About Manatee Bay

Manatee Bay is not a large “touristy” resort.  We are a small waterski community specifically designed for those who want to live or vacation in a warm climate with year-round access to tournament-quality waterski conditions and other tropical activities, such as scuba diving. Your neighbors will be folks that share your enthusiasm for carving a turn and enjoying the great outdoors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Vision

We envision Manatee Bay Waterski Park to be a family community of friends and neighbors with common interests, playing and working together to build and enjoy a dream come true:  a lakefront home in the tropics with the ability to ski year-round.

To encourage and foster this community interaction, we will share a club boat and a common starting dock; there will be park facilities for picnicking and for the kids to play; and there will be a community beach at the lagoon so all lot owners have access to the lagoon. 

We imagine us all spending a lot of time together skiing, driving and coaching each other, teaching the kids, scuba diving and just enjoying life with friends and family.  Sometime in the future we aspire to hosting a professional or international tournament at Manatee Bay.

Tournament waterski boats are difficult and expensive to get to Belize, so it makes sense that we share a club boat.  There will be a common starting dock where the boat is stored and everyone will ski from there.  Yearly HOA fees will pay for maintenance of the lake, docks and facilities.  To pay for the club boat depreciation and gasoline, there will be a per-set charge instead of a yearly fee.  Because some members will live there and ski year-round and others may only ski a few times a year, this seems like the most equitable way to pay for the use of the boat.  Also, the per-set charge for non-members will be slightly higher than for members.  For example, if a member were to rent out their home, their guests can ski, but they will pay a higher fee because they are not a member.  Immediate family, including grown children and grandkids, would be considered part of the membership because we want to encourage a family atmosphere.

When all the lots on Phase I are sold, we will consider development of Phase II.  (View Lots for Sale to see a picture of Phase I and II.)

Who Are We?

Bill and Stacy Holbert                       Martin and Jane Woodbury

Martin Woodbury is a tournament skier, safety director and slalom judge.  Being one of the principal developers of Lakeview Village Waterski Lake located at Firestone Colorado, Martin is experienced in ski lake development. Martin is also a licensed master electrician which would be instrumental in developing the power grid at Manatee Bay.  In addition to that, Martin and his wife Jane are both certified Homeopathic Practitioners.

Bill Holbert is a civil engineer with 30 years experience managing construction projects for the federal government.  Bill is also a regular slalom driver, judge and technical controller.  Stacy is a tournament skier, council-person for the AWSA Western Region, Laku Ski Club secretary, judge, scorer and computer nerd.  Bill and Stacy are members of Laku Landing ski lake in Windsor, Colorado, host of several Western Region championship tournaments and local tournaments every summer. 

Both the Woodburys and Holberts are experienced in the technicalities and challenges of operating a ski site. 

Background
We were interested in having a retirement home in a tropical location that was easily accessible from the US; A place where we could water ski year round, scuba dive and share vacations with our kids and their families, so we began researching locations in the Caribbean. Over the next few years we did some diving in Mexico and Belize and did some research on weather, property costs, and land ownership in Caribbean countries to find the best place to build a waterski paradise.

Once we found what Belize had to offer, we knew that, for the following reasons, this was the place.

1. English is the official language of Belize.

2. The government is based on English Common Law (just like the USA).

3. Their economy is tied directly to the US Dollar, a straight $2 Belize to $1 US, so you always know what your money is worth.  Also, everyone accepts US dollars so you don't have to worry about exchanging money.

4. It’s easy to get to from Houston, Dallas, or Miami.  A plane ride is about 2 to 2-1/2 hours from any of these airports to Belize City.

5. Most importantly … you can hold title to the property you buy in Belize, unlike Mexico, where foreigners are not allowed direct ownership to coastal and other areas.  

Our Belize real estate agent, Brian Cullerton, is the most helpful person. Not only did he search for just the right property for our lake, he also directed us to the necessary government and construction contacts.  We have purchased the property, obtained our permits and are ready to share Manatee Bay and all of the wonderful things there are to do in Belize.  We are offering pre-lake-construction lots at a discount to raise the remainder of the required capital to dig the lake.  If you’ve ever dreamt about having a place in the tropics … now’s the time, and Manatee Bay Waterski Park is the place.

Right now you can reserve a pre-construction lake-front lot at a reduced price.  Own your lake front paradise for as little as $50,000! 

 We are selling only 12 lots at pre-construction prices.
After lake construction begins, lot prices will increase. 
Don't miss this opportunity!

 

Photo Gallery of the property.
Click on each thumbnail picture to display a larger version.
Click on the arrows to the right and left of the thumbnails to scroll.