DiCaprio to open luxury island resort

Leonardo DiCaprio is the latest in a long line of A-list Hollywood stars to get into the hospitality business.

The New York Times reports DiCaprio plans to build a luxury eco-resort on a private island off the coast of Belize, set to open by 2018.

DiCaprio bought uninhabited 104-acre Blackadore Caye a decade ago and has teamed up with New York developer Paul Scialla to build villas set on a platform over the water above artificial reefs.

"The idea at Blackadore Caye is to push the envelope for what sustainability means — moving the idea beyond environmental awareness into restoration," Scialla said of the resort that will be named ‘Blackadore Caye, a Restorative Island.’

"We don’t want to just do less harm or even have zero impact, but to actually help heal the island, to make it better than before."

Almost half of the island will be designated a conservation area and plastic bottles will be banned, while guests will go through a compulsory ecology orientation programme.

There will be a total of 68 guest villas with some offered for sale with price tags of up to $15 million.

DiCaprio, who has been involved in eco-activism for many years, says he has waited years to find the right development team that shared his own vision.

"The main focus is to do something that will change the world," DiCaprio said.

"I couldn’t have gone to Belize and built on an island and done something like this, if it weren’t for the idea that it could be groundbreaking in the environmental movement."

A manatee conservation area will be set aside and mangrove trees will be replanted to help arrest a growing beach erosion problem.