Arenas del Mar Beach and Nature Resort: Arenas Del Mar Achieves Highest Certification for Sustainable Tourism

Arenas Del Mar Beach & Nature Resort has reached its dream of achieving the highest rating for sustainable tourism within two years of operation, and was awarded five “leaves” last week by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), the first resort to achieve this distinction so soon after opening.

Managed by Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, Arenas Del Mar joins its portfolio now of four properties which have all received five leaves. In addition, Arenas Del Mar, which opened in 2008, was awarded three stars (highest ranking) under the "Bandera Azul Ecológica" (Ecological Blue Flag) program.

Arenas Del Mar was created with sustainability in mind beginning with the planning and construction phase. The total construction of the hotel covers less than 25% of the property itself; the rest has become a private nature reserve that acts as an ecological corridor to expand the area surrounding Manuel Antonio National Park. Since the hotel’s opening, the resort has been participating in an extensive reforestation program, planting over 7000 native species of trees on the property. Another goal was to have Arenas Del Mar “blend into” the natural rainforest environment.