Caye Chapel Four Seasons Belize Plans to Open in 2025
Caye Chapel, the incredibly interesting and gorgeous 2.5 mile long island set on Belize’s barrier reef, has officially started the transformation into a Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences, 9-Hole White Shark Golf Course and much much more.
The developers – the Caye Chapel Development Company is a consortium of international investors with an initial investment of US$200mm that is planning to open the first phase – which includes the hotel, amenities such as the spa and wellness center, and the golf course designed by Greg Norman – by 2025.
This past Saturday, the development company and their team hosted a swanky party for the key players in the project, the Prime Minister of Belize and some key Cabinet members, and the press. It was the official reveal of the plans for the project and the breaking of soil.
But let’s back up a bit…
Belize has been buzzing for years…for decades…about the arrival of a Four Seasons Resort to the country. Here is a photo I took in 2012 – taking off from Caye Caulker, just a minute or two later, you fly right over Caye Chapel.
But rumors solidified into something more when Greg Norman (yes – THE Greg Norman) visited Belize and Caye Chapel released this video.
…”You can go to all the places around the world…I can’t think of anywhere else in the world you can do what we are doing on Caye Chapel…”
Caye Chapel: The Plans
The Four Seasons at Caye Chapel is described as “A community of barefoot luxury”. When the project is complete, there will be a five-star Four Seasons hotel with 104 hotel keys located at the northern tip of the island.
On the NW side of the island, there will be a string of over-the-water bungalows that are part of the hotel.
There are 97 estate lots for sale for private individuals on the island and there will be an upgraded marina with 57 slips.
A private beach clubhouse for the estate homeowners with include a spa, games center, kids club, and restaurant. There will be 3 restaurants on the island in total.
There will be a completely new golf course designed by Greg Norman to take advantage of the incredible beauty of the island. (You can see this guest post when the golf course was still open in 2013 and what the resort looked like then)
9-holes only since visitors are more likely to spend shorter amounts of time golfing on vacation…and longer stretches doing activities and relaxing. It will be 9 holes but the plans sound incredible.
I mean…all I can say at this point is WOW.
Caye Chapel plans to employ about 600 Belizeans. The developers said that they are not in the business of tour guiding or fishing charters or in the business of boat transfers – that Belizeans will be hired or contracted for all of these positions.
I can’t even imagine how many more workers will be needed during this massive construction project.
Caye Chapel: The Location
Caye Chapel lies along Belize’s barrier reef – the 2nd longest barrier reef in the world. The marina at Caye Chapel is about 16 miles from San Pedro – on Ambergris Caye. And the same distance, from Belize City – it’s 16 miles from Belize City to Caye Chapel.
The island’s closest neighbor is lovely Caye Caulker. It’s just under one mile from Caye Caulker’s southern tip to Caye Chapel.
Caye Chapel: The Reveal Party
The party was held at Caye Chapel on Saturday afternoon. The invitation asked that we dress in white and khaki.
I jumped on the water taxi from San Pedro to Caye Caulker to Caye Chapel. About 40 minutes in all.
A large catamaran from Belize City to the event…here it is arriving in the marina.
The ministers and the PM had arrived by plane and by helicopter. There is an airstrip at the south end of Caye Chapel.
A hot September day, we were ushered into a cool tent along the water.
Inside two bars were serving gorgeous drinks and champagne…
Chairs and seating areas were set up…and then the presentation.
A representative from Four Seasons sent a video message. The developers talked about their dreams for the project…
The Prime Minister spoke about Belize – and what we have to offer to the Four Seasons – and the work ahead to get this project finished.
The Four Seasons is an incredible brand. And does put a spotlight on the country for a new level of tourism.
The media outside after the presentations…
My ask – for a tour of the island. Construction has only just started – you can see hundreds of cement pilings on the north side of the island but not much else. I hope to return soon to get a sense of the beach area and the size of this island.
From the small bit I saw…the huge pine trees and the gorgeous stretches of green lawn, it’s incredibly impressive. I’ll report back!
And then leave you with this. Because I too am just learning of the really REALLY interesting history of Caye Chapel. During the presentation, they touched on a bit of it…but I have more research to do. Here’s a brief summary with some links so you can read more if you are interested!
