Lapa Rios is a world-famous model for eco-tourism and has won many awards for its sustainability initiatives.

Set in a private reserve, whose purpose is to permanently protect 1,000 acres of Central America’s last remaining tropical lowland rainforest and act as a protective barrier and wildlife corridor for the 100,000-acre, mega-biodiverse Corcovado National Park.

Practices include solar energy, fully biodegradable cleaning products, no single-use plastics (reusable water bottles).

Guests can take a Sustainability in action tour. This tour shows you how. You’ll visit the solar panels and battery storage system, the water treatment infrastructure, the organic garden, and the composting and rainwater collection systems. Along the way there are hands-on moments; flipping compost, harvesting herbs, and planting seedlings if you’d like. The tour also includes a visit to the turtle nest nursery, where eggs at risk from erosion and poaching are incubated by local biologists until they’re ready to hatch.

Since its inception, the lodge has worked in close harmony with the local communities, setting up the Carbonera school to educate children, and teaching adults about conservation practices and alternative ways of feeding a family other than ‘slashing and burning’ the rainforest. Their latest project is to encourage remote villages to grow organic produce, which the hotel can then buy for the restaurant, thus encouraging their sustainable development.

Lapa Rios is a GER (Global Ecosphere Retreat) of the The Long Run – having undergone a vigorous recognition process