Ecotourism Accommodation
Everyone needs a place to lay their head, for your first night or throughout your visit. Browse our growing list of reviews and book your stay.
Book a Tree House Holiday for a Unique Eco Experience
Tree houses aren’t just for kiddies. Some people call them home all year round, like the Korowai of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, while others are rented out as holiday homes to those seeking a unique eco experience.
Nestled among the branches or constructed around wide trunks, tree houses offer the ultimate chance to be at one with nature, quite literally. Here are five of the coolest tree houses around:
Free Spirit Spheres Qualicum Bay, British Columbia, Canada
Date: May 8th, 2008 |
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Ecotourism Vacations in United States
When people think of holidays in America visions of Hollywood, Disneyland, Las Vegas and New York City spring to mind. These are all great destinations of course but they’re not exactly overflowing in ecotourism opportunities; no, for a greener than green vacation eco travellers need to ignore the usual American holiday brochures and get creative in their thinking. The Untied States has much more to offer than Rodeo Drive and Mickey Mouse.
Ecotourism Ideas in the US
Eco-friendly Santa Barbara – Leave the hustle and bustle of LA driving north to the quaint town of Santa Barbara and discover how they’re turning the area greener than green. From there catch the trolley bus to the nearby vineyards of Napa Valley and savour the local wines before bedding down for the night in a safari-style camp in El Capital Canyon.
Yellowstone National Park – answer the call of the wild by visiting one of the great wildernesses in the US which is home to wild wolves, elk and other wildlife. Hike through the park or camp overnight to truly be at one with nature.
Palm Beach County, Florida – Forget Walt Disney World and all its gaudy glitz and glamour and check out the much nicer family-friendly eco park, Peanut Island. Located in Lake Worth Lagoon, Peanut Island Park covers 86 acres and is accessible only by boat. Pitch a tent on the beach in one of the designated camping spots or treat the family to a native experience by staying in one of the Seminole Indian-style chickee huts. There’s a dedicated Eco Museum there too.
Date: March 28th, 2008 |
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Wilpena Pound Resort, South Australia
Located in Flinders Ranges National Park, four and a half hours drive north of Adelaide, is Wilpena Pound Resort.
Nestled in the shadow of the red gums and native pines, the resort offers guests the chance to discover the true Outback. Go horse riding through the National Park, take a guided tour to the ancient gorges, hike through the bush or watch the kangaroos at dusk.
The Wilpena Pound Resort gets its name from nearby Wilpena Pound, a massive rock amphitheatre that covers an area of 83 sq kms. The jagged geological formations were created from sedimentary deposits under the sea about 640 million years ago. Movement in the rock caused it to fold in on itself and after 160 million years of erosion a low rugged mountain range juts up from the surrounding flat plains like a wide grassy monolith.
It’s an ancient place, rich in heritage and culture. The native Adnyamathanha people called the lands around Wilpena Pound and Wilpena Station home long before the settlers arrived. Their influence is still visible in local sites and rock art.
Date: March 12th, 2008 |
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Santa Barbara Goes Eco
Santa Barbara, on California’s Pacific coast, is not usually associated with eco travel but once you get under its skin the home of OTT American soaps proves it has more to offer than just bad acting and shaky sets.
Located between the bustling metropolises of Los Angeles and San Francisco, Santa Barbara and the surrounds have officially been renamed the American Riviera. It is being likened to Nice in the South of France, minus the European edge, but the Santa Barbara Visitors Bureau is working hard to change that and is targeting European
travellers keen to discover a different side of sunny California. It seems people have finally had enough of Mickey Mouse and tacky rides.
Hiking and Cycling in Santa Ynez Mountains
The Santa Ynez Mountains offer miles of treks and trails for ramblers and hikers. Gaviota Peak and the Hot Springs Trails are very popular and Romero Canyon entices mountain bikers too; they’re steep to climb but the views from the summit are worth it, especially on a clear day.
Date: January 27th, 2008 |
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Green Places to Stay in Northern Ireland
It’s hard to convince people to go to the North of Ireland sometimes, too many believe everything they read and see in the media. It is a rugged, weather beaten, beautiful, unspoilt territory that’s been rarely travelled.
Residents, though, know they’ve got a potential tourist goldmine on their doorstep and have been ready and waiting for the past 30 years.
Are you ready to ramble?
Omagh Hostel, County Tyrone
This friendly, family-run hostel near the Sperrin Mountains in County Tyrone is the most environmentally-conscious hostel you’ll ever come across.
The accommodation is not fussy or fancy but it’s clean, comfortable and welcoming and rates highly with eco travellers.
Greenie Points: Opened since 1991, Omagh Hostel is a working organic farm employing a number of sustainable and eco friendly practices, too many to mention them all but enough to achieve the coveted EU Flower Ecolabel.
Check out their website for more eco information.
