Viramar - Crewed Catamaran Yacht Charter

Name: Mark
Yacht: VIRAMAR with Tyler and Erika Bouruff
Charter Dates: 03/22/2021 to 03/29/2021
Area Cruised: St. Thomas - USVI
Overall Rating: 5/5

1. Was the crew friendly and accommodating?
Tyler and Erika made us feel at home on Viramar. We felt very comfortable with them from the moment we stepped on the boat. They treated us like kings and queens. We laughed a lot. They brought us to fun places like Wind Mill bar, because they knew we liked live music. They are hardworking and knowledgeable. They encouraged us to try new things.

2. Was the yacht comfortable and clean?
Viramar was our home away from home. Everything had a place, very organized and clean. We loved the unplugged box for the phones!

3. Was the yacht well ventilated?
Our bedrooms were the perfect temperature at bedtime. The AC felt great after a day in the sun!

4. Was the food good and well presented?
The food was a 10. The presentation was beautiful and the taste was out of this world. Erika shared some of her tricks of the trade. She always had a fun and yummy drink of the day as well.

5. Did you like the area you sailed?
We loved sailing the USVI. Absolutely beautiful. Tyler and Erika were extremely knowledgeable about the area and brought us to amazing spots for snorkeling, scuba, water sports, food/drink and evening retreats!

6. Additional comments on your charter?
Tyler and Erika paid close attention to the details. They made sure that we were comfortable and happy aboard Viramar. Truly, one of the most enjoyable vacations for our family. No stress. All you need are swimsuits, coverups, and a great attitude and you are guaranteed to enjoy your time on Viramar! Our time on Viramar was a 10! It was an incredible family vacation with the perfect mix of adventure, fun and relaxation.

Best boat trip ever. Had a great time!
-Kyler T., age 8

Thank you so much for the Adventures!
-Trice Family

Had a blast scuba diving and on all of the fun activities. Thanks for the awesome week!!
-Adam T.

I enjoyed going to the Baths, beaches, and snorkeling. Thanks so much!
-Kellan T., age 12

Thank you so much, Tyler and Erika! Great memories, dives, food and friendships! Such an awesome week!! :)
-Maddy T.

Thanks so much for an amazing vacation Tyler and Erika - you made it special - your kindness, humor, and attention to details - every meal, every conversation - enjoyed it all. Still in awe of the shark rescue!! You guys are amazing - 14 dives in 6 days! Cliff jumping with backflip! Star gazing! Nertz! Bananagrams! Shark rescue! Night dives! Night sailing! Shotgunning! Running! Lobster hunting! Night swims! and sometimes relaxing :)
-Astrid T.

Thank you for opening your life and boat to us on a trip we will cherish forever. There are some people in our lives that touch our hearts, T and Erika have that special place in our lives and hearts.
-Jason and Kimberly

A HUGE thank you! The BEST truly. See you soon.
-Tommy and Lee

ERIKA! and Tyler are the best. Thank you for being so warm, honest and engaging!
-Malin and Allison L.

Tyler and Erika, thank you both so much for an incredible week. The sights, experience, weather, etc was all amazing but you two are what makes trips like this so fun. I will always remember this trip of a lifetime. I hope we see each other again. Thank you <3
-Sam C.

What a wonderful week filled with food, painkillers, and great company.
-Mel and Ron

WOW! Such an incredible week. Tyler and Erika ROCK. From the food to the company and everything in between we had the best week ever. Thanks for getting my husband scuba certified. He´s in heaven. PS. Best Painkillers and brownies! We miss you already XOXO
-Michelle M.

Couldn´t be more relaxed and happy after a week with Tyler and Erika! Best tequila shots, best food, best diving - but most of all - best people. Keep up the great work! :)
-Jamie and Gus A.

Another wonderful week with Tyler and Erika! Fun and safe diving and sailing! Looking forward to next year!
-Jason and Anne B

You both helped create one of our favorite vacations of all time. We couldn´t have dreamed up a better week in the BVI.Thanks for the perfect dose relaxation, activities, and partying. Cheers! (with tequila of course)
-Bancroft and Sabrina H.

