Darnvi St Marthe always wanted to make sure that in all his ventures he was doing something that he enjoyed. With a background in the hospitality industry, Darnvi nurtured his creativity and innovation and eventually took his hobby of adventure and discovering new, fascinating places in Saint Lucia and made it a flourishing business.
“Saint Lucia is always full of surprises and the main goal is always making sure that the customer is satisfied and is experiencing something new.” Here is everything the founder of 758 Excursions, Darnvi St.Marthe, had to share about his journey of showing everything St.Lucia has to offer.
Who is the face behind 758 excursions?
Darnvi: I am the face of 758 Excursions. I have been a chef for over 20 years, well-established in the industry. I am also a family person – married with two kids. I was born and raised in Babonneau. When I do the tours, I am usually quiet, just observing and supervising the activities while my team takes care of the group and creating the experience for them. My passion is what I’m doing right now – unique things, different from the norm, discovering places, building stuff like transport vehicles.
Tell us about your journey as a chef…
Darnvi: I started working at Corbones (an Italian restaurant) washing dishes as a summer job, while still going to secondary school. I always admired how creative chefs could be. I was always looking over the chef’s shoulder to learn as much as possible. In form 5, I received an offer to become a cook at the same restaurant. I then climbed up the ladder in the industry and became the Head Chef at Coco Palm. The position as Head Chef then became very demanding. While it was something that I enjoyed – I lost out on time with my family.
How did you start off adventure seeking?
Darnvi: I started it as a hobby in my spare time.
On my off days, I would go down to a village like Dennery, Micoud or anywhere that I might have heard has a spot and just explore it. I would engage with the community and ask them if they know about it and sometimes get lost on our journey finding the particular location. During those different adventures, we discovered a lot of different waterfalls, rivers and other nice locations to chill or cook at. In regards to developing the tours, I knew about the guys that did hiking tours (Father Nature) so I tried to do something different. I know that a lot of people want to go to nice spots around the island but don’t necessarily want to walk, so I thought that our vehicles could be the ones to take them to those spots. I thought that we could take you to places that no longer have a footpath or actual road access. We will bring the experience to you in a different way so that you don’t have to go through the hiking part of it, if you don’t want to. Our vehicles are built to handle the different environments and pressure of off roading.
What were some of the highlights along the way?
Darnvi: Friends and family would ask about where the best spots were but they would always get lost, so I would usually just bring them on my own. I realised that some people may want to go to these locations but they don’t have the right vehicle and my vehicle might be filled, depending on how many friends or
family I have with me. Other friends would also ask about bringing their own family and friends to nice spots when they visit. So, I decided that I would get a second car for when they come to visit. The look on their faces when we got to the different locations made me so happy, and ultimately, made me realise that I could do this as a business. Honestly, it’s not really about making money but 758 Excursions wants to show Saint Lucians what they are missing out on in their own island.
What was your approach and strategy to growing your business to what it is today?
Darnvi: Well from the beginning, we knew that
music would be an important part of the journey that people like. People know what they like and what they want to listen to. On our tours, we wanted to make sure that our clients had the option to customise their playlists and listen to whatever they wanted on their tour. This would help make sure that they could create the specific type of vibe that they want. We also try to keep our prices where we always break even, so our prices are reasonable to our clients. After the tour is done, we create customised videos with a song of the client’s liking and send it to them, so that they could post on their social media, if they wanted to. That’s mainly how we have been able to grow and gain exposure. As time goes by, we just keep investing more, getting more vehicles and just building on the business.
How do you deal with challenges on the job? Bad weather, vehicular issues and so on…
Darnvi: Most of our employees have experience in
mechanics and all are equipped with tools and other supplies for our vehicles. Also, we try to have back up vehicles at most of our locations so that in the event of a breakdown, the vehicles can be interchanged if the problem can’t be fixed at the spot. However, in that circumstance, we always try to create a vibe so they don’t feel like their experience has been interrupted. We try to make sure our vehicles are serviced frequently and equipped with the right tires and so on, to avoid any challenges.
In terms of the weather, we always let customers know of upcoming bad weather and enquire as to whether they would like to reschedule or still continue their tour. Either way, we want to cater to the customer completely. So, if they are comfortable with a rainy- day tour, we would let them know exactly what to expect during the tour and on our end, possibly change the tour a bit to compensate for the bad weather. Rain or shine, we are always prepared to accommodate our customers and make sure that they enjoy themselves and the experience, regardless.
Do you ever run out of tours?
Darnvi: It may happen eventually, but St. Lucia is always full of surprises and I don’t think we’ve gotten to that point yet. For Instance, there’s a spot in Micoud that we’ve been having tours at quite frequently, so it’s familiar to us at this point. Just when we thought that was it, we made an observation during a visit and noticed that as the waves were coming in, there was a buildup of water pressure that would make a blowhole effect. There’s also a step down to the ocean and we realised a splash would happen repeatedly, so we decided to have people stand on a particular rock, where the splash would make for a beautiful video shot that looks amazing. That discovery made it a whole new experience. So, surprises like that make me realise that we won’t run out of tours any time soon.
We also just try to create several options for add-ons to our packages. For example, our clients are able to hike to a cool spot, where they can camp overnight or enjoy a barbecue. That’s where I come in with my culinary background and create a catered party type of tour. We also offer games and other activities that our customers can do during their tours. Soon, we’ll be introducing an ATV component of the tour.
How would you advise someone who’s contemplating venturing into this field of work?
Darnvi: Whatever you’re doing, make it unique. If anyone else tries to do the same thing it would not be the same because it requires your unique flare and personality. Also, whatever it is, be consistent. I would say don’t think about it as a money-making venture but ensure you’re passionate about it and always enjoy it. . When I do a tour, I too have a good time because of the different people I meet. The goal is always making sure everyone enjoys themselves, leaves satisfied and has a good time.
I would also recommend following up with your customers and asking them for feedback – both positive and negative. . Gaining that insight will serve as an opportunity for the tour to be enhanced and shows customers that you are committed to meeting and exceeding their expectations.
With so many adventures and experience under Darnvi’s belt, we wish him all the best in growing his business even more!
