Best Sustainable Hotels, Resorts and Eco Lodges in the British Virgin Islands
Best Sustainable Resorts, Villas and Eco Friendly Stays in the British Virgin Islands
The 4 best places to stay in the British Virgin Islands are sustainable and all run on solar power, rainwater harvesting and onsite recycling. From Cooper Island to Jost Van Dyke these eco resorts and off grid villas are top rated for low-impact eco friendly comfort that keeps guests coming back to islands run cleaner than the mainland that powers them.
How we decide the best place to stay in the British Virgin Islands
Each top rated stay in the British Virgin Islands is hand picked and checked for sustainability features.
Because these are scattered islands and private cays with no mainland grid to lean on, the first thing we look at is whether a stay can power itself. White Bay Villas runs its villas and a Nissan Leaf electric fleet on a 20,000 watt solar power system, the largest solar installation in the western BVI, which is the kind of off grid self sufficiency that actually matters on a Caribbean island.
Fresh water is just as scarce out here, so we check how each property makes its own rather than shipping it in. Cooper Island Beach Club treats its rainwater through a solar powered desalination plant and recycles wastewater through a membrane bioreactor to feed the gardens, the sort of closed loop water conservation that keeps a small island liveable.
We verify where the food comes from, because flying it in undoes everything else. Guana Island supplies its farm to table kitchen from a working garden, orchard and organic farm on the island itself, so dinner is grown a short walk from the plate.
And on islands still rebuilding from Hurricane Irma, we weigh what a stay gives back to the place around it. Oil Nut Bay has set aside half of its 400 acres as a conservation easement for the local wildlife and funds local schools through the North Sound Foundation, including rebuilding the Robinson O’Neal Primary School greener after the storm.
The resorts, private island stays and villas on this list of best places to stay in the British Virgin Islands have proven they are making a real effort to protect the island while taking care of its guests.
If these sixty odd sun soaked islands and cays have set your sails for more of the region, our guide to the best sustainable hotels across the Caribbean gathers the whole archipelago in one place, or drift west to the eco stays of the neighbouring US Virgin Islands, then tack south east down the chain to Anguilla and chic little St Barts.
New here? Start with our guide to where to stay by area.Top Picks, Where To Stay in the British Virgin Islands
- Cooper Island Beach Club: Solar powered and off grid
- Guana Island: Private island, farm to table
- White Bay Villas: Off grid, Gold Seal certified
Cooper Island Beach Club is a self sufficient, off grid eco resort on its own small island in the BVI, running entirely on 303 rooftop solar panels that generate more power than the club consumes.
Rainwater is treated by a solar powered desalination plant, wastewater is recycled through a membrane bioreactor to feed the gardens, glass bottles are crushed back into construction sand and fryer oil is turned into biodiesel, while $1 from every Turtle IPA brewed onsite funds BVI sea turtle conservation.
Guana Island is a family owned private island nature resort in the BVI, held by the Jarecki family since 1975 and capped at just 32 guests across 850 acres.
Solar power and rainwater harvesting run the resort, an organic farm and orchard supply the farm to table kitchen, and 95% of the island is kept as undeveloped sanctuary, home to a celebrated reintroduction of native rock iguanas that had nearly vanished by the 1980s.
Oil Nut Bay is a solar powered luxury resort and villa community on the eastern tip of Virgin Gorda in North Sound, spanning 400 acres with half set aside as a conservation easement.
A community solar farm and onsite desalination supply the resort, turtle friendly lighting, green roofs and a single storey building limit protect the landscape, and the North Sound Foundation funds local schools, rebuilding the Robinson O’Neal Primary School greener after Hurricane Irma.
White Bay Villas is an off grid villa retreat above White Bay on Jost Van Dyke, a pioneer of off the grid living on the island for over 40 years and now home to the largest solar installation in the western BVI.
A 20,000 watt photovoltaic system powers the villas and a Nissan Leaf electric fleet, backed by rainwater harvesting and reuse, recycling, locally made furniture and indigenous produce, seafood and timber.
More Caribbean Sustainable Stays
Book Your Next Stay Consciously
Travel is a wonderful opportunity to connect with Mother Earth.
However, it is also frequently undermined by reckless development and disrespectful tourism practices.
This directory is a curated, verified list of hotels, lodges, and resorts that honour our planet and are led by visionary stewards of the environment.
From farm-to-table culinary experiences to dedicated ocean conservation efforts, such as marine protection and coral restoration, these establishments are redefining hospitality.
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