Copal Tree Lodge, a Muy'Ono Resort

Set on a 3,000-acre sustainable farm, surrounded by a 15,000-acre rainforest preserve, and comprised of twelve privately sited, low-impact, high-pleasure suites, Copal Tree Lodge, a Muy’Ono Resort is, quite simply, one of the leading eco-hotels on the planet. That’s no small distinction, and it’s reason enough to visit, but we’d be remiss not to state that Copal Tree Lodge is also a regular entry on the bucket list of travel-savvy gourmands, wildlife enthusiasts, birders and fly-fishermen (and -women, presumably).

Given the setting, perhaps it’s no surprise that the suites offer plenty of privacy. They’re scattered about a hill that overlooks the rainforest in all directions, and if you let your eye follow the winding Rio Grande downstream, you’ll find the Caribbean in the distance. Private, screened-in verandas jut out into the jungle canopy, so while the eagerer wildlife chasers are traipsing around with an expert guide, those inclined to count toucans and monkeys from the comfort of a swaying hammock will do just as well. In fact there’s any number of vantage points for admiring the non-human neighbors (the human ones are out of sight), not least the bathrooms, whose floor-to-ceiling windows peer right into the jungle.

It’s very much worth leaving the suite, though. There’s a spa, a pool, a sun deck and a smattering of inviting social spaces for comparing wildlife sightings, but the real attractions are farther afield. Expert fly-fishing guides are on hand to take anglers out to the lagoons, rivers and world-famous salt flats, with their untouched populations of tarpon, permit and bonefish. Expert birding guides are there to lead birders through a network of trails with strategically placed lookouts and scopes. PADI-certified instructors and dive-masters will show divers the best of the world’s second-largest barrier reef, including whale shark encounters between March and June. And on and on it goes — mountain biking, snorkeling, jungle canoeing, kayaking….

Whatever you choose to do, you’ll be very well fed. Start with the coffee. Copal Tree partners with San Francisco–based Blue Bottle Coffee, and at time of this writing, the roaster’s owner, James Freeman, is there with a group of guests, walking them through the process of turning beans grown on-site into perfect espresso pulled on their gorgeous Marzocco machine. After coffee, it’s bacon or sausage made from the farm’s own humanely raised hogs, smoked over cinnamon and allspice cuttings from the surrounding jungle, accompanied by fruits grown on site and rare heritage veggies. And that’s just breakfast. For some sense of Copal Tree Lodge’s dedication to the culinary experience, consider this: they employ a resident forager, who sometimes spends days hacking through the jungle in search of a particular ingredient, as well as a chef who gathers his own conch for the ceviche, captures his own lobsters for the tacos, and spears his own lion fish, which you can enjoy grilled at lunch during a day of snorkeling. And believe us, this is all just the beginning.

How to get there:
Copal Tree Lodge, a Muy’Ono Resort offers complimentary ground transfers from Punta Gorda. Flights are available to Punta Gorda from Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE) in Belize City.