WELLNESS ON THE WATER
Most people love the sound of waves when getting a massage. At these seven spas, you’re getting pampered on the waves.
World's best spa experiences where you can be pampered waterside
VINPEARL LUXURY, NHA TRANG, VIETNAM
On Hon Tre Island off the coast of Nha Trang, this lavish retreat comes with the country’s only over-thewater spa sanctuary. Akoya’s thatched-roof wellness suites are the epitome of calm, on stilts above the sea and with floor-to-ceiling windows that open to the ocean they overlook. These very views inspired many of the spa’s signature treatments, from the Thalgo Source Marine Ritual facial, using products infused with antioxidant-rich algae – to the Warm Bamboo massage, for deep muscle relaxation. If you have half a day to spare, book one of the packages: the 150-minute Ultimate Indulgence includes a body scrub, floral bath, four-hand massage, facial and foot acupressure massage. Phew!
vinpearl.com
SONG SAA PRIVATE ISLAND, CAMBODIA
Low in impact, high in style, Song Saa’s 27 thatchedroof villas are scattered over Koh Ouen, a tiny junglelaced outcrop in Cambodia’s Koh Rong archipelago, off the coast of Sihanoukville. The eco-sensitive retreat’s nature-inspired design flows into the self-billed “spa without walls”, a collection of muslin-draped open-air pavilions dotted around the island – and over its lagoon. Part of the resort’s 100-hectare marine reserve, these warm waters are a blissful backdrop for dreamy treatments, many of which celebrate the country’s wellness traditions: drive away negative energy and be blessed by Buddhist monks, or bliss out with
Khmer rituals involving a herbal poultice and detoxifying massage. For added allure, book your therapy under the cover of evening darkness, stars twinkling overhead and waves lapping below.
songsaa.com
CONRAD MALDIVES, RANGALI ISLAND
From its undersea rooms and restaurant to its overwater bungalows and multiple pools, water sets the scene at this shiny Maldivian resort. And then there’s the Over-water Spa, its glass-floored, semi-open treatment rooms stilted above the
Indian Ocean. The five signature Auras rituals are designed to correspond with chakras, whether that’s your heart chakra (to bring harmony) or your sacral chakra (to re-invigorate), with therapists personalising the flow of the therapy according to energy levels. Book the Throat Chakra experience for a deeply purifying two-hour unwind, beginning with a body exfoliation and wrap and ending with a scalp and deep-tissue massage. There are luxe alternatives, including one that nods to the resort’s biggest asset: marine detox, anyone?
conradmaldives.com