The world's best eco-focused beach resorts. Vacation spots near the water that take care of flora and fauna

Ocean resorts are more than just a vacation destination and it's wonderful that their creators understand this. The best beach resorts have long supported conservation programs with a focus on a sustainable future. You can join the fight for ocean conservation by choosing one of the best eco beach resorts for your vacation, thus supporting the movement for a healthy attitude towards the planet's resources and preserving the ocean on which life on Earth is so dependent. Switching to eco wood, natural pool cleaners, maintaining and protecting marine populations, equipping resorts with solar panels, and replacing plastic – just a small part of the struggle in the context of one resort, but so significant on a global scale. Eco resorts are located all over the world and are adding to their ranks every day. With this approach, the next generations will long enjoy the soft sand and amazing underwater realm from the terraces of bamboo bungalows.

1. Turtle Bay Resort - North Shore, Oahu

Oahu's North Shore may seem less developed than the rest of the island, but that's only because the resort has grown on 1,300 acres for its sensible approach to utilizing the island's natural resources. For example, almost a third of the occupied area will remain untouched. It's a kind of sanctuary resort where you can relax in luxury and learn the intricacies of utilizing the earth's natural resources.

The gastronomic scene of the eco-resort makes maximum use of the surrounding plant life and farm beds. You can even have your meal served on a peeled palm leaf. What's more, you're quite welcome to harvest your own produce from the vegetable garden to decorate your dining table (optional).

Here you'll find wildlife-watching guru Scott Sundby, who can tell you many of the intricacies of living harmoniously with the wild inhabitants of the jungle and sea lane. The resort is located within a National Marine Sanctuary where the humpback whale population is conserved. You will be able to explore and learn the legend of the gallinule and observe the alae ula.

Living harmoniously with nature doesn't mean a lack of comfort or entertainment, rather the proper utilization of modern advancements. You will see this on the golf courses, which are maintained thanks to the gray water purified directly by the equipment at the resort. The spa at Turtle Bay's best eco-resort uses only the gifts of nature to rejuvenate the skin, enrich the body, and revitalize the mind.

2. Four Season Resort Hualalai - Kailua Kona, Hawaii Island

Hawaii continues to delight its guests with quality luxury vacations, offering premium comfort with minimal environmental impact. The Four Season hotel chain is known for its eco-focus worldwide as well as its idealistic luxury.

There are 243 rooms and suites, as well as villas for large groups and families. Natural finishes in the interiors and the reliance on farm food from which the menus of the numerous restaurants are composed allow you to relax in the most natural way possible while regenerating your body.

Among the programs that the resort supports for the preservation of nature: waste-free gastronomic production in cooperation with local farmers and a small in-house water purification plant, both for swimming pools and laundry and for consumption. For purification, natural products are used that do not harm the wildlife around them. The Four Season Hualalai Hawaii Eco Resort also contributes to the maintenance of the marine sanctuary and the preservation of the island's natural resources. While at the resort, you can become a direct participant in the fight to preserve the Earth's resources by booking one of the zero-carbon villas. Or you can take care of the cleanliness of the beach by joining in the cleanup of the white sand.

3. One&Only Mandarina - Riviera Nayarit, Mexico

The Pacific Ocean demands today to take care of the cleanliness of its waters and coastline. Take advantage of a vacation at the eco-hotel Mandarina to do your part. The resort's spacious, cozy villas were built from natural materials: clay, wood, metal and stone. The 40 comfortable tree houses are luxurious hideaways made from Kumaru wood, which is common on the island. The alfresco landscape pools that you'll get by choosing any home are cleaned with environmentally friendly natural products.

You'll see the resort's commitment to preserving the paradise around you for as long as possible when you learn that biologists and archaeologists were involved in the construction of the best eco-hotel in Mexico, taking care of the vegetation and ancient finds uncovered during the construction of the resort.

The beach will not only be the site of your retreat but also the site of the best turtle population conservation exercise. While relaxing in the spa center you will enjoy all the natural gifts of the island and remember the Mayan rituals, which the resort preserves as a cultural heritage. The resort has a children's club, Rainforest Wonderland. At One&Only Mandarina, kids learn to love and respect nature while learning many useful and important things about the surrounding world of flora and fauna.

4. Playa Viva Resort - Zihuatanejo, Mexico

It's as if you're immersed in nature, feeling cared for at Playa Viva Resort, which gives you the chance to give back and work in tandem with volunteers to save turtles and vegetation.

