Happy holidays! 10 years ago today, Aldebaran won the Parade of Lights in surprising circumstances. So fun to remember the story! And it reminds me of the power of creativity when we’re building a new & unconventional path. As we’ll be doing so soon in our next phase, Green Coco 3.0 🙂

It was December 2013 in Santa Barbara, California. The weather was turning rainy after the weekend. On a last minute whim, we decided to join the Parade of Lights, with Aldebaran our 42 foot trimaran as the contender.

We told our friends: “Let’s throw a party! Who can bring lights, speakers, anything??”

We had a chaotic potluck meeting on Thursday. By the end, one idea stuck: let’s play James Brown Funky Soul Christmas on the mainsail. Sounded fun. No time to think too much, the parade was in 3 days!

10am on Sunday, we unloaded Dobb’s van with boxes of fancy lights. He’s our lighting guru. Soon after, a speaker, generator, fog machine were dropped off at the dock. “Where are we going to put all this stuff?”

2pm on Sunday, my friend Stubbs showed up, and asked, “Yo. What needs to happen?” I scanned the mess on deck: a flurry of people, zip-ties, lights being mounted every which way.

Since Stubbs is a sailor and DIY handyman, I gave him our toughest job: “Hey man, can you rig this crate on the lifeline? I’m going you put my laptop on there, with a projector too, powered on this extension cord.” Stubbs looked at the lifeline. “You’re going to hang all the stuff over the edge, over the ocean, as we sail around??” I nodded. Stubbs laughed. “Okay man. I’ll see what I can do.”

4pm on Sunday, we were about to cast the lines. A Belgian couchsurfer guy asked, “Hey can I come too?” I shrugged and said, “Well, we only have 21 lifejackets aboard. Need one for each person aboard. Find yourself a lifejacket and you’re in.” The Belgian begged around the dock. He jumped on board.

5:30pm, we were motoring in a line slow-moving boats. Our dance party was in full swing. James Brown was jamming! We were streaming the youtube video with a cel phone connection via a laptop, which was projected on the double-reefed mainsail. Tenuous at best.

6pm, with 20+ people on deck, I was struggling to see where to go. As darkness fell, it just got harder. Red and green navigation lights were drowned in the glare of dozens of brightly lit boats — sailboats, powerboats, kayaks, paddle boards — all contesting for different prizes of the Parade. I just managed to slowly motor forward and keep from slamming into the next boat.

6:30pm , a little dinghy with enthusiastic parade watchers drives by, cheering at us. We yell at them: “Hey! What do we look like? We don’t even know!” The dinghy driver yells back. “Oh man! The 60s had nothing on you guys.”

I grin at Dobbs. “Maybe we have something here,” he says with a laugh.

7pm, we motored under the judge’s stand at the Stearn’s Wharf. “This is the crux,” I thought, “hopefully the streaming keeps working, James Brown keeps playing!” Our deck party was wild. Stubbs was halfway up the mast waving a Santa hat. Sabby was pumping everyone’s dance moves. The Belgian did the worm across the deck (yes, the slanted, gritty, curved deck of Aldebaran). Captain K himself managed a partial hand stand. The crowd on the Wharf was going nuts. We were having a ball.

8:30pm. Aldebaran is announced winner of the sailboat division. And Grand Prize winner! We are showered with money and prizes. “What, they are giving us money?” Sabby asked in shock. We didn’t even know what was at stake.

Later, we heard someone balked. “Can those guys even win the Santa Barbara Harbor parade, if they don’t have a slip in the Santa Barbara harbor?” Apparently we could.

So yes! We had a heap of fun AND won Grand Prize. A good question is, did we win BECAUSE we had a heap of fun? And we didn’t take ourselves seriously, didn’t know what was at stake, and just tried to make the coolest thing possible?

This is a good lesson for our next big transition. At the time of the 2013 Parade of Lights, we were building our community. Building our cooperative, which would launch Green Coconut Run the following year. Doing daysails, weekend trips, Channel Islands trips, Ranch trips, Parades, whatever it took…!

Now 10 years later, we are launching Green Coco 3.0. A global boat-schooling expedition on a 60ft catamaran. We’re reviewing applicant-captains to expand Green Coco and continue running co-op trips in French Polynesia. Once again, we’re building a community. It’s a time of risk and opportunity. And fun!

The Parade of Lights reminds us: don’t take ourselves seriously, be creative, stay unattached to the monetary gain, and let’s do this! Most importantly, you can never go wrong with James Brown Funky Soul Christmas.

Happy Holidays and Happy Sailing!

Hurray, we have our first teacher aboard for the twins! Libby found us while she was traveling in Europe. She responded to our Teacher in Paradise post (see link in profile, greencoconutrun.com) and all the puzzle pieces aligned. She has experience with Montessori, outdoor education , working with small boats, and van life… so she fit right in.

Some background: 

When Sabrina and I decided to do this, we had this idea… lets do home-schooling aboard for our girls (like the other sailing families we admire), but let’s ALSO have teachers on the boat AND continue to host other families and adventures aboard.  Hmm… how to pull this off, we wondered? 

We decided to raise funds for a bigger boat and bolder vision.  It has been embraced by both new and existing Green Coco investors beyond our wildest expectations. Our around-the-world Expedition on the 60ft catamaran Nesi starts this March 2024 in Seychelles. There will be boat-schooling for kids and cool learning workshops for everyone. Trips are available for general public and members. Check out the route maps here and sign up.

This educational vision also motivated us to share the Green Coco model with other sailing families, as we seek new owners for our existing 46ft catamaran Selaví here in French Polynesia. We are still receiving applications, so spread the word! We are offering a really special deal: enabling a young couple to purchase a catamaran without going through a bank, and be able to earn income with co-op trips that are authentic & family-supportive. Check our business opportunity to new captains. It’s really fun to see it come to reality, and make the pie bigger for everyone. 

For this next boat-schooling phase, we are covering all the costs for teachers to come aboard, including their travel expenses (depending on amount of time committed). Other families can come aboard our trips, and enjoy the boat preschool as a two week summer camp 🙂  

Our first teacher, Libby, arrived in a way that is typical of boat life. Trial by fire!   She left Europe and hit the ground running, meeting Sabrina, Kaiana and Naiyah in SF airport, flying together to Papeete.  We had just finished a 2 month vacation in California including our couples time at Burning Man… so the boat needed a ton of work. My opinion is that leaving a boat is the toughest part about living on a boat!

