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From the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, these green beach getaways throughout Asia give families a great way to give back to the environment while having fun.

Going eco-friendly means more than just purchasing green décor for the lobby or adding a few plants here and there in the guest rooms. These family hotels and resorts, some new and some renovated to be made more energy-efficient, really "get it" when it comes to cutting down on their carbon footprints, minimizing their own and their guests' impact, and sustaining the beautiful scenery around them.

Those interested in a family beach vacation will find Asia's resorts to be among the world's most eco-friendly. Here's a look at my five favorite eco-friendly, family-friendly vacation resorts.

Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa
Jalan Teluk Baru Pantai Tengah,
Mukim Kedawang 07100
Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
011 60 4 952 0000 (USA)
All-inclusive room rates per night: $-$$
This Malaysian resort was the winner of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award in Environmental Education Program category, but it didn’t come easy for the island hotel. Only by implementing numerous carbon-reducing methods such as solar energy, a water treatment plant, and energy efficient light globes was the facility able to secure such a prestigious award.

Family activities in and around the resort also leave very little to no carbon footprint, with such fun opportunities as kayaking, snorkeling and island tours, to name just a few. Kids will love walking through island caves, including the Bat Cave and the Cave of Legends.

For the adults, the resort also offers an 18-hole golf course and a relaxing outdoor Jacuzzi. Swimming pools reflect tall, leaning palm trees, while the entire resort itself gazes out on the beautiful expanse of the sea and the island’s tropical gardens.

For makan, or eating, the hotel’s Mentari Grill provides a blend of tastes in Chinese, Malay, Indian, Nonya and Thai cuisine. All of these amenities plus their efforts to help protect the island’s wildlife and vegetation make for a luxurious, yet guilt-free, eco-friendly family vacation.

Heritance Ahungalla Hotel
Ahungalla
Ahungalla,  Sri Lanka
011 94 9 1 5555 0000 (USA)
All-inclusive room rates per night: $$-$$$
A family beach getaway with this much to offer looks too good to be true when it comes to eco-hotels, yet the Heritance Ahungalla Hotel has shown serious advances in going green with its solar power hot water systems, waste water recycling facility, and energy-saving CFL bulbs. Perhaps the neatest facet of the hotel’s green technology is the design of the facility itself. The architecture of the hotel allows in as much natural light as possible, making it so no lights are required at all during the daytime.

If you’re still not convinced, take a stroll down to the turtle hatchery of Kosgado. Here, the resort assists in protecting the habitat of five species of endangered marine turtles. Also under protection, over 3,360 species of fungi, flowering plants, butterflies, birds and fish occupy the island, coexisting harmoniously with the resort and its guests.

In addition to provided mountain bikes and cycling routes around the hotel, the facility offers every recreational event imaginable, including badminton, volleyball, tennis and more.

Guests can enjoy themselves in the spa with Swedish, Asian and aromatherapy massages, or they can explore the island on boat and safari rides through the Mangrove and Madu Ganga rivers. A favorite for the whole family will be elephant rides along the beach, sure to make lifelong memories.