popular specialty trips are the fish/scuba and fish/freedive combo trips all in the same day. Blue Canyon Charters also offers custom single and multi day island hopping trips that no other outfitters offer with destinations including St Thomas, St John, Water Island, Vieques, Culebra, BVI, St Martin and eastern Puerto Rico. We specialize in small private groups of up to 6 passengers which enables us to give the absolute best customer experience on each of our trips.
The owner, Captain Shane, was born and raised in New Orleans. Growing up in Louisiana, Shane was active on the water from an early age. He is an avid duck hunter, and ran a commercial alligator harvest, guided gator hunts, and commercial crawfishing trips. He has held commercial licenses for alligator, crawfish, fresh and saltwater finfish, along with commercial spear and trap licenses. In his first offshore fishing experience he worked in Venice, La as a deckhand with Captain Brett Ryan of Venice Offshore Sportfishing Charters on his beautiful Freeman Boatworks catamaran. Venice, also known as Tuna Town, is known worldwide for its fantastic fishery and quick access to the shelf of the Gulf of Mexico with oil rigs everywhere. As a deckhand, Shane learned the techniques and methods to safely run successful trips for big game fish season after season. In 2018 Captain Shane took a huge leap and decided to move to the US Virgin islands with his boat to start a charter business. He quickly learned the fishery and has become one of the top charters in St Croix with plans to stay grow his business in St Croix for years to come.
"In my twenties I really fell in love with offshore fishing and diving. The first time I ever got in the water at an oil rig I immediately knew it would change me forever. The amount of life I witnessed, and the exposure to a part of the world that I had never seen had a sudden and significant impact on me. That put into motion the path that I would ultimately choose as my career, and I haven't regretted a second of it since."
While working in Venice, Shane was exposed to a side of the world he had never seen previously in the swamp and marsh. On his first few fishing trips as a greenhorn he was able to meet and watch expert divers and spearfisherman do what they do best, kill trophy fish. This set into motion his quest to become the best diver and fisherman possible. The quest was to really learn the fish. On his return to New Orleans for the off-season he enrolled in scuba courses in Maui, Hawaii and that set into motion his path to becoming a Divemaster and PADI Pro.
"Once I was certified to rescue diver level, I felt like it was game on. I had the confidence and competence to do what some people see as utterly crazy, spear the gulf oil rigs on scuba, and freedive for huge yellowfin tuna behind the shrimp boats. I hopped on every trip I possibly could and that's how I really got to know some of the best divers and spearos on the planet. I took the opportunity to learn from those guys and dive with them as much as possible."
After years of diving and spearing Captain Shane was humbled by an offer to join the famed and exclusive Hell Divers Spearfishing Club founded in 1963. As a Hell Diver Shane has evolved into an expert diver with a passion to introduce and teach others the sport. He has fully embraced the Hell Diver mission statement "to build knowledge about diving by using it for sports and scientific exploration to determine safe depth limits for divers and to help preserve sea life habitats, and to increase interest in the sport through education programs."
Since moving to St Croix with his lovely lady in 2018, Shane has spent as much time as possible on and in the water, constantly exploring new places to take his customers fishing and diving. He is constantly perfecting his craft of fishing, diving, and spearing, while staying open to learn new techniques. He is continuously looking for opportunities to get out in nature and seize the moment. There is never a dull day with Captain Shane and his crew as they are continually seeking adventure.