Thank you for the treasured gifts you generously give. I am better for having spent five days with the two of you!
-Mary Lynne S.

Thank you! We were looking forward to the week, but it so exceeded our expectations. Somehow managed to be both busy and relaxing. Loved the food, the diving, the games, the hospitality! You are fabulous people and a great couple.
-David T.

Love you guys! This has been the best vaca!!
-Janel N.

Viramar, the boat, was pristine, spacious, it had all the amenities that we could want and more.
Tyler, the captain, was exceptionally competent as a boat captain and a dive master. We sailed and motored the entire BVI. Sailing was a priority for us and he included all the guests in the process. The diving was outstanding, Two of us became certified as basic divers and 3 more did advanced training. He is clearly a skilled diver and instructor. Our favorite part was his storytelling, he is very knowledgeable about the history of diving and the BVI in general.
Erika, our chef, fed us beyond our expectation. Every meal was delicious, perfectly presented and varied. She modified the menu to suit my daughter who was not a seafood fan, but after trying Erikas meals she is a convert! Erika was attentive, always offering drinks and snacks, and still tidying the boat and assisting Tyler with boating and diving.
It was a spectacular week, there in nothing about our experience that we would change, and I would highly recommend Tyler, Erika, Viramar.
-Mike C.

Thank you for the memories!
-Tyler W.

Was so much fun! Thank you for the amazing experience!
-Kevin T.

Thank you for the best time!! See you soon!
-Brad and Ryan

I´m ready to come back!! This trip was everything as described and more! Most amazing meals, hospitality, and navigation. You guys made us feel at home and we wanted for nothing. Having traveled the world, I rank this is our top five experiences and I appreciate the captain´s passion. Cigars and scotch to Tyler :)
-Ralph S.

Thanks for everything, you guys are awesome! Couldn´t have asked for a better 30th b-day!´
-Drew C.

Thank you so much for everything. You guys are truly the best. From dealing with an emotional diver, drunk swimmer, blonde moments, picky eaters...you took everything in stride and made us feel so comfortable. Tyler - I´m not sure how you made everything possible in this trip, but you did. We rocked the BVI in basically 5 days. We will all miss map time and green tea shots! Erika - If we could take you home we would. The food was to die for. You accommodated everyone. The drinks were amazing; best Pina Coladas ever! Special thanks to Erika, for calming me down. You and Tyler stuck with me and that´s the reason I´m certified. Thanks for everything. You are now our family. Love you!´
-Kate C.

I couldn´t have asked for a better week! Amazing food, new places and sights (which is hard for us...15 years in the BVI). The diving was unexpected and tremendous...thank you for encouraging me. I hope we see you again for another charter. This will be a memory never forgotten.
-Karen C.

What a trip!! Scuba, fishing, paddle boarding and just chilling out with Tyler and Erika.
-Cody

Tyler and Erika, thank you for the best vacation we´ve ever had! From the fantastic scuba diving, the amazing sailing and food, I couldn´t have asked for a better week! You have given us so many great memories, thank you so much for everything! I hope we get to sail with you again some time soon!
-Matt C.

This was the trip of a lifetime made are memorable by y´all.
-Trisha D.

Tyler and Erika, thank you for welcoming us with open arms for this amazing vacation. This was a vacation of a lifetime. From Erika´s amazing food to Tyler´s heartfelt story time, there won´t be a memory that is lost.
-Sara C.

Thank you so much for a wonderful vacation! It was everything we hoped for and more! You two are amazing and we hope see you soon again! All of the best with your adventures!
-Jennifer S.

This was my first sailing/chartering experience and I can definitely say that it won´t be the last! Tyler and Erika made this the best vacation I´ve ever had. Being a foodie, Erika blew me away with her cooking skills, and never having dived before Tyler made me feel like a natural. If anyone is on the fence about diving, go for it! Between the colorful reefs, sharks, and beautiful ocean, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Tyler and Erika - thank you so much for your incredible hospitality, sharing your love for the water, and for an all around amazing week. I really enjoyed getting to know both of you! Until next time...
-Corbin M.

