Where to stay: Haciendas or eco-lodges are popular choices. In Otavalo, two hours from Quito, the Hacienda Pinsaqui (011-593-6-294-6116; from $98) sits at the base of a volcano, with centuries-old gardens. Near the border with Peru in the Amazon Basin, the Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve (011-593-4-228-5711; from $600 for a three-night stay) has been praised by ecologists for its environmental missions.

Info: Embassy of Ecuador, 202-234-7200, www.ecuador.org; Ecuador Ministry of Tourism, www.viveecuador.com.

Honduras

First Belize was on everyone's Central American radar screen, then Costa Rica became the eco-tourist's darling. Now Honduras, with untouched rain forests, mountains and 400 miles of Caribbean coastline, is starting to get its due.

Details: Adventure seekers go to Honduras — tucked between Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua — to scuba dive or fish around the Bay Islands off the northern coast, to explore Pico Bonito National Park or to see the Mayan ruins of Copan, one of the top archaeological sites in Central America. Visitors marvel at the bird-watching and cloud forests of two seldom-visited national parks (La Muralla and Sierra de Agalta in the eastern part of the country) or the uninhabited tropical rain forests of the Mosquito Coast and the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, where about 80 percent of Honduras' species are protected. One word of caution: Street smarts are needed throughout the country.

Where to stay: The Bay Islands and wildlife such as jaguars and monkeys can be seen from the inland observation towers at the Lodge at Pico Bonito (888-428-0221; from $155), the nation's first eco-lodge. If you want to call the Bay Islands home for a few days, consider the town of Roatan, where the B&B at the Sante Wellness Center day spa (510-315-1238; $95) is on the beach.

Info: Honduras Institute of Tourism, 800-410-9608, www.hondurasinfo.hn.

Montserrat

In 1995, Montserrat went from being a posh Caribbean island reserved for the affluent to a mostly volcano-ravaged landscape that displaced more than half the island's population. However, the volcano sleeps now. Volcanophiles can tour the ruined regions, spy on the still-steaming volcano and relax on the parts of the island left unharmed.