Quick answer: Best Off-Grid Eco Stays in the Caribbean

Choose the island and accommodation first, then compare the actual systems each property describes. An off grid supply, solar panels connected to the grid and solar hot water provide different services.

Where to stay off grid in the Caribbean

The 4 best off grid stays in the Caribbean run on standalone solar fields, harvest their own rainwater and recycle or desalinate every drop of water on site.

During my Frangipani tour, Afiya showed me the solar powered guesthouse and solar lighting. The water pump demonstration used a petrol generator. Ask how the water and electricity systems will work for your particular accommodation.

How we decide the best off grid stays in the Caribbean

Each Caribbean stay on this list is hand picked and checked for off grid living done genuinely.

First we look at how the power is actually made, because off grid only counts when a place runs on its own clean energy rather than a quiet diesel backup. We want a real system you can point to, like Coulibri Ridge, which runs completely off grid on a standalone solar field with massive battery storage high in the Dominica mountains, so the lights stay on through the night without ever touching a public grid.

Then we judge how the water is sourced and reused, since true independence means a stay handles its own supply rather than piping it in. We look for capture, treatment and recycling done on site, like Cooper Island Beach Club, which runs an independent island microgrid powered almost entirely by commercial solar alongside on site desalination and wastewater recycling, closing the loop on this remote BVI spot.

Next we weigh how remote and self sufficient the setting really is, because the best off grid stays sit somewhere the grid was never going to reach. We favour genuinely isolated places, like Small Hope Bay Lodge, an isolated beachfront eco lodge on Andros in the Bahamas where solar water heating and reverse osmosis keep the Birch family’s low key dive retreat running on its own terms.

Finally we value the resourcefulness behind the independence, the upcycling and clever building that lets a place stand alone. We reward stays built to need less, like Frangipani Eco Lodge, a 100% solar powered, Barbudan and female owned lodge the Frank sisters built from upcycled ocean materials on a raw oceanfront you have entirely to yourself.

Choose the island and accommodation first, then compare the actual systems each property describes. An off grid supply, solar panels connected to the grid and solar hot water provide different services.

At a glance

Top Picks for off grid in the Caribbean

• Coulibri Ridge, Coulibri Ridge is a resort in southern Dominica that generates its electricity on site.
• Frangipani Eco Lodge, Frangipani is a guesthouse and cabana stay on Barbuda’s Atlantic coast, run by sisters Asha and Afiya Frank.
• Cooper Island Beach Club, Cooper Island Beach Club offers eight beachfront rooms in the British Virgin Islands. Rooms are cooled by fans and sea breezes, with screened windows.