The ladies arrived during a two week long flurry of maintenance work, prior to our upcoming cruise to Bora Bora.  This is one of our last 3 trips on Selaví… and we were doing a big overhaul post-vacation. Taking apart an engine cylinder head (again), working daily with an electrician to recalibrate our lithium house batteries (after getting damaged while we were away), and cleaning every square inch on the boat. 

Admittedly it was a challenging start, because on top of all the boat chaos, the girls got a head-cold from their California travels (uhh.. not again) and were under the weather, which makes life miserable for all sentient beings.  I guess that toddlers getting sick on the first days of school is…. kind of expected? Haha not funny.

Somehow Libby weathered all these storms gracefully, and before we even left the Tahiti marina, she had proven herself to be a calm and centered presence, keeping a positive attitude and riding the daily waves of the girls’ emotions and the boat’s needs; which are usually like pretty rhythmic swells but those first weeks were stormy seas! 

The reality is that sailing has an intense Yin-Yang between the moments of utter bliss when dolphins are gliding by during a sunset over a majestic island; then the madness of periods of maintenance, repairs, and the other unsavory parts of life at sea (yes, even on a comfy catamaran). We learn to live with it, thrive in it. 

Sabrina and I have been training to cope with these wild up and downs for 10 years… we’ve watched with some trepidation as our nannies (now teachers) have arrived and integrated into this very unique lifestyle. More often than not, we’ve been super proud they can jump right in and walk this wild and wonderful tightrope with us.  It speaks volumes about the inner work they’ve done to be steady in themselves and their sense of presence. This is one of the great attributes we found that the boat experience really brings out. 

While we hustled with boat work, Libby did an awesome job juggling visits with twins to Maison D’Enfance (the local children’s public play space in Tahiti) and helping us provision and prep the boat. Our guests arrived, and we cast our lines for a three week cruise from Tahiti to Bora Bora. 

Our 5 guests aboard have been utterly delightful, including Bill and Cathy, who are long time Green Coco investors and have sailed with us several other times already: including a Heiva trip in Tahiti and a memorable mid-pandemic Tuamotus trip to Tahanea and Fakarava. 

As a charter trip, our galley goddess Sabrina is preparing epic meals and everyone takes turns to prep & clean up, as is the nature of our participatory Green Coco model.  (In contrast, during our co-op trips, guests take turns being Chef and helping with maintenance too, which allows an affordable and even more participatory experience for those who want that.)

On the first day of our cruise, we sailed across the channel from Tahiti to Moorea with a delightful 12 knots of wind. The grandiose views of Cook’s Bay and Oponuhu Bay were our home for a few days, before we sailed overnight to Huahine. 

As we’re settling into a daily rhythm, our boat-schooling is starting to find its legs. 

After breakfast, Sabby and I typically help the guests snorkeling and exploring the islands we visit. Meanwhile,  Libby takes the girls to “beach preschool” from around 9am-2pm ; or at times we all do a hike or excursion together with our guests. 

After lunch, there is quiet time at 2pm, and the teacher enjoys a well-deserved break for a few hours to chill or explore. We set up learning activities for the girls onboard, and per usual, they bounce on the nets to blow off steam before sunset and bed time. 

With 5 guests, 2 toddlers, 1 teacher, plus Sabby and I, you can imagine things start to get busy onboard.  Every bed is currently used on Selaví: four cabins and three single berths. We are maxing the space on our 46ft cat, hence now you see why we motivated for a 60ft cat with more space 🙂 

There you have it, it’s like we are sending our kids to preschool, while running boat trips with guests! Haha. It feels like a lot of work, but hey, it’s also a load of fun. 

It is especially gratifying that our guests are loving the inter-generational feeling aboard. Whether they had kids already (or not), want to one day, or are coming aboard with their own little ones, everyone loves being around the twins and their silliness (as long as someone else is there for the rough moments!)  In my opinion, this works thanks to the catamaran’s private cabins and spread-out spaces — there’s always a place for everyone to meet their needs, while we cruise from one ridiculously pretty place to another. Here’s a floor plan for you to get an idea.

Here’s a question for our community: do you know of any cool homeschooling options for kids? Or educational projects on sailboats with onboard teachers and toddlers? If so, please share in the comments. We are figuring this out as we go, and can use any help we can get! 

Stay healthy out there, stay creative, and keep following the stoke! Big hugs,

Kristian & Sabrina

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Interested in joining a Green Coco trip? They are designed for families, couples, and single adventurers who want authentic sailing voyages with a fun community focus, in a participatory, learning environment.

Check out our 2024 Schedule : French Polynesia trips and East Africa trips on the Expedition.

See our Cost Overview: enjoy gourmet food and guided excursions in our charter trips, or affordable options with our co-op trips.

Send us an inquiry : info@greencoco.org

Thanks!

We are searching for a phenomenal captain & mate to purchase a catamaran and a cooperative charter business to live the cruising life in the South Pacific, raise a family, while hosting a wonderful community of adventurous families on trips in beautiful islands. If this is your dream, or you know someone perfect, keep reading 🙂

A Unique Moment

We are selling our 46ft catamaran Selaví , as we prepare for the Expedition on our new boat. Our reason for selling: we are starting a boat school circumnavigation program with our 3 year old twins on a 60ft cat in Seychelles. Otherwise, it is frankly hard to say good-bye to this place!

We know it’s super hard to buy a catamaran ($$), and especially hard to make a living that supports the sailing lifestyle. Since we developed a successful model with Green Coco for cooperative charters, which is both sustainable and satisfying, we want to enable other captain & mates to do this too.

So we are offering a superb deal for the right applicant: the opportunity to own a revenue-earning boat & business (cooperative charters in French Polynesia) and we can even seller finance for you at great terms (if you can’t finance it yourself).

Why not just sell the boat?

If we don’t find a perfect candidate, we might just sell the boat outright. But we want to make it available for seller financing, including the business, because we believe in this model and we think it’ll make the pie bigger for everyone.

The value to us? Our co-op members continue to have access to a great boat in the South Pacific at affordable prices, and another awesome new couple gets to enjoy this lifestyle! We get to “pay it forward”, and see the co-op grow.

Ideal Candidates

The ideal candidates are a captain & first mate/chef couple. They are exceptional hosts, very adept sailors, able to fix almost anything aboard a sailboat. They love cooking delicious wholesome food, enjoy a wellness practice like yoga & meditation, excel at communication, are natural at teaching (sailing, freediving, etc) and are endlessly patient, hard-working.. and of course are an avid waterman/woman who love ocean sports like surfing, kiting, diving, long distance swimming, etc.