Caye Chapel: The Amazing History
- Caye Chapel was originally owned and planted by owned by Isaiah Emmanuel Morter, “Belize’s first black millionaire (b. 1860-d. 1924)
- In his will, he left the island to Marcus Garvey or The Marcus Garvey Movement
- The Marcus Garvey Movement bequest by Emmanuel Morter was nullified in court (this looks VERY questionable!) in the late 1920s
- Larry Addington of Kentucky owned the island in the 80s – and built the golf course and the resort
- In 2012, the Belize Bank owned the property and sold it to the Four Seasons Development group (see: Ashcroft Sells Caye Chapel for $30MM)
Are there holes in this story? It’s super mysterious! I need to dig deeper here.
Please let me know if you have any information – I’d love to add it to this post.
My Thoughts
I’m excited about the Four Seasons Belize. I’ve stayed in a handful during my previous life – and they are just perfection. Caye Chapel is such an incredible destination. 5 or 6 miles of beachfront. Reef side, calmer west side. Sunrise and sunset.
Plus, it’s easy to get to Caye Caulker and to the mainland so visitors can see more of the beauty of Belize.
The Four Season Belize team promised that the property would be open to all. Exciting.
For more on this project, see the Four Seasons information page.
What a pretty day…the view as I headed back home from the beautiful and intriguing private island.
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Hi Rebecca,
Having lived in Hawaii for so many years, I got to see firsthand the effects of having golf courses placed close to any kind of coral.
Several environmental scientists with whom I spoke said that one of the single worst things that humans can do near a coral reef system is to build a golf course due to the amount of fertilizer and other chemicals which is required to maintain the course.
This Four Seasons is going to be so close to the reef. I would love to hear, from the management there, exactly what type of mitigating procedures they are going to put in place so that maintaining the golf course does not have adverse effects on the barrier reef.
I have snorkeled offshore near a number of golf courses in Hawaii, and there is no doubt that this activity has a massive impact on sea life.
Don’t mean to be a downer, but I hope someone will ask this question.
Astroturf…
hi rebecca,
thanks for the post.
question when these huge big name resorts come to belize what are the odds of a permanent residency foreigner receiving a employment opportunity. do they look to employ belizeans first or whomever is most qualified for that particular position gets it.
thanks appreciate your response.
To get a job in Belize as a non-resident, you must have a skill or resume that can’t be found within the Belizean workforce. So yes…it’s Belizeans first – and it makes sense.
How sad for the locals. Many locals still have nothing more than a cloth to act as a front door. No screens.
I never thought I’d see the day when Belize would be taken over by big name chain hotels…..
Totally unnecessary…big business comes in fattens their wallets and ruins everything. Where is all the waste and sewage going?
I’m not sure – I imagine a development of this size will have a serious modern system. I wish we all had that sort of luxury!
My family and friends have been coming to Ambergris Caye for over twenty years for two- four weeks at a time usually three times a year. We’ve seen a lot of change in San Pedro. We’ve owned and rented and will be back in a couple of months. We’ve fished around Caye Chapel a number of times and it is a very beautiful little island very close to the reef.
There is no way a golf course will not kill the closest reef. It has never been done before and it surly won’t happen here. Although we were always reef fishing or catching sardines for bait when I have been there those over the water cabanas are probably in shallow water which today is the home of the island’s bonefish and permit, just like Cayo Rosario north of San Pedro. And finally there is all of the trash and the septic waste. Every of my family and friends who have snorkeled and dove in both Belize and Hawaii comment about all of the death they saw in Hawaii and how Belize was so beautiful, colorful and alive. This will be the death of the ecosystem at Caye Chapel and as we all know there is no trickle down economy. Aloha oukou
“septic waste”? LOL – a development of this magnitude on a little sliver of a sandbar will not use a septic system. They will install a sewage treatment facility. The liquids will pass through ozone treatment and reverse osmosis, then be used to irrigate, fill you pools, and drink. The solids can be used for fertilizer and even baked into blocks for your new home – aka: living in a sh¡thouse.
As for the golf coarse? Astroturf…
lol
Good luck looking “a little deeper” into the island’s shady history. I’d start with the Ashcroft connections…
For those of you concerned about the effects of the golf course on the reef I will remind you that Addington built and maintained an 18 hole golf course on this island 40 years ago and the course was still open as late as 2016. Please get off your high horse and come and enjoy as amazing island.