Tipsea Tours: Turning an idea into a reality

From left, Josh Revoy, Grace Kim, Colin Wadsworth of A Life Off Shore Tours and Kim Cody and Luke Gillies of Tipsea Tours. (Bea Cabrera)

Some people look for greener pastures. Luke Gillies and his colleagues came to Saipan to look for bluer oceans—a term they use to find a new place that offer new opportunities.

After thinking about it for quite a few years, what finally tipped Gillies’ hand were two powerful hurricanes in September—Irma and Maria—that swept through out the U.S. Virgin Islands and upended his business there.

“I was in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands for the last five years, then the hurricanes rolled through and changed things,” Gillies said. “I figured it’s the best time to come out here.”

Here meant not just settling down on Saipan but also setting up a new business venture called Tipsea Tours—a fishing business that also offers scuba diving, boat rentals, spear fishing, free diving, and boat charter services.

“I just put up my business in St. Thomas for sale today. We have been here only for a week so we are kind our feeling it out and weighing our options. We are trying to find what’s missing, what we can contribute and add, [and] look for any boat businesses. So far, we like it,” Gillies said.

Saipan seemed more like a dream when Gillies first heard about it. “I first heard of Saipan six years ago when I was working in Juno, Alaska, for another boat captain. Knowing where I was from, this boat captain told me that he lived in St. John, St. Thomas, and the Virgin Islands and he also lived on Saipan.”

“He was telling me that the Caribbean had nothing on the waters here. Crystal-blue waters, nice weather, and friendly people. He was telling me a story that he was walking down the road and he cannot keep going without people inviting him to the barbecues and that’s just kind of at the back of my head for six years,” he added.

Gillies also wanted to see if another U.S. territory would be a good ground to start anew after being sidelined by Irma and Maria.

“We were looking at another U.S. territory to start again because it doesn’t require a visa and we know there is Hawaii and Guam but we were looking for a small island to start small but sure,” he said.

Colin Wadsworth, who owns A Life Off Shore Tours and is friends with Gillies, said that Saipan feels like home already.

“After being here for a week, we feel comfortable and at home. We are still licking our wounds from the storm and so we are here checking the market out and we like what we see. It’s like 180 degrees different from what we are used to,” he added.

There aren’t as many marinas here compared to St. Thomas, where a marina is located every half mile.

“It is not something that we are used to because there are as many tourists here as we had in St. Thomas…but I understand that the marina here is protected so that’s a really good thing. There are boat ramps here and the roads are good, so it’s no big deal to have boats that you pull out,” Gillies said.

With so much growth happening on Saipan, he hopes to find a niche.

“We see that Saipan is a good island where we can spend time and invest years. We’ve done a lot of travels, we have spent so much time in the Virgin Islands and we see a different market and life here,” he said.

“We went snorkeling two days ago to check out the tanks and when we got out of the water, a nice family invited us to their barbecue. They gave us food and beer, introduced us to the entire family, and invited us to Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone has just been real nice!” Gillies added.

Tipsea Tours and A Life Off Shore were welcomed at the general membership meeting of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce last Nov. 2 at the Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Sandcastle.

“We are here indefinitely and looking at turning an idea into reality,” Gillies said.