This position is for a couple with entrepreneurial spirit who always dreamed of owning their own boat and business, and are very community oriented and sociable. You’ll be part of the Green Coco cooperative, a sailing organization that creates unique, transformative, participatory adventures at sea. We aren’t a regular charter company… we are a private group of ocean lovers and adventurers who also offer public trips. Read our testimonials.

The ideal candidates would be a couple:

• a professional captain with significant experience navigating in complex environments under pressure keeping 100% cool and good attitude
• a very enthusiastic first mate/chef with passion for wholesome, nutritious food
• knowledge and enthusiasm for wellness practices such as yoga, breathwork, meditation, non-violent communication, and similar
• considerable experience in freediving, scuba diving, surfing, kitesurfing, and other water sports
• loves to teach others and has infinite patience with guests and kids
• you have a decent amount of cash to invest for the downpayment, or access to financing

Details

Here’s the nitty gritty.

Our sale listing for our 46ft catamaran Selaví is here.

She is available for purchasing outright if we don’t receive qualified applicants.

If running a Green Coco sailboat in the South Pacific is your dream, but you don’t have all that money… you might be in luck! You can pay for the boat over time, while earning revenues through the co-op, becoming the new owner of a 46 ft catamaran and a cooperative charter business.

What you’ll get exactly:

• full ownership of an epic 46 foot catamaran with 4 suites and 3 single berths (sleeps 11), ready to sail the world. See boat tour. Includes French Polynesia importation duties (~$30K) and many expensive water toys ($10K)
• business partnership in Green Coco, with a revenue stream that is fun and satisfying.
• if needed, seller financing with very competitive terms — extremely tough to get these days

As a business partner / boat owner, you’ll be in charge of your own future and gain profits according to your work, backed by the Green Coco cooperative to reduce your risk ( if there isn’t adequate trip revenue in a given year, we can give you a certain number of forbearances).

Through our co-op investment program, we may be able to help you secure a part of the downpayment with pre-sales, and reduce your total debt.

We’re really proud to be able to offer this to someone. We consider ourselves super lucky we pulled off the best sailing lifestyle imaginable (at least for us!). Now we get to help someone else launch their dream too. Honestly, it is all thanks to our cooperative, who continues to make this epic Green Coco adventure possible. We are harvesting some serious collective stoke !

Note: if you are an ideal candidate but don’t have sufficient funds for a downpayment, we may have an option for a different entry-level boat for you. You can still apply!

Timeline

We will offer sea trials aboard Selavi in the Society Islands from November 17-December 5 (fly into Tahiti, and possibly take a ferry to meet us)

The boat is available for purchase on or after December 10, 2023.

About Green Coco:

Green Coco is a community organization that offers authentic, family-friendly sailing adventures in French Polynesia and around the world. Our boats are owner-operated, offering a real taste of the cruising life at sea. Guests participate in boat activities to feel truly part of the journey. We create transformative, learning voyages with a wellness focus: offering workshops in breathwork, yoga, sailing, cooking, and more, which contribute meaningfully to visitor’s daily life back at home. The majority of trips include members who come back regularly over the years; everyone lends a hand on the boat. As a result, our trips and interactions with guests are like family & friends, very different to conventional charter trips.

How did Green Coco start? We are a sailing cooperative that grew organically with a group of friends exploring the Channel Islands of Santa Barbara, California. The founders are Kristian & Sabrina, who first launched Green Coconut Run in 2015, a 3 year trip to Tahiti via Galapagos and Pitcairn, on the classic 42 foot trimaran Aldebaran. By hosting up to 4 guests in 2 week trip legs, over several years, more than hundred co-op members and guests joined this maiden expedition. We developed signature community trips that are authentic, participatory, affordable, and transformative. Read more here.

In 2020, we formalized Green Coco cooperative charters and purchased Selavi, a 46 foot catamaran, in order to also offer family-friendly voyages for all-ages. Kristian and Sabrina now had two new permanent crew members: their newborn twin baby girls! Over the last three years, we ran dozens of trips as a family, primarily in Tuamotus, with visiting adventurers and their families, ranging from 8 month babies to 80 year olds. Our guests are return visitors from the co-op , plus members of the public seeking a special, unique experience.

In 2023, we created the Green Coco Expedition, an around-the-world boat schooling project on a 60 foot catamaran. Due to this new voyage beginning next year, we are now offering Selaví to new owner-operators, along with a Green Coco business partnership, as we expand the co-op’s services to the community. Read more about the Expedition and our co-op, or see our public charter website here: www.greencococharters.com

HOW TO APPLY:

If you’d like to become the next Green Coco captains in French Polynesia, please apply by sending the following 3 items to captain@greencoco.org:

1. VIDEO: a 2 minute video introducing yourselves (casual selfie is fine)
2. RESUMES: please send your resume (nothing fancy needed.. please don’t spend too much time on making this perfect), plus a short paragraph/addendum with your experience with sailing, cooking, hospitality
3. FINANCING: Whether you can self-finance or need seller financing from us; and if so, how much downpayment (estimated range) could you make?

Please send the above 3 items to captain@greencoco.org.

THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!

Greetings from our dusty, muddy trailer, recently returned from Burning Man (aka Swamp Man 2023!) 

Everyone is asking “was it as bad as the news said?” so I wanted to share our direct experience — and how Burning Man has inspired Green Coco over the years.

At sunrise on Monday morning we drove our 4×4 pickup to the city gates to leave Black Rock City. We dodged some stuck vehicles and patches of thick mud. The gates were officially “opening” later that day, starting the monstrous Exodus that were captured in some amazing shots. I’m happy to report we left at dawn and only waited for an easy hour and a half in the cool morning air.

Until 3pm on the previous Friday, it was business as usual in this temporary and harsh wonderland.  Sunny, dusty conditions were the canvas for raw, mind-blowing creativity anywhere you cared to look. Like stepping into Alice in Wonderland meets Mad Max meets Ibiza. The wild explosion of art and music was everywhere: art cars shaking with tunes, art sculptures rising mid-desert, art covering every person’s body, art infusing every free cup of coffee and free grilled cheese. Free and absurdly fun art enveloping your life for a week.

I’m honestly not that surprised by all the bad-mouthing in the media about Burning Man. The scale of the event makes it vulnerable to all types of critique. But they are completely missing the point. 

Yes, it’s true there are billionaires and tech bros funding self-aggrandizing productions; there are all kinds of late night parties fueled by drug intake; there are gigantic challenges with managing trash and porta potties especially when it rains and everything turns to mud and service vehicles can no longer operate. There is hypocrisy and cynicism. Yes, and. 