Dorm beds: £12 pp
Private Rooms: £15pp
Camping: £12 /tent
Date: January 17th, 2008 |
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Hostelworld’s Eco-Friendly Accommodations
Leading accommodation booking website Hostelworld have been providing eco hostels to travellers for some time but just in case you’re not aware of the green getaways available through them they’ve come up with a comprehensive list of some of the best, three of which have already featured on Ecotourism Logue.
Gyreum: Sligo, Ireland
Direct from Middle-Earth and nestled snugly in the Irish countryside, this solar and wind powered hobbit-hole is constructed from renewable resources, including sheep wool insulation and a ‘living roof.’ Designed with a reverence to the natural world, the structure aligns to the dawns & dusks of the summer and winter solstices when beams of light enter into the great central hall. During the day, ocean-loving guests can carry their shortboard past the hostel’s organic garden to some of the best surfing beaches in Ireland. Landlubbers can trek in their Birkenstocks across the rich landscape that inspired Yeats, searching the nearby hills for hidden pubs that serve their own inspiration by the pint.
Enigmata Treehouse Ecolodge: Camiguin, Philippines (pictured)
Channel your inner Swiss Family Robinson with a stay in this state-of-the-art treehouse, overlooking the ocean and surrounded by white beaches, soaring waterfalls and bubbling hot springs. Operated by a vibrant artist and environmental protection group known as the Enigmata Creative Circle, the treehouse’s existence and operation is a testament to environmental awareness, offering biodiversity workshops and conservation seminars. Visitors can dine in the outdoor garden among the blooming rain trees or spend an evening in the treetop bar and lounge, stargazing and moon bathing. Those seeking personal reflection can retire to the poolside poets’ nook or the meditation corner perched atop the treehouse.
Date: May 2nd, 2008 |
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Great Ocean Ecolodge and Cape Otway Conservation Centre
The Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia has a number of eco-friendly travel options. Recently, I visited an ecolodge on Cape Otway, 3hrs from Melbourne, which manages to completely encompass the true values of ecotourism.
“Don’t move”
“Stay completely still and avoid eye contact.”
We happily obliged and stood as still as children playing ‘1-2-3 Red Lights’, which I suppose, if you think about it, isn’t that still at all. Only a few untrained muscles wavered which we hoped the male leader of the kangaroo pack didn’t notice. He was merely a car’s breadth away and because we’d just been informed of their strength and territorial tendencies we thought it best to listen to Shayne, our knowledgeable bush guide.
We stared at the ground with submissive lowered eyes and awaited further instruction. Even, Wombie, the gentle giant Ridgeback crossbreed sat obediently facing his master waiting for the command to walk on.
Twenty pairs of kangaroo eyes bored into us as they glared on in a ready-to-sprint mode, but we weren’t even slightly worried. In fact we were relishing being able to get so close to this extended family of roos. Ordinarily they would have hopped off at the first sign of us but this time it was different for the magnificent adult marsupial standing 10 feet tall in front of us was Big Buck, Cape Otway’s first orphaned joey who had been nursed back to health by our guide Shayne Neal and his wife Lizzie Corke, co-founders of the Great Ocean Ecolodge and Cape Otway Centre for Conservation Ecology.
Date: March 12th, 2008 |
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Rancho La Puerta, Eco Spa Resort Since 1940
The world’s very first destination spa in Tecate, on the Mexico/California border, was lovingly created and designed by two people who firmly believed in habitat conservation, organic farming and sustainable living.
Today, the family-run Rancho La Puerta has developed into one of the best examples of an Eco Spa in North America.
Humble Beginnings
Almost 70 years ago Edmond and Deborah Szekely had great plans to start a retreat for those desperate to escape the everyday rigors of modern life. So, they moved to the sparsely populated village of Tecate, rented a little hut that sat in the middle of a vineyard, which once housed meal for livestock, and started an organic veggie patch out front. The vineyard was called Rancho La Puerta.
Their idea was simple, to provide a haven for those seeking a tranquil place to help rebalance mind and body without causing any harm to the natural habitat around them.
Date: February 6th, 2008 |
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ECO Travel Trailer, Eco Friendly RV
If you prefer caravanning over hostels and hotels check out the Skamper Eco Travel Trailer. Weighing only 3000lbs, the latest light-weight mobile home is a great idea if you plan to cover large distances on vacation. All you have to do is lock the trailer on to the tow bar and sashay off to the sunshine.
Eco-RV are marketing it as a more ecologically-friendly mode of transport saying the seven-foot wide trailer is aerodynamically designed to reduce wind drag, thus increasing fuel economy but that’s pretty much where …
Date: January 24th, 2008 |
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Green Places to Visit in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland, a green getaway in the colourful sense of the word, is turning out to be something of an eco destination with travellers keen to discover the sunnier side of the once troubled province.
Yes, Northern Ireland has had problems and there’s still a little fine tuning going on but now that the peace process has been sorted and an independent government is in state the region is safer than ever before for travellers. In fact, it was voted as the safest region in the UK and the second safest country in the world by the United Nations.
Now visitors are heading to the North in their droves, curious to see what’s on offer. Trust me; it’s not all red-bricked housing and murals.
Date: January 16th, 2008 |
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