The 7 best sustainable escapes in Central America

26.06.2024 - 10:09 / lonelyplanet.com

Jun 25, 2024 • 5 min read

Central America is a natural wonderland high on the must-visit list of many travelers. The volcanic landscapes, lush cloud forests, black sand beaches, Maya ruins and rich Indigenous cultures everywhere you go – the reasons to go are endless.

But part of maintaining the beauty of this region is ensuring we visit in the most responsible way possible and tread lightly. Luckily, there are some excellent sustainable accommodation options on offer – eco-lodges powered by solar energy, B&Bs made with upcycled materials, organic fincas (ranches) with farm-to-table meals, family-run boutique eco-hotels, rejuvenating yoga retreats, and immersive homestays with local communities.

These impressive abodes actively protect Central America’s spectacular biodiversity and living culture and provide an incredible experience by themselves. These are our favorite sustainable places to stay in Central America.

Best for sustainable lakeside luxury

Flanked by three dramatic volcanoes, and with Maya villages dotted all along its shores, Lago de Atitlán – the crown jewel of Guatemala's highlands – has long been on the radar of backpackers, digital nomads and serenity seekers. But tourism in this fragile lake ecosystem has often come at an environmental cost, something that Lush Atitlan – one of the few family-run, eco-luxury addresses on the lake – is determined to minimize. Its charming rooms and suites are furnished with upcycled, reclaimed wood and recycled glass windows, and the owners seek to maximize energy efficiency, use biodegradable cleaning products and treat greywater to protect the lake’s pristine waters.

Best for chocolate lovers

There’s no dearth of pura vida (pure life) experiences in Costa Rica, where 24% of the country's primary forests are still intact and protected. But to truly understand the significance of the forest, venture off the beaten track to enjoy a homestay in the Yorkin Indigenous Reserve close to the Panamanian border, where the Bribris – one of the last Indigenous communities of cacao growers – still live off the grid by the Yorkin River, in naturally-cooled thatched homes.

Trips are arranged through the Cooperative Consortium National Ecotourism Network and the journey to get here – in a dugout canoe, maneuvering through rapids on a roaring river – is not for the faint-hearted, but the rewards are plentiful. You'll get to harvest, roast, grind and drink (not eat) chocolate in its purest form, swim to a waterfall across the river in Panama (no passport required), and deconstruct your notions of colonialism and how it affected the original dwellers of the Central American isthmus.

Best for a fully immersive experience

A French-Hungarian couple traded in their lives as