Keep in mind the scale of this thing. With 70,000 people there will be unavoidable distortion and deviation from core principles. Here’s where the rubber meets the road: this event has had a tremendously positive impact on a lot of people. The essence of this phenomenon is alive and well.

So let’s talk real impact — what’s been the effect of the Burning Man experience on Green Coco?

Back in 2014, we were brainstorming the idea of Green Coconut Run… with some shyness, some trepidation. Hesitation corroded our minds: “I wonder if it’s really going to work out.” After going to Burning Man that year, there was no more hesitation. After seeing what people could do in the desert with creativity and collective action, our only thought was  “Oh heck yeah, we are doing this.”  Our sense of uncertainty simply evaporated. We sailed south within 7 months. 

Riding in the car with us during that 2014 Burn were our friends Ryan (who ended up being a core crew for 6 months in our initial run from California to Costa Rica) and Sarah (who played a huge creative role and also sailed all over French Poly with us). One reason this event is so transformative is because it unravels the limits of creativity.

For the impact on participants at large, let’s not forget why this thing is called “Burning Man”. Why do people call it “The Burn”?  What is burning exactly? Is it just a bunch of wooden sculptures in order to fulfill our fetish for pyrotechnics and fuel the bacchanal of drug users, as the reporters love to say? Maybe for a few people, sure. 

For me, the Burn is a reset through art and fire: a reset of our emotional and psychological constraints. It’s a very intentional reboot from the patterns in our psyche that no longer serve us. It is creativity in the rawest form. It is re-invention and re-invigoration packaged into a community-created, week long event. Can you do this elsewhere? For sure. Take a retreat, change things up. The Burn is just an accelerator.

The fireball engulfing the sculptures mid-desert is only the final cathartic act. Do you know how emotion gets stuck in our bodies, and keeps us stuck to unhelpful patterns? The fire helps us incinerate and release all that crap.

In 2014, the gigantic sculpture of “Embrace” featuring two lovers sprouted 3 stories from the desert; it provided a canvas for anyone to write down (literally, on the wood itself) and release any relationship heaviness or traumas, and burn it away during an unforgettable sunrise. 

Since 2000, the gloriously intricate “Temple” has been a space for anyone to capture their sorrow and grief for loss of loved ones. They burn it away in a tear-jerking send-off that is so otherwise silent you can only hear the sobs and crackling of the massive bonfire. 

The “Man” itself is a symbol of the heavy hand of society that constrains us. You know the expression: “I’m working for the Man”.  As a symbol for both societal institutions and our own personal stuckedness, the Man is that entity that prevents us from realizing our fullest potential. To burn the Man is to burn our constraints, the limitations that prevent us from reaching our potential.

During the event, you can be anything you want to be — a pink fairy, a flying turtle, fully naked, or a just a regular dude in a sweatshirt giving away hotdogs — as long as you act responsibly and respectfully. Under these basic terms, unconditional acceptance is practiced by all. Think about how liberating this is for people with deeply fixed, or even toxic identities: everyone, from veterans with trauma, and yes, even to billionaires seeking liberation from their stuck patterns that no longer serve them. Through unconditional acceptance and a flow-inducing environment, Burning Man gives everyone a space to feel newness and freshness in their identity, to start sensing more of their fullest potential. For me, that’s what Burning Man is all about.  

Our fullest potential is simply the very best version of ourselves. How do we experience this?  Through another one of the core principles, radical self-expression. This manifests in a myriad of ways. The abundance of art, the crazy outfits, the bone-thumping music, all this helps to shake away the cobwebs, the stiff, unhelpful aspects of our identity. Getting into a state of flow allows us to be whatever we fancy in that moment. With unconditional acceptance, we relax ingrained patterns that no longer serve us. We get to play with completely new ideas; to play with new identities; to play with heart and soul; to feel briefly what it’s like to be who we aspire to be. 

What about the mechanics that make society possible? Society and community aren’t dismissed as bad. This isn’t anarchist, libertarian knee jerk reactivity. On the contrary, the Burning Man organization tries to exemplify a supportive community, through its faults and all. They are trying.  The result is a mish-mash of success, yet it is undeniably beautiful — just walk around the streets and wander into nearly any camp, where you’ll see people giving away so much, from free delicious meals, free foam showers, free bodywork, or a free lounge to relax with coffee. The power of this open giving can’t be over-stated.

I’ll be the first to admit: gifting and service take effort. Outsiders may say that it is self-serving.  It’s not. There’s a million other things people would rather be doing at Burning Man, if they aimed to be self-serving. 

Example: This year Sabrina and I participated in the Heart Collective camp and we gave away healing sessions like massage therapy; healthy elixir drinks and tea; and the Skyting art car roaming the playa. It took massive energy to create the spaces, fund them, and voluntarily staff them, with the goal of purely giving to the community without any goal of something in return.  Everyone chipped in to make it happen. The camp leadership devoted huge amounts of time to realize this vision.

Here is the ultimate gift that a week of gifting brings: re-framing of our minds. We start to think: how we can give more, instead of how we can get more… how we can create, instead of how we take. Now I know what it takes to be part of such a culture of service.

This year’s rain event catalyzed a new type of transformation. The water element was strong! The medicine of the water element is adaptability and flow. If unheeded, it overwhelms everything: fire, earth, air. The burn was postponed; the flat ground turned to impassable, sticky mess; and the breeze turned downright cold. 

How did this actually affect us?  Not significantly different than any camping trip with some bad weather, but on a massive scale. 70,000 people with different camp comforts and different schedules. Porta potties became a disaster, many tents got soaked. As if dealing with weather is really that unexpected these days! Nobody was “stranded” and “trapped”. Although City officials asked everyone to stay off the streets, and kept the gates officially closed, nobody was prevented from departing.

The rain changed the dynamics of the event. Just after the rain began, our friends Klaus and Angie and 2 year old were in our camp. They were prudent to hunker down in our trailer and avoid tromping on a slippery playa with an infant. That night, we had a family slumber party on our trailer that was super memorable! The rain gave us a chance to slow down and enjoy each other’s company (admittedly, others with tents were up all night hustling to keep flooding at bay. It was nasty, exhausting work).

The water forced a collective slow down. With extraordinarily sticky mud, no bikes and art cars moved. Everyone walked. Without a million other sparkly lights vying for their attention, we had deeper conversations. People took care of each other. On the spur of the moment, we created 3 days of events in our camp, to encourage people from tromping on the playa. The city asked us to limit our movement; and civic responsibility is one of the principles of this experience. 

