When your family has owned a local dive shop for over 50 years, your childhood looks a bit different than most. You learn how to dock a boat before you learn how to park a car. You know how to navigate the seas better than the streets. And you become connected with the ocean as you would your childhood home.
That describes Sky Moore’s upbringing and explains her deep-seated passion for the sea. She’s been swimming as long as she’s been walking and started diving when she was 10 years old. Her confidence in the water and with boats led her to becoming a dive boat captain at only 21 years old.
Despite being a male-dominated industry, Sky took to the helm of a 40-foot dive boat like a fish to water. She flourished as a captain, enjoying every minute she got to share her world with people from all over the globe.
Sky viewed her job as not only a way to share the beauty of the Keys but also as an opportunity to educate people on the importance of protecting them. It gave her a purpose beyond having a successful career.
As Sky’s clientele grew, so did her social circle. She enjoyed spending her free time with friends and soon met a fellow Coral Shores alumni. Dylan Moore had graduated a few years before Sky, but their paths eventually crossed, and they started hanging out more and more.
Dylan was also born and raised in the Keys, so he naturally had a lot in common with Sky. He has had a boat since he was 12 years old that he would take out by himself or with his friends. He ended up working with water, too, but at the Florida Keys Aquaduct.
Their friendship grew into more, and they have now been married for six years. Shortly after marrying, Sky was presented with a chance to open her own watersports company. She jumped at the opportunity, excited to build a community-focused business that particularly supported the women who shared her same passions.
Islander Girl Snorkel & Tours was born in 2019, offering snorkel tours, sandbar swims, sunset tours, and private charters to locals and visitors from around the world. The business runs mostly on girl power, employing half a dozen female captains and first mates.
Islander Girl operated out of Islander Resort for a few years until expansion became inevitable. Sky wanted to have her own dock and snorkel shop, which became a reality a year and a half ago at Casa Mar Village in Tavernier.
The Islander Girl’s Snorkel Shop sells pretty much everything you need for a day out on the water. Plus, a wonderful selection of quality souvenirs and locally-made products to take home.
Even though owning a business often turns into a 7-days-a-week endeavor, Dylan couldn’t help but see how rewarding it is for Sky. He supported her and encouraged her, and soon caught the entrepreneurial bug himself. While scrolling on Facebook one day, he saw that a local waste removal company he had seen around town was for sale. It offered a unique dump trailer service that operated under the simple premise of “You load it. We dump it.”
The dump trailers are hard to miss around town, as the company is humorously named Taking a Dump. After seeing the For Sale ad, Dylan came home and somewhat jokingly asked Sky, “Hey, what do you think about Taking a Dump? Should we buy it?” Seeing through his joking facade, Sky replied, “Sure, why not?”
Dylan had been wanting to feel the same satisfaction as Sky in owning a business, and her ‘Why not?’ echoed in his mind. So, Dylan reached out to the owner. He learned that the business was doing well, but the owner felt it was time to let someone else take it to the next level. Dylan could have bought the trailers and rebranded the company, but he thought, why would I give up such a memorable name? The funny name had certainly grabbed his attention long before he considered buying the company.
“People in the Keys have a great sense of humor,” Dylan says. “So why not give them a laugh while offering a helpful service?”
Now the proud owner of Taking a Dump, Dylan is pleased to offer fast deliveries from Key Largo to Marathon. His fleet includes 8 trailers in 3 different sizes and can be rented from 1 day to 2 weeks.
Even though Sky and Dylan take separate leadership for each business, they are actually co-owners who fully support each other however they can. Dylan helps with the tours, and Sky helps with marketing and scheduling the trailers. It’s a team effort that benefits both businesses, including Sky’s employees.
“One of the things I take the most pride in as a business owner is providing good steady jobs for good local people,” Sky says. “The dump trailer company further ensures that stability, as my captains can jump over to make a trailer delivery when there is a lull in the tour schedule or bad weather prevents us from going out.”
Their employees weren’t the only people Dylan and Sky considered when deciding to buy Taking a Dump. Dylan explains, “Whenever a storm hits the Keys, people come together and use any skill or equipment they have to help. Having these dump trailers puts us in a great position to help after the next storm. It gives us a practical opportunity to give back to our community.”
Giving back is also a fundamental aspect of Islander Girl Snorkel & Tours. The company donates money for every snorkeler to I.CARE, a local organization dedicated to restoring the reefs of Islamorada. Plus, Islander Girl pays for an I.CARE intern to go out to the reefs with them weekly.
Islander Girl also practices what they preach to their customers about protecting the reefs. They use and sell environmentally friendly products, like reusable cups on the tours and reef-safe sunscreen in the snorkel shop. The snorkel shop also features many local brands and products, once again supporting and promoting the Keys community.
As a fun extension of their eco-mission, Islander Girl hosts an annual Easter egg hunt at Islamorada Sandbar, where families bring their own boats and hunt for eco-friendly eggs. The 3rd Annual Islander Girl Egg Hunt is being held on March 29th, 30th, and 31st, and tickets are selling out fast!
Sky and Dylan often laugh about the odd juxtaposition of their businesses, with one running on girl power and the other running on boy toilet humor. For them, it all comes down to being passionate, if not for the job itself, then for the community it serves.
“If you are passionate about what you do, from snorkel tours to dump trailers, you’ll be successful,” Sky says. “And if you use what you do to help your community, you’ll be fulfilled.”
To get Egg Hunt tickets and to learn more about Islander Girl Snorkel & Tours, visit IslanderGirlTours.com or call (305)712-0032. For more information on Taking a Dump, visit TakingaDumpKeys.com or call (305)902-1183.
– Jerrica Mah is a writer, Army wife, and freelance book editor, who loves to travel with her family.