The area of the eco retreat is quite small compared to the neighboring giants, but the good deeds that the organization does towards living harmoniously with nature strongly support the sustainable development of the resort. The tree houses are woven from natural wood and all electrical supply is provided by solar panels.

The watershed restoration and permaculture farm development has been an important contribution of the resort. The environmentally focused resort is also working to reforest and revegetate a large portion of the Zihuatanejo area. The resort has been rewarded for its labors with B-Corp certification.

The best beach eco resort in Mexico Playa Viva will give a tropical vacation, showing a sensible approach to life on Earth.

5. Six Senses Ninh Van Bay - Nha Trang, Vietnam

Robinson Crusoe seems to have acquired several fundamental professions before creating a luxurious retreat where the pools are carved in stones, the tree houses are totally eco-friendly and the gastronomic scene is created thanks to a large garden plot, its own chicken coop, and what the ocean provides.

To get to the best eco-hotel in Vietnam, you can only travel a few kilometers by water. Such a journey will draw your attention to the need to make and your contribution to the preservation of unique ocean and animal species, such as black-footed boobies or langur monkeys.

Choose from 62 luxury villas, all of which will fulfill your wildest visions of a tropical vacation and provide the comfort you desire. Six Senses Ninh Van Bay Resort's electricity is provided by a solar array, and the resort also operates its own eco-friendly water treatment plant. You will love being in harmony with nature at one of the best beach resorts in Vietnam that supports eco vacations.

6. Lodge Lapa Rios Beach Resort - Osa, Costa Rica

The intent of the Costa Rica eco-lodge was at once to support several environmental programs and support the local community. So by choosing this elite level of vacation comfort you will be complicit in several good causes at once.

The resort covers about 1000 acres of land, but only 20% is used to provide luxury recreation, the rest is preserved to revitalize and prevent the extinction of several important animal species, more than 300 species of birds, and unique vegetation, which makes up 2.5% of the world's green heritage.

The beach resort supporting eco-development has several sandy areas where you can enjoy the ocean breeze as well as various water sports. Suites and villas for a luxurious stay are powered by solar panels and nano-hydro turbines. Their panoramic terraces with wooden floors will present more than one perfect sunset, after which you'll wish even more that the paradisiacal life on the planet never ends. The restaurant at the resort is based on local farm produce, and those 25 dollars in fees will not only be invested in sustainability but will also continue the development of two local schools. Lapa Rios Lodge will connect you to nature, where restoration will be an interchange, not consumption.

7. Brando Resort - Tetiaroa Atoll, French Polynesia

Marlon Brando has managed to create an upscale luxury and completely eco-friendly vacation on the island of Tetiaroa. This stretch of Pacific coastline is endowed with extraordinary natural riches, which Brando decided to preserve by all means. The resort has received the world's first LEED Platinum certification, which recognizes the merits and implemented developments used in the best beach eco-resort.

All rooms of the hotel are equipped with a special air-conditioning system, which allowed the hotel to become completely carbon-neutral. A water desalination and purification plant provides the resort with food resources and water for domestic needs.

By becoming a guest of the resort you will get a premium vacation and the opportunity to develop in ecological directions, thanks to the opportunity to spend time with naturalists, researchers, and guides who know a lot about the conservation of natural resources. Brando Resort is a secluded retreat in the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the best eco-stay in the world.

8. NIHI Sumba Resort - Sumba Island, Indonesia

The resort was created as a platform to realize a social project on the island. And has become a real artery for the preservation of these places and the inhabitants of the island. Most of the population work at the resort, maintaining and providing your comfort and completely natural recreation, residents realize their talents and skills, receiving salaries, and participating in social programs to prevent and treat malaria, obtain fresh, clean water, and education.

The resort has 27 premium villas, their thatched roofs and much of the décor the work of local artisans and craftsmen. Each private pool is cleaned with natural products, and your table will be set thanks to local farmers and a talented chef who knows the properties of local produce and balanced nutrition. Daily tropical walks will introduce you to the 670-acre property, and the Sumba Foundation will introduce you to the many eco-projects and social programs you can participate in. NIHI Sumba Eco Resort shares a love for people and nature while maintaining a balance.

9. Coulibri Ridge Resort - Dominica Island

Absolute autonomy and high standards of sustainability await you on the secluded island of Dominica, amidst the Caribbean waves. The resort is small, but its 14 rooms feature landscaped terraces, chlorine-free pools and modern luxuries in interiors that are either recyclable or completely natural. The décor on the walls and floors are the work of artisans and craftsmen who are amenable to stone and wood. Solar panels and wind turbines provide electricity, and a water filtration system turns rain drops into perfectly clean drinking water.

