More Than a Vacation: Family Journeys with Purpose – Part 2
Journeys that Grow Curious Minds
Every destination holds a lesson, waiting to be uncovered by curious eyes and eager hands. Travel with children isn’t just about seeing new places, it’s about experiencing them in ways that awaken imagination, responsibility, and empathy. In this week’s newsletter, Secret Retreats offers more properties where families can engage deeply with the environment and local communities, to turn your family holiday into an enriching story of discovery.
Bamboo Nest @ Sanggadee
Chiang Mai, Thailand
As part of a fun and creative community where sustainability is a core ethos, Bamboo Nest @ Sanggadee turns family travel into hands-on learning. Here, children can enjoy guided hands-on low-impact living by joining in with the teams’ organic gardening, rice growing, composting and water-care, and gentle hikes that reveal forest ecology. Workshops here will introduce you to wonderful Northern Thai (Lanna) traditions and the living cultures of nearby hill tribes along the Thailand–Myanmar frontier, from bamboo craft and natural dyes to foodways and storytelling.
Gangga Island Resort & Spa
Manado, Indonesia
Perched in North Sulawesi’s marine paradise, the Gangga Island Resort & Spa turns a beach holiday into an inspiring conservation adventure. Families can don masks and fins to snorkel pristine reefs together, then work side by side with marine conservationists on reef restoration and bio-rock projects, directly seeing how coral gardens are built and protected. Children come away with a new understanding of marine life, not just as colourful creatures to admire but as delicate ecosystems they can help preserve and conserve. In between dives and snorkeling, the island’s quiet beaches and breezy cabanas offer delightful spaces to reflect, swim, and simply enjoy the ocean they’re helping to protect.
Baba Ecolodge
Phang Nga, Thailand
Located on an unspoiled stretch of Koh Prathong’s coastline, with beautiful bays to the front and back of the resort, Baba Ecolodge offers an off-grid island escape where off the beaten path wild beauty reigns. Families paddle through mangroves by kayak, spot birdlife on guided walks including the majestic hornbills that roost around Baba Ecolodge and wander unspoilt beaches where only their footprints mark the sand. One of the island’s highlights is its ‘savannah safari’, a jeep ride across Koh Prathong’s golden grasslands, home to shy deer and an astonishing variety of birds and butterflies, a scene perhaps more reminiscent of Africa than Thailand. Children can learn how fragile this environment is and why the lodge’s simple, low-impact design matters. With no rush and no distractions, days fall into an easy rhythm of swimming, exploring and reconnecting, a joyful introduction to sustainability and the pleasures of a simpler life.
Borneo Cruises
Borneo, Indonesian
This slow-moving river journey glides through mangroves and towering rainforest, immersing families in the living heartbeat of Borneo. From the deck of your cabin cruising home, a converted traditional Klotok riverboat, you might glimpse proboscis monkeys leaping between branches or hornbills gliding above the canopy, while expert naturalists narrate the interconnected web of wetland ecology. Children are often wide-eyed at the sensation of being enveloped by a real-life jungle, from listening to the gibbons at dawn to watching the fireflies at dusk. It’s part adventure, part floating classroom, where every bend of the river reveals a new lesson about one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems.
Aava Resort & Spa
Surat Thani, Thailand
On Khanom’s serene sands, the Aava Resort & Spa perfectly balances relaxation and exploration for the whole family. Parents can unwind in the spa or by the pool while children take Thai language classes, join creative workshops, or practice yoga together. Head offshore to enjoy pink dolphin-watching excursions, an experience that will create thrilling memories for all the family, while nearby cultural tours reveal local markets and temple life of this fascinating part of Thailand. It’s a rare mix of coastal calm, warm family-friendly hospitality, and soft adventure, designed so families can both recharge and discover, without sacrificing comfort or curiosity.
Diphlu River Lodge
Assam, India
Bordering Assam’s famed Kaziranga National Park, the Diphlu River Lodge shares both the excitement of safari with the ease of a stylish jungle retreat with guests. Families here stay in stilted cottages that overlook the river, waking to birdsong before setting out with conservation-focused local guides to spot one-horned rhinos, elephants, and wild buffalo within the national park. Expert naturalists will explain the park’s fragile ecosystem and the work being done to protect it, turning each safari drive into a learning adventure. Back at the lodge, families gather on the deck or around the fire, and enjoy modern comforts without losing the authentic thrill of staying in one of India’s most unspoilt and bio-diverse national parks.
Ahsa Farm Stay
Chiang Rai, Thailand
Set amid Chiang Rai’s rolling countryside, Ahsa Farm Stay is a warm, family-run retreat that invites guests to slow down and rediscover a gentler pace of life. Children can help on the farm, tending the organic gardens, gathering vegetables for the day’s meals, and collecting eggs from the chicken coop. Truly farm to table, here your children can learn where their food really comes from. Together, families roll up their sleeves for Thai cooking lessons and hands-on cultural crafts, guided by villagers who share their local heritage with pride. A stay at Ahsa Farm Stay is an immersion in the long-lost countryside way of slow living. A stay here inspires guests, young and old, with a newly grounded respect for nature and an appreciation of new cultures and rural traditions.
From pristine rainforest and jungle rivers to country living to beautiful beaches and coral reefs, stays at these properties will inspire and nurture children’s curiosity and wonder while gifting parents meaningful, shared experiences with their family. When family travel becomes a path of discovery, everyone grows together.
Book your family’s next holiday in Asia with Secret Retreats.
