NATURE MEETS LUXURY
Soothing and healing at central coast spas
W ith so much natural bounty, California’s Central Coast has a well-earned reputation for wellness and healing — as well as a hot springs for every taste and budget. These wellness oases scattered bet ween Los Angeles and San Francisco fa ll into three broad categories: destination spas and hot springs that provide food, accommodation and activ ities; day spas with a variet y of treatments; and natural hot springs in secluded spots where visitors are prett y much on their own.
Less than two hours from downtown LA, the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa epitomizes the trend of combining health and beauty regimes in a luxurious setting. The spa menu runs a broad and tantalizing gamut from traditional facia ls and massages to mind and body classes, full moon yoga and a new Somadome self-contained meditiation pod experience that includes LED color therapy, binaural beat meditation and microcrystalline tiles to promote rela xation and restoration. Many dining options are offered, ranging from casual to creative — including cuisine at Café Verde or heart y California fare at The Oaks restaurant.
Farther up the coast, Bacara Resort & Spa in Goleta blends health, beauty and pampering at an awesome oceanfront location just west of Santa Barbara. In addition to a redwood sauna and eucalyptus steam room, the Bacara spa offers 60 treatments including rooftop massage on a terrace overlooking the Pacific. The resor t ’s Ocean House restaurant boasts 1,200 wines to complement its surf and turf specialties.
Perched on the edge of the Monterey Peninsula, Spa Aiyana at Carmel Valley Ranch combines indoor spa treatments with outdoor activ ities on a 500-acre spread. Guests can combine horseback riding with a post-equestrian lavender poultice massage, or follow a round on the ranch’s own golf course with an organic fruit enzyme peel. Other pastimes at this active resor t include tennis, hiking, hilltop yoga or tai chi, and a unique beekeeping experience.
Sycamore Mineral Springs near Avila Beach is the region’s most renowned destination hot springs resor t. Suff used with sulfur, its healing waters discharge from natural springs on the 100-acre propert y. The liquid is channeled into hillside hot tubs and a waterfall lagoon where you can mix and mingle with other g uests, as well as into private tubs in g uest rooms and suites. The resor t ’s Gardens of Avila restaurant of fers dishes prepared with local farm, ranch and ocean ingredients.
Paso Robles has long been famed for its thermal waters, ever since pre-Spanish days when the loca l Salinan Indians ca lled this area “The Springs.” The first health spas, which featured natural mud baths and sulfur springs, were established in the 1860s.
River Oaks Hot Springs resort is their modern offspring, a day spa where g uests can rela x in steaming waters or let soothing hands work the magic of Swedish, deep tissue or hot stone massage. River Oaks doesn’t offer accommodations, but just four minutes away is the new Allegretto Vineyard Resort, scheduled to open in August.
At the opposite end of Paso Robles is a ver y different hydrothermal experience. Franklin Hot Springs is about as no frills as it gets, a small private nature park that includes a la ke, swimming pool and hot tub. The naturally heated 101-degree water contains potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium and f luoride. If the folks that own the place aren’t around to collect entrance fees, the honor system applies — a tin can to deposit $7 per adult, $5 for children 14 and under.
Big Sur boasts another cluster of hot springs, many secluded in the Ventana Wilderness. In fact, the area’s first tourist business was Slates Hot Springs, founded in 1868. By the 1950s, Slates attracted celebrit y clients from both LA and the Bay Area, as well as a quirky young writer by the name of Hunter S. Thompson who worked there as a securit y g uard.
Slates eventually became the Esalen Institute, one of the cradles of the New Age movement. The spectacular clifftop campus offers more than 500 workshops, classes and other experiences each year to the genera l public, plus lodging and food on the grounds. The hot springs are still a vita l part of the Esalen experience.
Even if you’re not stay ing at the institute, Esalen’s rock-lined hot pool — perched high above the ocean — is open to the public bet ween 1 and 3 a.m. The cost is $25 per person and reser vations are required.
Hidden deep in the Ventana Wilderness, Tassajara Hot Springs is on the grounds of a Japanese Buddhist monaster y and retreat center that of fers both overnight stays and day visits to those interested in learning more about Zen and other monastic practices. The monaster y ’s Japanese-st yle bathhouse is clothing optional, a lthough during the day there are separate areas for men and women. Tassajara can be reached by car from Carmel Valley or by foot along an 18-mile trail from Big Sur.