The Origin Story
Tropical Treasure Hunt was born of the imagination of a guy trying to impress a girl for her birthday.
Back in 2016 in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Anthony Schultz was looking out at the beach from his balcony thinking of something fun to do to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday. He was suddenly struck as if by lightning by a vision of a treasure chest exposed in the sand with the waves crashing on it. He thought, “It would be cool if she found riddles and clues around the island that led her to this treasure chest.”
It took 12 days of planning and a lot of work to create clues, drop them off at some of their favorite spots, and recruit others to help execute the treasure hunt. Fortunately, the experiment paid off and the original treasure hunt was a smashing success, ending with a surprise party and one happy girlfriend. Her friends all wanted their own custom treasure hunt. Before their partners could finish looking at Anthony sideways for putting their chivalry game on notice, he said “I can do it for you guys.” As he made custom treasure hunts for family and friends, Anthony never stopped thinking, “If someone had had a service like this, I would have paid for it in an instant.”
After experimenting with the concept part time for a few years with coworkers, family and friends, all the while becoming a huge escape room and pirate history fan, Anthony was ready to take a risky leap. He left his stable career in industrial/organizational psychology (the study of human behavior in the workplace) to create custom pirate-themed treasure hunts in the Caribbean full time. He wanted to bring the concept of escape rooms to its next evolution and create a business that would become so successful that it would outlive him. Why be confined to one location like in a typical escape room when you could solve clues at attractions and bars, and travel across a tropical island to dig up a treasure chest on a beautiful beach?
It didn’t work out with the girl, but it did work out with regards to finding his passion for creating memorable adventures that brought people together. That special passion grew and grew, attracting other outliers who wanted to take a different career path and help create these immersive treasure hunts. Together, they cultivated a talented team and a culture that shared Anthony’s values of putting quality first, committing to a growth-mindset, doing the right thing, holding themselves accountable, and doing everything with GRIT. The result is an EDU-TAINMENT (EDUCATION + ENTERTAINMENT) business and experience you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Our team knows that the secret recipe for any great company is its people. And over the years we have organically built a talented team of outliers. Tropical Treasure Hunt’s team of diverse professionals have a combined 80 years of expertise in talent management, education, behavioral therapy, theater, as well as entertainment and promotional events.
Six years into this adventure and we have created these custom treasure hunts for hundred of thousands of residents, students, and tourists, as well as companies looking to increase collaboration and improve employee engagement. Our clients have provided hundreds of excellent reviews and made thousands of memories they will never forget. We have created family-friendly adventures, bar crawls, a spooky night treasure hunt with kayaking in the eerie mangroves, and a boat charter treasure hunt that will allow you to go “island hopping” while feeling like your crew is the star of an adventure movie. Additionally, our team-building service combines elements of the hit show “Survivor” and movies like “The Goonies” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” while ensuring competitions are focused on strengthening important professional competencies such as communication, critical thinking, time management and leadership.
After the success of Tropical Treasure Hunt in the US Virgin Islands, Anthony and his team wanted to expand the service closer to his hometown of Tampa FL (GO BUCS!). In 2022 the business expanded to St. Pete Beach, FL where the team currently focuses on custom corporate team-building treasure hunts.
Families and local companies as well as global brands have taken notice of the passion we put into our product. We now are proud to have earned hotel on-site entertainment contracts and cruise line excursion contracts, and have provided our team building service to respected companies in a plethora of industries. These companies include the likes of Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Margaritaville, Westin, Ritz Carlton, Coca Cola, iHeart Media, Boys and Girls Club, Girl Scouts…the list goes on and on.
We hope you will be trying your first (or fifth) Tropical Treasure Hunt soon. You can be confident that we put our heart and soul into each treasure hunt experience to ensure you never forget how much fun you had with your family, friends and teams. We look forward to helping you become a HERO in the eyes of the ones you treasure most! And don’t be surprised if you find our BOOTY buried all over the Caribbean one day!
–The Tropical Treasure Hunt Crew
Our Mission
To Create Memorable Adventures that Bring People Together
Our Vision
To Inspire Fellow Outliers to Find Their Purpose Through Adventure.
Our Values
World-Class Quality
Quality is our north star & we relentlessly pursue and invest in creating an immersive experience with world-class quality that our clients will remember for years to come.
Growth Mindset
We believe if you are not growing you are dying; we believe the best way to grow is to get out of your comfort zone. We also kow that failing fast & failing forward can be the best ways to grow & be productive. We commit to growing ourselves & our service.
Do the Right Thing
We strive to do the right thing. This includes doing the right thing for our clients, our teammates and business partners, and the community in general. We will not compromise our integrity.
Accountability
We earn and build trust by taking ownership of our actions to ensure the team, our clients and our community have confidence in our character and our competence. We must be accountable to ourselves and others to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.
Grit
We know there are no greater abilities than Perseverance & Passion to accomplish big and meaningful goals in the face of obstacles. We buy into the credo ‘Our greatest glory is not in never falling but rising every time we fall.’ Our grit for accomplishing our mission and bringing our vision to life is inspiring.