My husband Rich and I, along with a group of friends, just completed charter with Erika and Tyler. I really want to express to you how much fun we had and what an amazing crew you have hired! While the BVI is beautiful all in itself and your boat is also amazing, I´m 100% confident that our trip was made SO much better by having them guide us and be part of it with us. Tyler was so knowledgeable, Eriks´a cooking is amazing and they really added a fun factor. They both know how to read their guests very quickly, and consequently tailor each persons wants, needs and desires accordingly. That is an invaluable trait that can´t be taught....hold on to these two!! The home that Erika has made on the boat is also beautiful, warm and welcoming from the minute you set foot on it.

We had requested 3 different theme nights, and man did they do a good job accommodating those and far exceeding our expectations! I´ve left public reviews everywhere I can, and will be happy to anywhere else you might like me to that I´m unaware of. I´ve also copied our broker on this email, because I want to be sure she knows how happy we were as well.

We will definitely be booking again for years to come... probably here again, but we also look forward to the new locations that Viramar is thinking of going..Bahamas and Aruba! We will travel with Tyler and Erika to each new location they may decide to go!!

-Denise F.

It´s hard not to have an amazing trip when you have all the right elements: amazing views, delicious food, tropical breezes, a simply stunning boat and fun friends. But what makes this trip go from amazing to perfection is Tyler and Erika. They are endearing, charming, knowledgeable and welcoming. We feel like family on Viramar and know we have made life long friends as well as memories. Thank you and can´t wait to come back!!

-Lisa L.

The interaction with Tyler and Erika made the trip. Amazing food, service and guide through the BVIs!!

-Jody B.

Wow! What an amazing and life changing week this has been! Every minute of every day were fun and magical. The two of you are a dynamic duo and make the trip! Erika, the food was amazing and all your special touches never went unnoticed. Tyler all your stories as we sailed really show your knowledge. Love you guys and can´t wait to return!!

-Rich F.

What a great week - we certainly conquered the Virgin Islands - sailing almost all of it. Food was delicious and accommodations were great. We enjoyed sailing, swimming, snorkeling, water skiing, wake boarding, tubing, dinghy adventures and even a dolphin sighting. We loved returning to our favorite VI spots and discovering new ones with you. Thank you for making this a fun filled and relaxing trip.

-Ali G.

Tyler and Erika, Thank you so much for this amazing vacation! You guys really got to know what we wanted to do! From beach bars to quiet coves we loved it all. The food was to die for! And Erika you pulled of our theme nights beautifully! Tyler thank you for the amazing scuba experience and the rest of the fun you provided! ´I leave you for 5 min!!´ [inside joke] Best of wishes to you both in all your future endeavors!

-Cory and Melanie F.

We had the most wonderful week on Viramar with Erika and Tyler! They are an amazing couple, knowledgeable and fun! We were thankful for Tyler´s scuba expertise and taking us to the best places to scuba and snorkel. He took us to the most beautiful areas to hike and beaches to relax...took the kids tubing and paddle-boarding and Lilly-padding, and cliff jumping! Erika was an amazing chef! Every day new and delicious, imaginative food with local flair. She kept the boat spotless and was there for our every need. They even joined us for some card games and were very personable and fun to be around! They were amazing with our kids!! We loved every minute of our trip! Could not have been better! Viramar is a beautiful, clean, and accommodating vessel! We enjoyed every inch of that boat and our trip. Thank you Erika, Tyler, and Viramar...it was the perfect way to start off our year!

-Paula K.

What a beautiful and amazing week in BVI. The two of you are truly delightful. We has so much fun...Such a memorable week. Thank you!
-Karla F.

The charter was great. Everything worked out like a charm. No issues or complaints whatsoever. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. Wind when we wanted it. None when we didn’t. Sunny and balmy every day. We did just about everything one could do on a 1-week BVI cruise. Erika and Tyler were an excellent choice for our group considering we had kids from ages 9-56 — they were highly enthusiastic and energetic and extremely professional...

