The 186-foot-long Feadship Solace offers a unique diver with sperm whales program in Dominica

EYOS Expeditions/Stein Retzlaff/Mosaic Studios

Can you imagine slipping quietly into the ocean near the Caribbean island of Dominica as a school bus-size sperm whale slowly swims by? Or maybe being lucky enough to encounter a stationary group of sleeping whales with their heads pointing perpendicularly to the surface of the water looking almost like the statues on Easter Island? Or what it’s like to hear, and feel, the audible clicks that sperm whales use to communicate with each other while you’re in the water? Or sense the intelligence when you make eye contact with one of these special creatures. Or learn about how the whales behave from local guides who have been visiting some of these whales for generations?

Well, here’s the deal. Being able to swim with majestic, highly intelligent, 40-foot-long, 40-ton sperm whales in the open ocean close to the lush island of Dominica is not new. In fact, there are roughly 200 resident whales that are familiar with humans living near the island year-round. And there are several companies that have the necessary permits to allow them to take guests out to swim safely the whales.

But the truth is, none of those small boat tour companies can offer the superyacht luxury, wildlife knowledge, local expertise and safe access to Dominica’s sperm whale population quite like EYOS Expeditions. And that’s simply because EYOS is working closely with the owner of the nearly 200-foot-long Feadship Solace to offer a range of experiences unlike any other charter yacht has done before.

But it’ll be better if I let EYOS Expeditions CEO Ben Lyons explain.

BS: I’m keen to hear how EYOS Expeditions began to offer trips to swim with sperm whales. Can you tell me how it started?

BL: We’re always on the lookout for yachts that are owned by commercially minded people who see an opportunity for chartering if it’s approached correctly. In fact, we’ve had a lot of private clients hire us to map out a remote destination-around-the-world voyage they can do on their one private yacht. But this is the first time we’d been able to build a remote destination-around-the-world itinerary for at yacht—Solace—that would split time significant time between the owner and charter guests.

BS: So, how does diving with whales in Dominica fit into this picture?

BL: Well, the whole sperm whale program started when my wife, Kathryn Harrison—who definitely does not work for EYOS!—met the freediver and photographer Adam Slama while she was trekking through Bhutan with Richard Branson. During their time in Bhutan, Adam told her about the company he and partner Jackson Mawhinney (an ambitious, well-connected Dominican citizen who splits time between Dominica and London) had recently started to guide guests to swim with sperm whales. She simply said “You’ve got to meet them. They’re ‘your kind’ of people.”

She was right. Their Diving with Giants program helps lucky guests spend meaningful time in the water with the Dominica’s whales offshore. And their land-based Camp Dominica program introduces guests to Dominica’s unique, lush and unspoiled interior.

We always strive to offer something that’s going to appeal to that younger, new breed of yacht charter client who says, "I don’t want to go to the Caribbean and just sit on a beach. I want to get out there and be in the water with the whales.” These trips do just that.

In fact, Adam and Jackson are our exclusive partners in Dominica. And since the feedback from Solace guests that cruised between Antigua and Dominica to swim with the whales this winter was so positive, and the yacht’s innovative remote destination charter itinerary has been pushed back a bit, we’re excited to report that Solace will be offering Antigua-Dominica whale trips next winter.

BS: So, you’re combining an “expedition-like wildlife experience” with a more traditional “superyacht luxe Caribbean experience” in ways that allow guests a chance to explore a lush, unspoiled Caribbean island and dive with sperm whales, and be pampered on a 186-foot-long private yacht, but without having to trek all the way to the Maldives or the South Pacific, to do it. Right?

BL: Exactly. The whales are actually only a few hours’ flight from the East Coast of the US!

And from what Ben tells me there’s way more to come. Because in addition to offering one-of-a-kind charter experiences, Solace is also part of the Yachts for Science program that helps match researchers, scientists, and storytellers who are doing vital research with owners that have yachts that can help get the scientists out into waters they are studying. In fact Solace has already hosted a team of scientists who investigated an area of deep water off the coast of the Dominican Republic thought to be a key site for whales migrating to tropical breeding grounds.

Watch this space.