What makes a great family vacation destination? Fun for kids, relaxation for Mom and Dad, beautiful sights, sumptuous food, the great outdoors, a chance to learn something new. What if you could have all these things even as you show your respect for the environment? You can, and we’ve got five amazing destinations to prove it. From Maine to Mexico, from Florida to Hawaii, join us for nature- based travel you’ll never forget. Abaco Beach Resort & Boat Harbour Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas Located on the Bahamas’ second-largest archipelago, the Abaco Beach Resort occupies 52 garden-filled acres next to a massive marina, famous among traveling families and fishing fans as a place to dock and stay awhile. Sumptuous rooms overlooking the powdery beach are big enough for families of four. Legend has it that Ponce de León stopped in Abaco while looking for the Fountain of Youth, and you’ll feel the years slip away as you swim up to the resort’s poolside bar and order a plate of conch fritters to go with your rum cocktail. The on-site Angler’s Restaurant can also organize nighttime beach dining by tiki torch or romantic candlelight. Kids clamber on the resort’s swing set and slides, swim in its two freshwater pools and enjoy tennis and volleyball. After dinner, they fall asleep, sated, with their heads on a pillow adorned with fresh hibiscus. Eco-delights: Beyond the borders of this resort paradise, the azure waters of the Sea of Abaco beckon. Nature-minded families can charter boats to explore the area’s 100-mile stretch of protected, uninhabited cays and beaches ($145 for one to two days, seahorseboatrentals.com) or hire a guide to take them snorkeling or scuba diving (from $65, aboveandbelowabaco.com). Angelfish, parrot fish, eels and squid cavort in these sparkling depths; sharp-eyed swimmers can easily locate starfish, conch and gorgeous corals (though preservation-minded locals will tell you not to touch). In nearby Little Harbour’s underground caves, awestruck kids can tap at stalagmites beneath a blanket of bats. And at Abaco National Park, they can scour 5,000 pine-forest acres for the endangered emerald-green Bahama parrot, which nests in limestone formations. If all that environmental exploration makes you hungry, head over to Guana Cay for a snack at Nipper’s (nippersbar.com), a pool and restaurant sitting on the edge of a 40-foot sand dune. Price and contact info: Rooms from $280 per day. 800-468-4799, abacobeachresort.com. Historic Inns of Rockland Rockland, ME Nature is at the heart of the Maine experience: craggy shores; wide-open bays abundant with lobster, crab and harbor seals; ospreys, bald eagles and even rare puffins soaring overhead. One of the most eye-catching bodies of water on the Eastern seaboard is Penobscot Bay, with its myriad islands, harbors and lighthouses. And the gateway to this beauty is the town of Rockland, which has experienced a tourism renaissance over the last ten years. Part of this revival, along with the spruced-up Main Street and creative restaurants like Café Miranda, is the green practices of three Victorian-era bed-and-breakfasts that are part of the Historic Inns of Rockland: the elegant yet cozy LimeRock Inn, the grand and gracious Berry Manor Inn and Captain Lindsey House, a restored sea captain’s home. Each offers uniquely decorated accommodations and mouthwatering breakfasts—while conserving water, power and other natural resources. Eco-delights: The best way to experience Maine’s midcoast environmental splendor is on the water. A sail on the all-wood bugeye schooner Jenny Norman gets you up close and personal with Penobscot Bay’s sea birds and seals as the salty breeze stirs your senses ($30 for adults, $20 for children under 12, sailmainebugeye.com). Kids of all ages will relish a Captain Jack Lobster Boat Adventure as they participate in the day’s catch and learn why breeding females are always notched on a fin and thrown back to make babies rather than kept for selling ($25 for adults, $15 for children under 12, captainjacklobstertours.com). Another seaworthy must: the Monhegan Boat Line’s Puffin/Nature Cruise aboard the Laura B. During this guided wildlife tour, you’ll sail from nearby Port Clyde on the lookout for lighthouses, harbor seals, porpoises and maybe a minke whale as you head toward Eastern Egg Rock, where Atlantic puffins nest ($24 for adults, $10 for children, monheganboat.com). Price and contact info: LimeRock Inn, rooms from $139 per day, 800-LIMEROCK, limerockinn.com; Berry Manor Inn, rooms from $155 per day, 800-774-5692, berrymanorinn.com; Captain Lindsey House, rooms from $136 per day, 800-523-2145, lindseyhouse.com. Kona Village Resort Big Island, HI On the site of an ancient Hawaiian fishing village, the Kohala Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island now hosts this lush island resort. Sprawled across 82 acres and facing a protected beachfront bay are 125 thatched-roof bungalows, or hale. But the nearly all-inclusive Kona Village (tax, gratuity and alcohol are extra) is more than just a beautiful