By far, the biggest bummer is the trash left behind. The mud turned into cement and gobbled up tons of stuff (from shoes to mats to vehicles) This is a disaster for Burners, who take a lot of pride in cleaning up under the “leave no trace” principle, meticulously picking up every little scrap that’s left behind. But these were exceptional circumstances. The negative situation was compounded by all the people that come to Burning Man just to party (a minority, I believe) and assuredly didn’t take good care of stuff as the majority of participants do.

In a way, the rain is washing away some of the nonsense that has built up over the years. All the people who come to Burning Man thinking it’s a big party will think twice about coming back next year… cause the elements are brutal out there.  Of course Burning Man is now becoming “uncool”. Good! The rain forced people back to the roots, back to the essence of community, back to core principles. To remember what this is all about — about being transformed, reset, re-powered — and keep living that way when we go home. 

ps. many thanks to the Grandmas that took care of our twins Kaiana and Naiyah while we were at the Burn… a much appreciated gift! 🙏

Interested to learn more?

See www.greencococharters.com for our community sailing expeditions in French Polynesia and around the world.

Or leave a question below : )

Here’s the info to join the Green Coco Expedition — an innovative, family friendly around-the-world voyage, with a global itinerary for 15 years! We have enough pledged to purchase our 60ft Expedition Catamaran, just offering 2.5 more boat shares to help cover our operating expenses for year 1.

Quick link to investor files here (Proposal, FAQs, Agreement) 

Deadline: June 1, 2023 (extension to June 15  by request). Minimum is $4,000 and the Full Boat Share is $30,000. Details below.

Contact: greencoconutrun@gmail.com

See updates in our community page.

This is going to be a really unforgettable educational-adventure, open to all-ages: families with kids, couples, or groups of friends seeking adventure. Our trips include inspiring workshops on wellness & ocean sports; plus a built-in Ocean Camp for kids courtesy of an onboard teacher (starting with circumnavigation in 2027). 

Visitors can join for 3-14 day trips. The itinerary is scheduled a year in advance, adapted for investor preferences.  Reserve a private boat for your group with 3 cabins, or just book a cabin to share a trip with other guests. The costs include Cabin fees + Food fees. As an investor, you get free cabin days (just pay food) and lots of valuable investor perks. 

How good is this deal? For Charter trips, our regular rates are $800/day double occupancy (see our charter prices), with cabin+food fees together. As an investor, you get trips for as little as $350/day; assuming a full boat share. You also get investor perks such as 10-50% discounts, free cabins on passages, big referral credits, and the possibility of cashing out boat shares if there are major Expedition issues. 

Since we are a cooperative organization, we offer an even more affordable option: Co-op trips. The regular rate for our Co-op trips is $470/day double occupancy. For investors, this can be as low as $220/day; assuming a full boat share, and if you use your investor perk of 5 extra days for co-op trips (when schedule permits).  See pages 5 and 7 of “Expedition Proposal”). 

What’s the difference between Co-op and Charter trips? Co-op trips have full participation (everyone helps to cook, clean, and a little boat work) while Charter have some participation (just sous-chef rotation to help prep and clean up). We also offer Retreats for extra cost, with no obligations. Note, Co-op membership is required for Co-op trips, which requires coming aboard one Charter trip first (to ensure it’s a good fit for everyone). This step can be bypassed if you have a personal referral and/or you make an application based on financial need. 

Green Coco offers a unique and authentic experience not found in other sailing charters. The essence of our trips is this: it’s like you’re coming aboard your friends’ boat, not aboard a floating hotel. We co-create true adventures as an ocean family. Green Coco is for those who love to learn,  lend a hand, and get inspired!

See our BOAT TOUR  below to get a sense of a typical catamaran’s layout, with private cabins in each hull. This is our existing 46ft boat, which we aim to keep, and continue offering trips in French Polynesia with a new captain & chef. It has up 4 double cabins, and 3 small single berths. 

For the Expedition, we are purchasing a much larger 60 foot catamaran. This is a world-class ocean going vessel, with 5 cabins and 2 large single berths, plus spacious salon/cockpit areas. Investor funds are used to purchase Boat Shares in the Expedition, which will give them access to this new boat (and also our 46ft catamaran, assuming it is available). See more pics of the prospective new boat.

Here are photos of the 60 foot catamaran we are purchasing. 

Your Boat Share investment gives you the best of “owning a world-cruising boat” — without all the liability, hassles, and costs. Help choose where the boat goes in the world, and when.  You’ll join the boat, which is fully crewed by us. Come back over the years in different, exciting destinations. There are no surprise costs if the boat has issues, for example.

Investors get a certain number of free cabins — our lowest co-investment is $4,000 which gets you 20 cabin days. The full Boat Share is $30,000 for 200 cabin days. You’ll also get a ton of investor perks for the next 15 yrs:

• 10-50% discounts on regular rates
• $100/day credit for referrals at full charter rate
• free passage cabins
• extra 5 free days for co-op members in port or convenient location (when schedule permits)

Investor using their cabin days only pay Food & Fuel fees, which are per day/person:  $60 for Co-op, $100 for Charter, $175 for Retreat. Discounts available for families. 

Read the Expedition Proposal below for more details, financial details in pages 4-7. Deadline June 1, extension until June 15 by request. 

The sailing dinghy is like training wheels for guests to learn how to sail — one of the many included workshops we teach aboard. Other workshops include breathwork, freediving, homesteading at sea, star constellations, non-violent communication, RIE parenting, wing-foiling, and wake-surfing.

Below is our upcoming 5 year rough itinerary… starting with Delivery Voyage in ’24-’25. The Expedition lasts until 2039. We’ll be adapting it to Investor preferences with regular surveys. 

Along the whole itinerary, there will be 3-14 day scheduled trips that visitors can join (investors or general public).  

Our full circumnavigation with Ocean Camp occurs from 2027-2038, tentatively sketched on page 3 of the Expedition Proposal. 

