History

The Creation of Thatch Caye

This Belizean Island Adventure began nearly a decade ago when Travis Holub, Steven Hewitt and Nancy Engel found an untouched 10 acre parcel in the Coco Plum Range, 9 miles off the undeveloped south central coast of Belize (formerly British Honduras).

Travis was raised in the Tropics and Steve was raised in the Big Apple. Nancy spent her early years living in different Cultures and Countries around the world.  Each of these handshake partners brought a wealth of diversity to the dream of creating a handmade Eco-Sensitive retreat.  Travis made the commitment to camp out in the elements on this unsheltered caye in order to experience first hand the winds, waves, tides and heat of this western caribbean country.

Steven and Nancy lived and worked stateside in order to support the daunting task of protecting, preserving, planting, and eventually constructing the facilities pictured on this site.  This live and learn partnership, through trial and error and a large helping of stubbornness, kept adjusting their visions and plans based on the insights Travis developed with his first hand experiences of nature’s unrelenting assaults.

The order of priorities was dictated by the seasonal changes in weather. Tides were at their peak in September & October, arctic air from Canada agitated the tropical atmosphere in winter and run-for-cover downpours in summer became the road map for early development decisions.

The coastline of this fragile island had to be protected from erosion.  Travis and his crew of  dedicated workers began the multi-year manual task of surrounding the island with sea walls and eliminating all low lying areas.

The next phase was to plant hundreds of mangrove, palm, pine, and buttonwood trees in order to create a nature park with a network of roots that would hold the place together. Nature responded predictably to the newly protected island and with a large helping of seaweed as fertilizer, Thatch Caye experienced explosive growth and decades of erosion were stopped in their tracks.

This island project was now ready to design and construct the infrastructure that would support tourists and visitors. Electricity was needed to power the tools that would construct the various facilities and the decision was made to let nature assist with her abundant solar and wind power.  The cost to harness nature’s power exclusively was still prohibitive, so gas and diesel generators were added to supplement the windmills and solar panels. Deep cycle batteries were bought to store the energy collected. The goal for the near future is to power Thatch Caye without the use of fossil fuels.

At this point, the island was whole and  looked like a nature retreat with a protected coastline, water collected and stored from clouds, and energy stored in batteries from sun and wind.

The final development phase was to design the living, dining and sleeping areas. This task was Steven’s forte, so, with pencil and graph paper in hand, he began the task of designing the interiors and exteriors of all the  buildings. Nancy was in charge of choosing the color schemes and d©cor for all of the living areas.

These design and construction choices were based on over 6 years of on site experience. Sleeping accommodations were raised high in the air and built over water to take advantage of the cooling breezes and wide open water views. All buildings were oriented to the easterly trade winds and the larger casitas included roof decks for vistas and privacy.

Thatch Central, which included the kitchen, dining and main gathering areas was located under the shade of towering palm and pine trees. Local craftsmen were employed to work with tropical hardwoods and create the unique bars, nooks, sculptures and carvings that have become one of the hallmarks of Thatch Caye Resort.

Even though Travis, Steven and Nancy had finally realized the dream of a protected handmade nature retreat off the coast of Belize, the final touch was to find the people who could manage the facility and guarantee a memorable experience for anyone who wished to spend time at Thatch Caye Resort. They’re now in place and excited to share this Eco Wonderland with YOU!