getaway. With its dedicated environment-friendly initiatives and a culturally rich children’s program, it’s a family destination with a conscience. Eco-delights: The first sign of the resort’s green mindset is the noticeable absence of electronics—no TVs, phones or air conditioners guzzling electricity. The hale are cooled by ceiling fans, ocean winds and thatched roofing, constructed with fronds from the property’s own coconut trees. And the resort’s oceanfront restaurants offer succulent fare using locally grown ingredients whenever possible. To further commune with nature, you can walk through a preserved 3.2-acre petroglyph field, scuba dive and snorkel in waters rich with marine life and observe sea turtles on the beach. Children delight in “Na Keiki in Paradise,” the resort’s program for 6- to 12-year-olds, where they engage in basket weaving, seashell hunting, making ti-leaf skirts and more. They also observe marine life in tide pools, hike through nature trails or fish with bamboo poles. The kids never miss video games or iPods, says one mom whose family has enjoyed the resort for 22 years! Price and contact info: One-room hale from $660 per night, double occupancy (under age 4 free). 800-367-5290, konavillage.com. Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort Fort Lauderdale, FL No longer about “where the boys are,” the onetime Spring Break Capital of the World has repositioned itself as an elegant, relaxing, nature-filled vacation spot. Right next to the white-sand-and-turquoise-water shoreline of the largely untouched North Beach towers the new Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. Along with 374 family-friendly studios and suites, all with kitchenettes or full kitchens, the resort offers grocery and licensed babysitting services and a full array of spa treatments for Mom—plus a fabulous nature program for the kids.

Eco-delights: In the Hilton’s Ocean Explorers program, certified counselors give explorers ages 6 to 12 a taste of South Florida nature through field oceanography, coral reef ecology and marine conservation. And kids can join the Green Team to learn about waste reduction, conservation and recycling ($80 for the first child, $65 for the second). Got tweens or teens? Captain Don’s Fishing Clinic shows them how to tie knots and select lures, then takes them out on the open sea for a “reel”-life fishing adventure ($85 to $110). At the nearby Museum of Discovery & Science, children flock to the Florida EcoScapes, with its coral reef, shark tank, bats and sea turtles ($10 for adults, $8 for children, mods.org). Ten miles north, explore Butterfly World, where thousands of colorful flying creatures inhabit three acres of lush tropical gardens ($22 for adults, $17 for children, kids under 3 free, butterflyworld.com). For a comprehensive eco-experience, consider the Everglades Day Safari, in which naturalists guide you through four ecosystems—sawgrass prairie, mangrove estuary, cypress swamps and pine savannah—alligators included! ($140 for adults, $104 for ages 6 to 11, ecosafari.com) Price and contact info: Studios from $199 per day. 800-445-8667, fortlauderdalebeachresort.hilton.com. Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort San José del Cabo, Mexico You’ll find Los Cabos at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez meet. This 20-mile resort corridor anchored by two towns, San José del Cabo at the north and Cabo San Lucas at the south, boasts 20 turquoise-water-kissed beaches and a rich and diverse marine ecosystem, dubbed “the aquarium of the world” by Jacques Cousteau. Where to rest and recharge after days filled with environmental adventures? The luxe Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort welcomes families, with its 375 ocean-view rooms and suites, elegant spa (massages on the beach, too!), large infinity pool, swimming beach, eclectic eateries and the Vacation Station Kids Club for the 4-to-12 set. Eco-delights: Los Cabos is a natural wonderland of oceans and lagoons, mountains and deserts, sea creatures and fossils. Take a Baja Wild boat cruise to the iconic Los Arcos, Los Cabos’ awesome stone arch, where colonies of sea lions can be seen residing on the rocks. Past the arch, search for the mighty gray whales, thousands of which bear their young in lagoons just north of local Cabo San Lucas ($70, from December to March, bajawild.com). Like to fish? Eco-friendly catch-and-release fishing is a local tradition, with daylong expeditions organized by private boat owners and arranged by your hotel’s concierge (from $150 per person, ages 12 and up). For snorkeling and diving, try Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park, a spectacular beach and underwater coral reef system known as “the jewel of the East Cape,” featuring hundreds of tropical fish species and mollusks in crystal-clear waters (cabopulmopark.com). And little ones can swim and play with Pacific bottlenose dolphins at the Cabo Dolphin Center ($79, ages 4 to 9, cabodolphins.com). Price and contact info: Rooms from $229 per day. 800-hiltons, hiltonloscabos.com.