DRAFT ITINERARY – Oh the places we’ll go!  We have 5 phases in our Expedition (subject to Investor preferences and contingencies; please see Proposal):

1. Delivery Voyage 2024-2025 (Seychelles to California via Caribbean)
2. Channel Islands 2026 (based in Santa Barbara until mid- 2027)
3. The South Pacific 2027-2029 (California to New Zealand via French Polynesia)
4.  The Indian Ocean 2030-2034 (New Zealand to South Africa via Micronesia)
5. The Atlantic Ocean 2035-2038 (South Africa to Tahiti via Caribbean)

PHASE #1. DELIVERY VOYAGE (’24-’25)

2024 – Delivery Voyage

• Seychelles — only granite oceanic islands, endemic coco de mer, outer atolls with exuberant marine life. April. 
• Madagascar — amazing culture and one-of-a-kind nature. Diving in the north, empty world-class surfing & kiting in the south. May to August
• Mozambique — unique and fantastic coastline with diving, kiting, and surfing. September to October
• South Africa — Passage Durban-November & December

2025 – Delivery Voyage

• Atlantic Crossing — via Ascension Island. Passage in January 
• Brazil — Fortaleza and north. Passage in February
• Caribbean — Martinique to British Virgin Islands. March & April
• Panama — San Blas, Panama Canal, on to Isla Cocos.  May
• Costa Rica to Mexico — Passage in June
• Baja’s Sea of Cortez — July to December

PHASE #2. CHANNEL ISLANDS (’26)

2026 – based in Santa Barbara

• Cabo San Lucas to Santa Barbara — February 
• California’s Channel Islands — April to December
  • 3 day weekend trips exploring individual islands like Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Catalina.
  • 7 day mini-expeditions in the northern islands (SB-Ranch-Miguel-Rosa-Cruz) and southern islands (Catalina-SB isle-Clemente) 

PHASE #3. THE SOUTH PACIFIC (’27-’29) 

2027  – Official launch of the circumnavigation! 

• California’s Channel Islands. January to August (details above)
• California to Baja’s Sea of Cortez — September to December 2027

2028 – Pacific Crossings

• Sail to Galapagos or direct to French Polynesia (depending on investor preference)

2029 – The South Seas

• Cook Islands, Samoa
• Tonga, Fiji
• New Zealand

PHASE #4. THE INDIAN OCEAN (’30-’34)

2030 – Melanesia & Down Under

• Vanuatu
• New Caledonia
• Solomon Islands
• Papua New Guinea

2031- Melanesia & Down Under

• Micronesia 
• Palau
• Phillipines
• Coral Triangle
• Indonesia
• Thailand

2033- Maldives

• Maldives

2034- East Africa

• Chagos Archipelago
• Reunion Island and Mauritius
• Madagascar
• Mozambique
• South Africa

PHASE #5. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (’35-’38)

2035- South Atlantic 

• South Africa
• Namibia
• Brazil
• Caribbean

2036- Caribbean to Galapagos

• Panama
• Costa Rica
• Galapagos
• Ecuador

2037- Galapagos to French Polynesia

• Pacific crossing
• Easter Island
• Pitcairn Island
• French Polynesia

2038-39- French Polynesia

• Marquesas
• Tuamotus
• Society Islands

Please remember the itinerary above WILL change. See proposal for details.

Thanks for your consideration and support. Let’s adventure together soon!

Much love, 

Kristian and Sabrina

www.greencococharters.com ~  family friendly sailing trips in French Polynesia

Traveling around the world to try to purchase boats was a very intense experience. A lot of money on the line (10% deposits, surveyor fees, travel costs), limited time, a ton of variables with fast decision-making. At least the scenery was exceptional!! Look at the incredible amounts of granite all over the beaches:

Why did I fly all the way to Seychelles (3 nights by plane), in the first place? There’s not too many 60 foot catamarans for sale in the world that we love. Our favorite model is the Eleuthera, which has both performance and comfort. It’s basically a big version of our existing catamaran, which is the Bahia model (all built by Fountaine Pajot). Most of the Eleutheras are in Caribbean and Europe at higher prices ($750-$1M).  In the Seychelles there were two under market value, so it was worth the visit.

The elephant in the room, of course, is the delivery voyage back around South Africa. Many things normally break during these types of trips. Which means there are costs and risks involved, and the boat must be ready for going offshore. Which is a big IF.

After flying for 3 nights (Fakarava-Tahiti-San Francisco-Toronto-Ethiopia-Seychelles) I went to my first boat inspection at the marina: an Eleuthera owned by a global charter company. This was the more affordable one. Looked good in the pictures and descriptions, but alas, this was a total dud. Terrible maintenance and atrocious installations, and worse of all, rampant osmosis, an affliction that causes blistering in the hulls. I was especially bummed because I had put a deposit down on this boat! This was a big setback. 

Over the Easter weekend, I gathered my thoughts and took a ferry in Mahé (the capital island) to another two islands, called Praslin and La Digue. That’s where I saw the giant coconut palms and beautiful granite formations on the beaches. They are both very cool islands — I can only imagine what the rest of the Seychelles is like by boat. There are over 100 islands in the archipelago!

Upon my return, I visited the second boat, Nesi. It is exactly the same model — the Eleuthera 60 — but this one is privately owned, and does boutique charters only part time. The difference was night and day: this boat was in vastly better shape! This is what I was hoping to find. Among the many improvements were a hard top bimini with solar panels, shade awnings, improved watermaker systems, and comprehensive osmosis treatment. The general level of care & maintenance was a thousand times better. The only catch is, of course, the boat is more expensive. “You get what you pay for…”

With the help of the surveyor we looked under every nook & cranny of the boat and felt quite satisfied. I left Seychelles feeling like Mission Accomplished.

Ah… how short-lived was my glory. Upon arrival in San Francisco, Sabrina let me know: “So, I found this other boat…” “No more boats,” I groaned. But this is a big deal, Sabrina is right. We need to be thorough, to look under every rock. The research began again — but for the time being, I rest content in knowing I found a great option in the Seychelles. We’ve got to keep moving quickly…

Why is Kristian flying three nights on airplanes from Tahiti to Seychelles??

Read our Expedition Proposal and the backstory that inspired it.

My journey began in Fakarava atoll, where we run many of our trips (an overnight sail to the east of Tahiti). I’m proud of Sabrina for standing in as Capitana! She’ll be running Selaví, taking care of the kids, with help from our awesome French friends Marie & Gautier.

In March, we had a successful 10 day haul out in Apataki. Since I had a 2 week break in April, I seized the opportunity. Using 85K United Miles, I got a ticket from SFO to Seychelles roundtrip for $100 in taxes. This deal brought the Seychelles within reach — otherwise, it is usually waaaay too expensive to get to! Plus of course, the cost of flying Fakarava to Tahiti ($400 RT) and Tahiti to SF ($550 RT). So the five flights cost me just under $1,000, all told — plus the miles, which I accrued thanks to a credit card bonus.

