Tropical Treasure Hunt Celebrates New Digs & Surprise Successes

ST. THOMAS, USVI — It started with a whimsical idea. In 2016, Anthony Schultz wanted to do something special for his girlfriend's birthday. He spent days creating and hiding clues all over St. Thomas, at one point fighting off a hoard of coconut crabs.

"I had no intention of making a business out of it," Schultz says now. But the plan worked. His girlfriend, Angela Beall, was more than impressed. "She's still with me today and she's the backbone of the business," says Schultz.

How Schultz's romantic gesture turned into a major tourist attraction, The Tropical Treasure Hunt Co., is a story about perseverance, planning and, yeah, pirates. He sat down with Patch USVI on the eve of the grand opening of Tropical Treasure Hunt's first storefront in Havensight.

Phase one: the origin.

Anthony Schultz had a comfortable life as an HR consultant living in a tropical paradise. But a fun idea to surprise his girlfriend ultimately led him to trade his suit for a tricorn hat. The carefully planned treasure hunt was a success. Angela loved it. And so did everyone else who heard about the cross-island challenge.

Schultz wondered if there might be more to the idea. To test the waters, he started creating custom treasure hunts for friends, family, and coworkers. Looking back, Schultz calls this "phase one" of building his business.

The interest was there and he was having a blast, but the prep work was taking its toll. Each custom treasure hunt took 10 days to plan. When a friend asked why he was killing himself for a side-gig, Schultz had an epiphany: "This is my passion and I'm going for it. Whether I win or lose, I'd rather lose doing something I love."

Phase two: to keep going, something had to change.

In 2018, Schultz lost his consulting job. It was the inspiration he needed. In November of 2018, Shultz initiated "phase two" of building his business and The Tropical Treasure Hunt Co. was born.

Custom tours that took almost two weeks to plan would never work for the thousands of potential customers clamboring off cruise ships every day. To build a scale-able business, Schultz needed to develop reliable partnerships on-island, a package of pre-planned treasure hunts, and a reliable customer base.

Did he ever consider launching the business from a different locale? Schultz says no. "I love this island. I've been here for six years and I hope I'll be here for my whole life."

Tropical Treasure Hunt landed its first major partnership with The Pirate Museum and Schultz designed the initial treasure hunt package, the Golden Age of Piracy. It is still one of his most popular adventures. When it comes to talking about the real pirates of the Caribbean, Schultz gets poetic: "These guys risked it all. A lot of them were in the same situation I was in: you're out of a job, what do you do? Although obviously, I'm not going around robbing people!"

He partnered with more bars and restaurants to offer a rum-crawl type of adventure and then expanded to a kayak-based treasure hunt in tandem with Eco Tours St. Thomas.

The newest treasure hunt, Salty Piracy Adventure, gets people out on the water. Tropical Treasure Hunt partnered with Sea Horse Water Taxi to ferry treasure-hunters over to St. John, with plenty of stops for snorkeling, snacks and, of course, rum.

Phase three: the pandemic.

In 2020 the cruise ships stopped coming. The Pirate Museum shut its doors. Bars were closing and opening and then closing again. Adventure-seekers who did call Schultz didn't necessarily want a close-up experience with the Tropical Treasure Hunt staff. So, Schultz went virtual.

He partnered with a European company and started offering augmented reality treasure hunts. It was a leap of faith that paid off. Customers could now grab an iPad, choose a storyline, and digital characters functioned as tour guides. The augmented reality feature added an extra layer of fantasy to the adventures. The business grew despite being closed for half the year.

The final step of phase three was finding a reliable customer base and Schultz sees it as the key to Tropical Treasure Hunt's future. Schultz has a master's in industrial psychology, which is basically the science behind HR. Happier employees lead to a better bottom line. So why not pitch treasure hunts as a unique team-building opportunity? So far, Schultz is on to something. From private companies to government offices to school faculty groups, everyone comes away happier after one of his treasure hunts. A few rum-punches along the way certainly help, but Schultz knows it's the challenge and problem-solving that fosters a sense of unity along the way and the feeling of achievement at the end.

What's "phase four" for Tropical Treasure Hunt?

While acknowledging that we're not quite out of Covid-19's grasp, Schultz has ambitious plans for the future. One day he hopes to have a Tropical Treasure Hunt in at least three major beach communities.

It certainly hasn't been a predictable journey, but Schultz is realizing his dream every day. "It's not linear and luckily I think I've been built for that," he said.

Last year Schultz and his team were awarded the Trip Advisor Traveler's Choice award. But even more rewarding is the satisfaction of making people happy. You can tell he still loves his job when he talks about how customers "pull up this treasure chest in the sand and it's like they are transported back to their youth."

This weekend, Tropical Treasure Hunt is taking one of its biggest leaps, yet. They are opening their first store-front next to Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters in Havensight. The grand opening party is on Saturday night and, well, the whole island is invited.

The event starts at 5 p.m. and guests can look forward to a rum tasting, a photo booth, actors, and live music courtesy of Leatherback Brewing next door. Enter the raffle for a chance to win a 4-person treasure hunt, valued at $400.

The theme? Pirates, of course.

Interested in participating in a business profile? Contact ashleigh.baldwin@patch.com.

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