Jana & Dieter

Founding Partners

On a cold snowy winter night in Switzerland back in December 2003 Dieter & Jana started a project concept folder with the words “Little Boats in the Water”, which all stemmed from their love for the sea and sailing. The idea was a rough outline for a small marina business somewhere in the Caribbean. They had already been sailing the region together since 1999 (Dieter for almost 20 years on various trips). Dieter’s second Atlantic crossing in 2004 brought their beloved SY Blanquilla to Grenada but it was Jana who found the spot on a solo trip to the island a few months later.

It was clear to them from the start they needed a symbol for the marina that could act as an icon to use as a logo. Their first idea was to build a lighthouse on a floating platform, but this was complicated. Then, while surfing the web one evening, Dieter came across the 100-year old lightship. The lightship with a blue lighthouse tower would ultimately become the name for the new resort Le Phare Bleu which is french for blue lighthouse.

Island Life was calling, and Dieter and Jana were running on a dream. Jana would then officially move from a long and storied career in television and radio broadcast in Switzerland to managing the construction of LPB and creating a marina resort. Dieter would sell his music school in Switzerland and spent much time back and forth to the lightship restoration in Germany before shipping it down to Grenada. Once complete Dieter would move to Grenada full time to realize his dream of becoming a tugboat captain. The marina and lightship would first open in June 2007 completing the first phase.

The Le Phare Bleu dream was originally meant to be just a small marina. As time went on the it morphed into a much larger resort project as they essentially built a small village. The entire resort would then officially open in April 2008. It’s clear that Dieter and Jana love a good project. Over the years they have helped develop local music talent as well as launching music events and festivals they also created the world’s only dinghy concert. Now life has slowed down for the Swiss couple where they focus their energy on music and their hobby farm high up in the mountains where they live with their 3 dogs, 2 cats and 7 chickens.

Christine & Devin

Managing Partners

Once upon a time hospitality professionals Christine and Devin met working in an old historic railway hotel in Canada, The Fort Garry Hotel www.fortgarryhotel.com. Beginning first as colleagues & friends then flourishing into husband and wife. They married in Hawaii where the dream of island life was born. After getting back to Canada in the dead of winter (-35 Celsius…true story!) they sold their house, car and put some items into storage and left for the Caribbean with no set plans other than to take their hospitality skills with them (sizzled as some would say). Grenada was the first stop in 2004 as they had some family to stay and visit with. Shortly thereafter they met Wendy and Bernardo (the owners of Laluna www.laluna.com) and one thing quickly led to another and they began a 5 year journey managing their first Caribbean boutique hotel.

In 2009 they made the hard but exciting decision to leave Grenada to travel around the world for a year and start their consulting company called Niche BHOC www.nichebhoc.com. Their consulting gigs led them to Central American jungles, the Pacific coast of Mexico and to live on various remote Grenadine islands. They worked together on various hospitality and development projects from pre-openings and launches to transition of management or ownership to rebranding and even agri-tourism projects.

After a few exciting years of travel and consulting opportunities, they hoped they would find their way back to Grenada and in 2013 they got the call about just that. After completing an 18 month turn around contract for Mount Cinnamon Beach Resort they decided to stay in Grenada for good this time!! Their ongoing love of Grenada and the warmth of the people solidified their decision. At this point they launched their food company called Island Fever Restaurants (www.islandfevergrenada.com) while managing vacation rentals for friends and doing some other consulting gigs in The Grenadines.

In 2016 Devin joined the original Pure Grenada Music Festival team (that Dieter & Jana created) and that is where the relationship started which led to a partnership at Le Phare Bleu in late 2018. Dieter and Jana created such an amazing property and Christine and Devin could not feel more fortunate and proud to partner with them. What they have been able to create with all this amazing infrastructure really speaks to their hard-work, determination and dedication over the years. The Swiss rule! The next phase for Le Phare Bleu (LPB) has become this transition to a more casual marina resort, rebranding the property to LPB with tropical cottages and the introduction of Island Fever Tropical Tavern, and to create a unique marina village.