We lucked out with the boat...Everything was effectively brand new due to their complete refit last year. The scuba equipment was top notch and literally had never been used. Cabin accommodations and all heads were contemporary, clean, and comfortable. Between the fore-deck, saloon, fly bridge, and “back patio”, there was ample room for 8 guests and all their stuff to spread out.

Tyler is a phenomenal and enthusiastic dive instructor/master. We felt very comfortable with his skipper skills. He’s a fun and educational captain, sharing local knowledge, experience, and stories while keeping us safe on and in the water.

Erika is a wonderful host. Every meal was perfectly tailored to our group’s tastes. Meals were delicious, healthy, satisfying, and beautifully presented. It’s a testament to her culinary skills that she could convince a 9-year old to devour fish poke or chicken coconut curry like they were lucky charms. She kept the boat spit-spot the entire time—a challenge with 4 adults and 4 kids. She did not skimp on anything and was ever ready to make another Painkiller, refill your water bottle, or pour another glass of wine.

In their precious few minutes of downtime, both Erika and Tyler joined in our fun, be it snorkeling, scuba diving, kite boarding, sundowners, or just playing a hand of nertz or bananagrams.

We’ve done a lot of charters in the Caribbean and had been to the BVI on 3 other occasions. This was by far our best experience and would highly recommend Viramar for either novice or experienced sailors.

Recommended for: action-sports people, scuba divers, families, young charterers.
Highlights: diving the Chikuzen wreck. Jumping off the rock in Virgin Gorda. The last day on Cooper Island Beach Club. Every meal.

-John F

Erika and Tyler, what an honor to be the first official charter on Viramar! She’s a beautiful boat for sure, but the best part what’s spending the week with the two of you. No surprise that you were awarded best crew - you were superlative in every way! Attention to detail, hard working, talented and truly great to be with - THANK YOU for making this such a delicious, fun and totally memorable week. We hope to see you on a future adventure. In the meantime, lots of love and many, many thanks for all you did to make this week special for us. T, T, A + B

-Tina M

It´s hard to find words that accurately describe my experience which don´t sound like generic exclamations or empty superlatives. Amazing. Magnificent. Splendid. Awesome. These are all passable and yet, somehow only hint at what I felt during our week-long journey in the BVIs.

Tyler and Erika are very special. Both are smart, experienced, funny, skillful, caring, knowledgeable, and charming. Extremely capable apart, yet a fantastic team together. I will forever measure other boat crews against them - my litmus test for how it should be.

Erika just knocked it out of the park when it came to food. Not only was her menu selection spot-on with our tastes, her execution was among the very best - especially considering it all came from a tiny kitchen rocking to and fro! She is also a very competent first mate - always at the ready to moor the boat, furl a sail, help a diver out of the water, batten down the hatches, or drop the anchor.

The always affable Tyler was a diligent and discerning captain as well as divemaster. He excelled at making decisions to maximize both our enjoyment and our safety. With a diverse group on board - some divers, some snorkelers, some landlubbers, etc - it was no small task for him to select pleasure stops, land excursions, and overnight anchors/moors that suited everyone, but did so with aplomb. Plus, he makes the *best* painkillers ;)

This was my first trip to the BVIs. I wasn´t sure what to expect in the aftermath of hurricane Irma but let me be the one to tell you that the spirit of the people that work these waters and live on these islands, is indomitable. It may not be the same as it was a year ago, but those changes did nothing to attenuate our joy of being there.

In closing, let me not try to wrest more-nuanced adjectives from the English language and just simply say what really matters. We had so much fun. We were happy. We laughed. We marveled. We dove and ate and sailed and soaked up the sun. And we made new friends. This trip was perfect.-Peter B.

Where to begin... This trip with Tyler and Erika was more than I ever could have imagined. The food that Erika whipped up was not only amazing tasting, but healthy (our request) and beautiful! Tyler was always there with an amazing story and a good laugh, in addition to being knowledgeable, a fantastic dive master and an outstanding captain. Throughout the trip we played tons of games they had on board, did 7 dives, learned the basics of sailing, had great shore excursions and had plenty of time to relax and take in the atmosphere. Usually my husband, Peter, and I try to never go to the same place/vacation twice, but we are already talking about how to fit this into our 2019 plans. Tyler and Erika, See you Soon! (and tell the Flamingo Hi for us)´ -Jill B.

