The Best Eco-Friendly Excursions for the Conscientious Adventurer

Half the fun of a trip is exploring the natural beauty of a new location and embracing local cultures. So ditch the emissions-laden cruises and try a more eco-friendly excursion. Many sustainable hotels, lodges, or camps offer opportunities to go hiking, observe animals safely in their natural habitats, or learn more from Indigenous residents of the region like the twelve listed below.

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Copal Tree Lodge in Belize is surrounded by 16,000 acres of rainforest, so it's no surprise excursions include kayaking, hiking, canoeing, and biking. For a fee, guests can also participate in fly fishing, snorkeling, bird watching, and jungle adventure tours. The eco-lodge also has a 3,000-acre sustainable farm that supplies most ingredients in the onsite restaurant. The lodge also has a farm-to-flask initiative with Copal Tree Distillery.

Coulibri Ridge in Petit Coulibri, Dominica, has enticing excursions such as hiking volcanoes, snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding, diving, and visiting hot springs. The resort operates using solar energy and uses "off-grid, alternative power technologies," per its website. Coulibri Ridge also harvests rainwater and chooses linens and furniture for a lesser environmental impact. Additionally, the resort hires from within the community and uses organic, locally sourced foods and amenities.

Hotel Las Islas on Barú Island, Colombia, aims to show guests the area's beauty with excursions like snorkeling, bioluminescent plankton viewing tours, walking tours, mangrove tours, and astrotours. Since 2018, the hotel has partnered with the local community and the National Natural Parks of Colombia for a mangrove recovery program. Hotel Las Islas also has a coral plating and reproduction program and is a member of the Beyond Green sustainable hotels network.

Mashpi Lodge in Ecuador is a hotel nestled in the Chocó Cloudforest of Ecuador. Excursions include birdwatching, day hiking, sky biking, a Dragonfly Canopy Gondola, and visiting the lodge's Butterfly Farm and Life Center. The lodge also has observation towers for further wildlife watching. Mashpi Lodge uses sustainable construction materials and is located in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The lodge started as a conservation project in 2001, and academic teams have discovered more than 20 new species in the area so far.

Guests at Pacuare Lodge in Costa Rica can enjoy adventure, nature, wellness, and/or cultural experiences during their stay. The lodge offers rafting, ziplining, canyoning, birdwatching, hiking, a sustainability tour, and Indigenous culture learning opportunities. Pacuare Lodge charges a conservation fee for its sustainability projects, uses entirely clean energy (hydroelectric and solar), has a waste management program, and supports a jaguar conservation program, amongst other green initiatives.

The Cristalino Lodge in Brazil offers many excursions in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Guests can participate in hiking or walking tours led by a guide, birdwatching, and canoeing. There are also observation towers nearby for animal spotting as well. The Cristalino Lodge is made with certified timber from renewable forests and uses solar panels. Additionally, the Cristalino Foundation was established in 1999 to work in partnership with the Lodge and protect the Amazon.

SCP Corcovado Wilderness Lodge in Costa Rica offers snorkeling, scuba diving, whale monitoring, dolphin monitoring, sport fishing, bird tours, and even tree climbing. The lodge is a certified Sustainable Lodging provider by the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism's Certification for Tourism Sustainability and partnered with The Corcovado Foundation to promote and protect conservation efforts.

EcoCamp Patagonia in Chile sits in Torres Del Paine National Park. The world's first geodisc hotel offers multi-day excursions, including trekking the famous "W," wildlife safaris, puma tracking, camping and trekking expeditions, and more. Yoga and massage are offered as well. EcoCamp Patagonia uses renewable energy such as micro-hydro turbines and Photovoltaic panels, has been carbon-neutral since 2007, and is designed with composting toilets and a biofiltration system.

When visiting the Knight Inlet Lodge in British Columbia, Canada, the best excursions are right in the backyard. The lodge is not only an Indigenous-owned wildlife destination but is situated in the Great Bear Rainforest, so guests can view grizzly bears (and whales) from a safe distance in their natural habitat. Not to mention the Knight Inlet Lodge sources all of its food locally and has participated in grizzly bear and salmon conservation programs for decades.

The Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, Canada, is fortunate to have Pacific Rim National Park as its next-door neighbor. Guests can embark on whale or bear-watching excursions, sea kayaking, biking, surfing, or fishing, and tours led by naturalists. The inn also offers cultural tours led by members of the Nuu-chah-nulth nation and floatplane tours of Clayoquot Sound. Additionally, the Wickaninnish Inn has many green initiatives, including high-efficiency equipment, recycling, composting, and low-energy appliances.