Why Seychelles? There are two boats for sale there below-market value, the ideal for our around-the-world Expedition: the 60 foot Eleuthera. It is basically a really big version of our current boat, Selaví. Both are built by by the French boat builder Fountaine Pajot (around 2000-2010). I’m a big fan of these boats because they are excellent sailboats, able to point upwind, yet also have enormous amounts of comfort for guest. See photos below.

For comparison, these boats are lower performance than Outremers and Catanas, but they have much more interior space & comfort. Meanwhile, they are higher performance than Lagoons and Leopards, which are renown for huge interior space and a focus on comfort.

“You don’t know if you don’t go…” is the saying. So I grabbed the first flight in Fakarava on April 2… and only arrived in Seychelles on April 5.

I spent one night at my friend’s house, Leon and Soraya in Tahiti. They were excited about the name of one of the boat we’re looking at: Mata Fenua is a Tahitian for “Looking at the Earth”. Very strong name! they said.

The flight to SF was a piece of cake, daytime 8 hours and very enjoyable. The worst flight was probably the red eye 5 hours to Toronto which was crowded so I was stuck on the window. Luckily Leon & Soraya lent me a big pillow, which really helped a bunch for sleeping on the plane!

Every connection on my itinerary was perfect: 4 hours max, just long enough to make it mellow but not too long. The flight from Toronto to Ethiopia was the longest: 13 hours, overnight, but it was also the most enjoyable of all! I had my own row to stretch out, and I felt great upon arrival.

The final flight was from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s airport, to the Seychelles, about 5 hours. This archipelago is east of Tanzania, north of Madagascar, and comprises over 100 islands. The largest island is Mahé, where the capital of Victoria is located.

The taxis were absurdly expensive ($50 for 10 min?!) , so I just grabbed a bus ($1) and walked up the hill to an apartment I was renting above the marina. I could see the boats in the distance below me from my apartment door, with a Chinese restaurant nearby for dinner and grocery store for water and snacks.

I’d arrived! Now it was time for the boat inspections to begin.

PRESS RELEASE: They cast off their lines 8 years ago, with a goal to sail to Tahiti, bringing their friends along for the ride. Over 150 people joined. They had twins in the South Pacific, and are now planning to do it again — around the world.

Green Coconut Run wasn’t supposed to succeed. That’s what all the sailors said. “Schedules and sailing don’t go together,” the old salts said. But Sabrina and Kristian thought otherwise. This was the only way for their friends to visit during brief work vacations — and help fund a trip they couldn’t afford alone.

They created a sailing cooperative, and thirty people pledged $1000, in exchange for two weeks aboard somewhere in the voyage. Some joined in Mexico, others in Galapagos, some waited three years until the fifty year old, 42 foot trimaran finally made it to French Polynesia.

Kristian and Sabrina had only known each other for a year and a half when they left. They had some huge challenges — a broken eardrum that almost cancelled the voyage, delamination of the boat’s fiberglass after crossing the ocean, and dealing with major lightning threats. “No pirates though,” Sabrina says. “That’s one challenge we fortunately didn’t have to deal with.”

Along the way, visiting co-op members helped gather water samples for micro-plastic research. Sometimes they returned on the flight home with a suitcase loaded only with samples of salt water. “We wanted to do something good while having a fun adventure,” Kristian says. They partnered with a ‘crowd-source science’ organization called Adventure Scientists for the project, which compiled data on micro-plastics from adventurers around the globe.

An environmental science graduate from UCSB’s Bren School, Kristian dreamed of creating nature-based, educational expeditions. He was funded as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to do a year-long series of magazine articles (published in Pacific Standard) in Mexico about climate adaptation while driving a Ford van all the way down the coast from California to Oaxaca. Yet his true ambition was to make an ocean voyage.

Once in the dreamy islands of the South Seas they wondered, “could we actually stay here and raise a family?” Famously, on their very first date, Sabrina asked Kristian whether he wanted to have kids. But nobody imagined she’d get pregnant with identical twins, while trying to launch a charter business in Tahiti.

They named their new business Green Coco Charters, and somehow got it running just after the pandemic hit in 2020. How did they fund their boat upgrade, a 46 foot catamaran, when they had no income for 3 years? Remember all those co-op members that joined them for their voyage, whose schedule wasn’t supposed to succeed? They raised $300,000 through their cooperative, via private loans and investments for their new charter boat.

For the last 3 years, Sabrina and Kristian ran their family-friendly, wellness focused sailing trips in the remote atolls of Tuamotus, an archipelago of pristine wilderness and authentic culture near Tahiti — with their twin babies growing up aboard. “Its definitely been a wild ride,” says Sabrina. “Our biggest issue has been getting reliable nannies to help us out. But honestly, the guests have all loved it. It’s a bonus to their sailing trip — like having baby TV in paradise,” she laughs.

So if things are going well with their charter company, why do an around-the-world voyage now? “Our girls are growing up. Where will they go to school?” Kristian asks. “We want to give them a real world education, by circumnavigating the globe on a sailboat.” Their first voyage 8 years ago was so memorable because they shared it with others, so they want to do the same thing again.

Their vision is to offer experiential learning for families who join 10 days trips during their around-the-world voyage. Onboard teachers will take kids of varying ages to daily beach classrooms and field trips. Meanwhile, parents and other visitors will have access to optional workshops, à la Nat Geo style, that weave together with the places they are visiting: with topics like ecology, history, mindfulness, and personal growth.

To find space for all these teachers in their educational circumnavigation, Kristian and Sabrina realized the perfect boat is… a bit bigger. With 5 cabins and space for voyage crew, a 60 foot catamaran is in their sights. For the third time, they are opening the doors for community investment in a new adventure. “Doing charter trips is super expensive – over $5000 per week, per couple. Our members get time aboard these fantastic trips in paradise, for a tiny fraction of the cost. And we get to run the boat,” Sabrina explains.

“Doing a circumnavigation takes a leap of faith,” Kristian says. “We know it takes time to prepare, so we are starting early. After purchasing the new boat, we plan to spend two years in the Channel Islands getting everything dialed in, sharing trips with interested visitors. It’ll be a really fun homecoming, and a great way to prepare for the next adventure.”

If interested in learning more, check out the proposal for the Green Coco Expedition on their blog: greencoconutrun.com/2023/03/25/our-expedition-proposal/

Follow their real time updates about the boat purchase and investment opportunities on their community page: community.greencoconutrun.com

Previous articles and press: greencoconutrun.com/about/media/

Just launched! Our Investor Proposal for the Green Coco Expedition is available: an around-the-world educational voyage for wellness and families. Excited to make this a reality!!

