Pura Vida

Captain - Philip Hopson 31,

Philip is from the seafaring town of Liverpool, England. His maritime career started at the age of 13, when he started working every weekend and holidays on a local Tallship. Aged 17 he went to maritime school in the UK and graduated with distinction, then began on Super Yachts in 2008. Since then, he has worked all over the world on a variety of yachts, crossing the Atlantic and Indian oceans. He holds a Master Commercial Yachts Unlimited range 500GT License.
Recently Philip has worked as Captain on SY Midori, MY Golden Eagle, SY OceanStriver and MY Lionshare – as well as many years on MY Lionshare as first officer, a position he was promoted to at the age of 20. He has also served as engineer on the 40m Schooner SY Naema.
Onboard he enjoys giving guests the absolute best cruising experience possible, through visiting interesting destinations, providing excellent hospitality onboard and a wide array of activities on and in the water!
In his spare time, Philip enjoys travelling, being outdoors, and as well as having a passion for food - keeping fit; running and working out as much as possible.



Chief Steward - Ryan Bergstrom, 28

Ryan grew up on the shores of one of the world’s largest lakes, Lake Michigan. He has grown accustom to feeling most at home on or by the water. He has lived on the coast on the Pacific Ocean in California, Atlantic Ocean in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Florida; and has also lived in the South of France, in the Mediterranean. Sailing with his family as a child was his first brush with yachting, however living in Florida and being surrounded by superyachts convinced him to make the switch from land-based hospitality to yachting. Before yachting, Ryan curated an art gallery (whilst studying developmental psychology in Boston), has run service and hospitality at fine dining events around the world. Prior to MY Pura Vida he has worked on a variety of yachts from 24-116m in length including been sole stew on MY Enterprise & SY Midori and sole stew/chef onboard MY Match.
Being one of seven siblings, Ryan is great at helping take care of guests of all ages and loves helping guests to enjoy the fantastic array of watersports toys which are available on MY Pura Vida. When Ryan is not working, you will find him on the beach with friends, sailing or practicing yoga.



Mate – Charlotte, 30

Charlotte grew up in a small village outside Chester, England. Living on a peninsula developed her passion for the ocean, along with her love of traveling – the yachting industry is a perfect fit! 5 years ago she made a base in the South of France, truly embracing the Mediterranean lifestyle. Charlotte’s first job in yachting was aboard MY DB9, a 170 Palmer Johnson, itching to see more of the world she then went onto join the 216 MY Invictus where she gained over 150,000 miles! Before joining Pura Vida, Charlotte worked aboard MY Zulu, a 115 Sunseeker. Her position as Mate perfectly combines her array of skills, knowledge and passion for people, giving guests a truly special experience. Warm hearted and extremely likable, Charlotte is a natural at making people smile and feel welcomed into the Pura Vida family that they want to stay longer! In her downtime you can find her chatting to locals, sampling the local cuisines or more often, out on the water!



Chef – TBC

A seasonal freelance chef from our Bahamas Collection Fleet who specializes in cuisine local to the cruising area; making the very best of the locally available ingredients.
As well as local cuisine, our chefs work closely with our guests to accommodate any culinary preferences and dietary requirements.