The absolute highlight of our trip to America - thank you Erika and Tyler for a memorable Caribbean holiday! Erika created the most amazing meals for us - we never went hungry and she was so obliging for the fussy little members of the family - she was creative and never ceased to amaze us with what she was able to produce in the little kitchen! Tyler made an excellent captain, involving the kids in sailing between the islands and being very informative. He found us good snorkeling spots and Thomas and I so enjoyed our dives with him. The kids have confirmed it to be the best part of our holiday and we thank both Erika and Tyler for their patience and time they spent with the kids, the games of Uno, knot tying lessons, etc. It was a REAL holiday and we have returned home with many happy memories. Thank you for everything! -Cathy M.

Dream come true vacation to the BVI and USVI! We sailed with the talented and very knowledgeable Tyler and Erika Boruff! They made our trip just perfect for us! We explored the sea, the land and several unique parts of Norman Island, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and St. John. It is tough to capture it all in pictures, but it will be memories that we treasure for a lifetime! Sadly we saw the devestation that the hurricanes brought and are happy that we could support the essential tourism of this area as they rebuild. We will be back!´ -Stephanie Y.

Best trip ever...thanks to our Captain Tyler Boruff and Chef Erika Boruff! Literally crying that we had to leave! Fantastic food, tons of fun stops and and managed to get all required dives in for Boe and Nic´s diver certification.´ -Jennifer R.

In all our charters, Tyler was absolutely the best hands down...especially for the divers. He´s a real gem. Erika went beyond perfect! Just an amazing young lady. They were flexible, but we mostly stuck to the itinerary we started with because it was best anyway. First time to paddle board and Tyler was the perfect teacher! Even my 82 year old hubby did it! Yay!!

Beyond amazing! Erika bent over backwards to find everything we asked for and more. We´ve sailed half a dozen times, including bareboat, and this was by far the best. -Patty S.

Loved our trip. The crew worked tirelessly to make sure our two families had an excellent time. The culinary creativity was unparalleled and she was most accommodating towards different food preferences. Both crew pulled gear and equipment in and out of the water as we asked all day long. And The Captain took multiple groups scuba diving, water skiing, wake boarding and hiking while The Chef kept the boat neat and clean. We enjoyed hearing their stories and appreciated their joining us at times for pre- or post-dinner conversation. Both of them also know a lot about wine and alcohol and we drank almost as well as we ate. But certainly highlights were map time, fishing off the back of the boat, snorkeling, and guided scuba dives. I would 100% repeat this trip with this crew!!
-Karen M

Our charter experience was really nice, and a perfect way to spend time with our adult kids and their partners. Viramar was immaculate, attractive, comfortable, very functional in terms of storage, and we appreciated having multiple outdoor spaces to hang out.

Tyler and Erika worked incredibly hard... it was very apparent that they wanted us to be happy and comfortable and safe. Erika is a creative chef and baker, and everything that came out of her galley was fresh and delicious. And, with our restriction of no fish and shellfish due to an allergy, she got really creative - I know that normally alot of what she makes is fish and shellfish but she was up for this challenge. We celebrated some birthdays onboard, and Erika went out of her way to help us celebrate with beautiful desserts and candles. She is a lovely and interesting person and it was really nice to be her guests! Tyler is completely full of energy. He was always encouraging fun and activities. We teased him that he is like a camp counselor. He was informative and patient when teaching us sailing and scuba. And, we felt very comfortable with him at the helm. It was nice to have ´map time´ at least once a day, and he was completely open to doing what we wanted and going where we wanted. He is also a wonderful photographer - the best pics we have were the ones he took! Both Erika and Tyler made us feel very welcome and at home...

Bottom line is we would highly recommend you and would highly recommend Viramar and Tyler and Erika!!
-Caryn W.