Earth & Sea

At first, I saw sargasso as little more than a problem washing onto Caribbean shorelines. But over time, living with it began changing the way I understood the ocean itself. Tangled in the floating seaweed were plastics, debris, and signs of larger environmental imbalance. I began wondering whether the sargasso was not simply invading the coastline, but responding to the condition of the waters it moves through.

Living off-grid at Mahai has changed the way we think about waste, water, and our relationship with the natural world. Without municipal infrastructure, we’ve had to build systems that work with the environment rather than simply pushing consequences out of sight. Over time, our humedales became more than infrastructure — they became a reminder that in nature, nothing truly disappears.

At Mahai, living off-grid was not originally a philosophical choice — it was a necessity. With no electrical or municipal water infrastructure reaching our stretch of coastline, we built the property around solar energy, rainwater collection, and ecological wastewater systems. Over time, what began as necessity became something deeper: a different relationship with the natural rhythms and resources that sustain daily life.