The Beach Where the Coppolas Built

Who They Are

They are The Coppolas! Less than a year after Francis and Eleanor Coppola acquired this beachside refuge in 2001, it was swept out to sea by the forces of Hurricane Iris. A two-year reclamation project ended with Turtle Inn, a magnificent resort that is consistently ranked among the best in Central and South America.

Inside a Bungalow. Luxe Yet Simple

A 25-room seafront hideaway, Turtle Inn is sandwiched between the Garifuna settlement of Seine Bight and the Creole fishing village of Placencia at the tip of a narrow 26-mile-long sandy peninsula. The sea is studded by a patchwork of coral cayes and the Belize Barrier Reef. The thatched cottages, decorated with handcrafted Balinese furnishings, have decks that are just steps from the white-sand beach.

What They Are Doing
Like sister property Blancaneaux Lodge, Turtle Inn has been built in such a way as to minimize its impact on the environment, using local resources and creating imaginative alternatives to energy-sapping air-conditioning.

In the Public Area

The staff grows all the organic vegetables and many of the fruits used at the resort. Turtle Inn also provides full academic scholarships to five local students. It also supports several organizations and individuals in an ongoing effort to preserve the biodiversity of Belize. These include SEA Belize and Alexandra Cousteau and Expedition Blue Planet.

One of Two Pools

Who They Are

Blancaneaux Lodge was opened in 1993 by the movie director Francis Coppola and his wife Eleanor, and it now forms part of Coppola Resorts. Tucked away in a pocket of the Maya Mountains, Blancaneaux is a 20-room resort where the spectacular Privassion Creek waterfalls tumble into turquoise pools above the jungle canopy.

Blancaneaux Deluxe

The luxury retreat offers the comfort of spacious villas or cozy cabanas. The two Deluxe Cabanas, opened in 2008, have quickly become the most sought after on the property.

What They Are Doing

Blancaneaux and sister property Turtle Inn support a number of organizations and individuals doing research in, among other things, jaguars, raptors, scarlet macaws, and the Mayan forest. It recently extended its jaguar research partnership to include ten remote camera traps. This year it has started an ‘In the Field’ expedition series designed to benefit its partners and where participants get up close and personal with the subjects.

The Gardens

The lodge buildings use low-profile, environmentally sound designs, thatch, hardwoods, pine, and bamboo, along with regionally produced tiles. Local and regional plants that do not rely on intensive irrigation are employed in landscaping.

The lodge is also self-sustaining in energy: A hydroelectric scheme harnesses the energy of Privassion Creek, with any excess used to heat the hot pool at the Waterfall Spa. Because of the design of the rooms, air-conditioning isn’t needed at any of the the Belize lodges.

In the Jungle

With over three acres of vegetables and herbs, plus fruit and nut orchards, the lodge’s garden provides almost eighty percent of the produce for both Blancaneaux Lodge and Turtle Inn.

Coppola Resorts provides 4-year scholarships to five local students, who are at present at schools in San Ignacio, Benque Viejo, and Santa Elena. Among various other programs it supports, it contributes to the furthering of sports in  Placencia and San Ignacio.

A Pair of Scarlet Macaws

Coppola Resorts has also worked extensively with Alexandra Cousteau for her Expedition Blue Planet/Blue Legacy initiative. Coppola Resorts/Turtle Inn has been her partner in Belize and is to fix a date for Alexandra to return in 2010 to film Expedition Blue Planet: Belize.