How to merge with nature on the island is entirely up to you. Whether it's a yoga retreat or a lounge chair under the stars, you're already taking a direct part in making planet Earth a greener place to live.

If you'd like to do more, Coulibri Ridge Resort is happy to provide the opportunity.

10. Six Senses Laamu Resort - Laamu Atoll, Maldives

This luxurious beach resort working to preserve nature will heighten all your creative senses. Whether you are inspired to stay in one of the 96 villas on land or on the water, you will fall in love with the surrounding turquoise waters and their colorful underwater world. Pure wood and other natural materials offer a luxurious coziness, where you will want to feel every object by touch.

The resort team tries to preserve the local coral reefs, and a large amount of marine areas around the island are protected.

The five-star eco-resort will gladly introduce you to all the developments and programs, above all giving you a simply paradisiacal rest and natural pleasure.

The gastronomic scene is represented by an East-West menu based on farm seasonal products and fresh catch donated by the ocean.

Dive into the underwater world under the guidance of an experienced guide to see for yourself the world you are directly involved in preserving and the oceanic species of inhabitants, an encounter with which is an extremely emotional and memorable experience. Six Senses Laamu Resort is where luxury meets sustainability.

11. Potato Head Studio - Bali, Indonesia

Eco-friendly beach resorts consider both the use of clean materials and materials that fall under recycled or reusable. In this way, the community of eco-directed vacation hotels reduces plastic use and pollution of the planet. A resort in Bali, Potato Head Studios, made its room ceilings from locally recycled plastic, cleaning up the area. It also used construction waste such as broken bricks or waste concrete in its buildings. Even in the equipment of the comfort of the rooms you can find bio slippers (completely degradable).

All the gastronomic scenes of the resort adhere to the principle of zero-waste production, a separate area is formed for lovers of exclusively plant-based products. You will find here pure Indonesian cuisine and international concepts that present a healthy and balanced diet.

While enjoying the progressive technology and luxurious designs at the eco-friendly Potato Head Resort in Bali, support the destination by participating in various beach cleanup projects or sustainable drinking water management.

12. Intercontinental Hayman Island - Australia

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, like the resort on its archipelago, is a protected area and a luxurious place to spend your next vacation in harmony with nature. The eco-friendliness of Intercontinental Hayman is emphasized in the interiors of its 176 rooms and in the use of energy-saving technologies. Water filtration stations provide the resort with clean drinking water, and a ban on single-use plastic cleanses the environment from rapid pollution. Even the sunscreens sold at the resort are ocean-friendly.

Hayman Island provides an unforgettable water and land experience. With a wide variety of developed itineraries, there are many interesting facts to learn about the natural treasure trove of the Great Barrier Reef.

13. andBeyond Mnemba Island - Zanzibar, Tanzania

The island surrounded by the waters of the Indian Ocean is home to the Suni and the endangered Adera duck antelope. The resort cares for rare species both on land and in the water by partnering with various organizations including the Zanzibar Fisheries Department.

Part of the revenue of one of the world's best beach resorts goes towards social and conservation projects for the surrounding natural world. Your accommodation will be luxurious and doorless so that nothing will interfere with your panoramic views of turquoise waters and green vegetation. Don't worry about privacy as your own stretch of beach is quite confidential at the resort andBeyond Mnemba Island.

14. Chumbe Island - Zanzibar, Tanzania

The main thing you need to know about this paradisiacal place is that the island is a protected area that only allows 18 people at a time. So you won't be able to get caught up in the crowd. Only 7 bungalows are luxuriously prepared to accommodate guests. Such exclusivity allows you to get the maximum amount of care and attention from the staff (of course, if you want it).

The hotel uses photovoltaic cells to provide electricity and water filters for food consumption. You can spend hours underwater here, as the vibrant coral reef, protected by the resort and local organizations, is a striking sight to explore in detail. Chumbe Island is a unique ecosystem that holds many answers to the mysteries of civilization.

15. Miavana by Time + Tide - Nosy Ankao, Madagascar

The privately owned Miavana Resort invites you to find your eco-friendly vacation retreat on 2,500 acres of amazingly green grounds, where 14 beach villas provide a healthy capsule vacation.

The cultural life at the resort is very active - helping you enjoy the treasures that Madagascar holds from crowned lemurs to local crafts that are worth exploring. You'll be part of a team that preserves the island's rare animal populations and keeps the ocean clean.

Luxury, comfort and absolute eco-friendliness - you'll find this formula at Madagascar's best beach resort, Miavana.