Continue reading →

People keep asking us: “where will the twins go to school?”

During our time in the South Seas, we met many families home-schooling their kids. Cruising boats, it turns out, are an amazing platform for direct learning through adventures and global cultures. Kids growing up on boats tend to be remarkably mature, with curiosity, motivation, and love of learning. 

Yet as we know, homeschooling is tough, especially when also managing a boat… Furthermore, the cruising lifestyle limits social relationships over time. We researched many existing programs, and began creating our own unique idea. An around-the-world educational voyage. Perhaps even with a fleet of other family boats. This could be an amazing family-friendly adventure — with onboard teachers for the kids, and visiting experts to help us keep learning too!

This is how the Green Coco Expedition was born. What began as a way to get our kids the best education we could imagine, turned into “hey, let’s make the best adventure we can imagine” for ourselves and others to share.

It’s true we just moved aboard Selaví three years ago. Yet Green Coco Charters has already developed into a unique wellness & family charter company. We’re ahead of schedule paying our investor loans and many have come to enjoy their investor benefits! Selaví will stay in French Polynesia running trips under a new captain and chef. This will allow us to sink our teeth into something new — not because we’re necessarily ready, but because it’s time, and we’re all super excited about it!

To realize our vision, we know it will take a bigger boat, likely requiring a year for the delivery, and two years of preparation. To complete a dream 10 year circumnavigation before our twins turn 18, we need to start now. The clock is ticking… We have the inspiration and the vision, so we’re going for it. Who’s in?

What have we learned during the last 7 years of sailing the South Seas with our adventure co-op and raising a family?

Come find out during one of our upcoming slideshows. Captain K is presenting in California for the first time since the pandemic.

Public slideshow THIS WEDNESDAY in Santa Barbara, details below.

Mid October slideshows in San Diego, LA, Santa Cruz, Bay Area — if interested in joining, drop us a message at greencoconutrun at gmail dot com.

Green Coco Slideshow. 7 years in the South Seas: our adventure co-op & raising a family.

WEDNESDAY SEP 21 6:30PM at 2020 Alameda Padre Serra #125 (Toad Co courtyard).

We’ll cover:

— The origins of Green Coco

— 5 rarely visited islands we went to

— Keys to Intuition

— Starting our Charter Business in French Polynesia

— Running trips with Twins aboard

— Future Preview: our Expedition School

At 70 feet deep, the groupers were packed like sardines, barely swimming side by side, waiting for their turn to spawn. We lay with them breathing on SCUBA. Calmly, the fish moved around and above us, like we were at a music concert with just standing room. But the real show was fish themselves.

We were there for a once-a-year phenomenon: the spawning of the camouflage grouper. They gather in the passes of the Tuamotus in humongous numbers, timing with the full moon closest to the winter solstice (June 21 in the southern hemisphere).

The mind-blowing part wasn’t just the sheer numbers of fish all around us — it was how intimate the experience felt. All the fish were incredibly relaxed, they swam up to us like they wanted to be petted. Then as a females made their move to release eggs, the males suddenly exploded in a flurry, trying get into the action, spiraling upwards in the water column at warp speed, followed soon by other fish and reef sharks hoping to eat eggs or hapless fish not paying attention.

Mind you, this is occurring during an outgoing current in really rough seas, so if we do it wrong, we drift out to sea in a flash.. There is a lot at stake as we then have to surface in the radical turbulence of 2 foot standing waves and currents, and hope our dinghy driver is there to pick us up.

The day before the spawning… the camouflage groupers are congregating in huge numbers.

The actual spawning is fast and furious…

Watch the 2 minute video on our Patreon page:

Interested in visiting French Polynesia by sailboat?

Contact us or visit our website for details.

I have incredible admiration for Manta Rays. How many huge creatures remain calm and comfortable as you swim 3 feet away? (The Whale Shark is another incredibly graceful animal).

Mantas are the ballet dancers of the sea; voyagers of the oceans; playful and delightful beings. Since we arrived in French Polynesia we’ve had the great fortune to spend hours watching Mantas.

We often swim with Mantas in “cleaning stations” where they circles slowly as tiny wrasse fish clean them of parasites (this is a common practice by many large fish, including sharks and groupers).

I remember taking my parents (age 80 and 74) swimming with Mantas while a squall was dumping rain on us, and underwater it was perfectly calm and beautiful!

Another memorable experience with Mantas was Sabrina’s first freedive in 3 years after battling an ear injury: it was simply sublime.

Occasionally we see Mantas in less predictable places: roaming around Reef Passes, or feeding on plankton… sometimes right under our boat! Such as this unforgettable day, video originally posted to our Patreon page.

It was really lucky to see them. I once told a friend, admiring her ability to attract great things to her life, “You are so lucky.” She responded, “Nah, I just go outside the house with positive vibes. Good things are bound to happen!”

This was the case here. Effort is needed for luck. From the surface we saw nothing. Thanks to Sabrina and our crewmate Erika going swimming to the beach (instead of taking the easy option, the dinghy), they saw the Mantas feeding right in front of the boat! Lucky are those who make the effort.

Some interesting information about Manta Rays. There are actually two types: the Oceanic Manta Ray and Reef Manta Ray. All the Mantas we show here are Reef Mantas. Note that the main differences are:

• Size. Oceanic Mantas are much bigger with wingspans up to 29feet, while Reef Mantas are plenty big with wingspans up to 15feet.
• Habitat. Oceanic Mantas roam the open ocean, Reef Mantas stay close to coasts
• Coloration. Oceanic Mantas have more dark areas but fewer spots on their underbelly, compared to Reef Mantas.

Source: Scuba Libre and Manta Advocates

Another amazing characteristic shared by Mantas: self-awareness.

As the University of Washington’s School of Marine Affairs describes: “Chimpanzees preen in front of mirrors, elephants inspect themselves in reflective surfaces, and dolphins name themselves with individual whistles. Surprisingly, manta rays are in the same category as these charismatic mammals when it comes to intelligence tests. A recent study found that giant manta rays display the distinct behaviors humans assign to self-awareness.”

Mantas have the biggest brains of any fish studied so far (in terms of brain mass to body mass ratio). One manta asked a freediver for help to remove hooks from her under-belly: watch it in this video!

Manta Rays are phenomenal creatures and we feel so blessed to spend time with them.