- 7 HOTELS THAT KEEP YOU HEALTHY
- HOLIDAYS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD
- BALI’S NEWEST WELLNESS RETREAT
- THE HOLIDAY THAT MAKES YOU BETTER
Getting fit doesn’t have to mean hard work. Here are 10 fun and unique ways to shape up while you’re on holidays.
1. CRATER PADDLEBOARD YOGA
Park City, Utah
Park City in Utah is known as the home of America’s largest ski resort, but not all the action takes place on the snow.
The extraordinary 10,000-year-old Homestead Crater – a geothermal spring, hidden within a 16m-tall, beehive-shaped limestone rock – provides the backdrop for an unforgettable paddleboard yoga session.
Thanks to the protective rock “room”, and the thermal heating, classes are held even in the depths of winter.
In the water, tiny effervescent bubbles of carbon dioxide exfoliate and rejuvenate dry skin while the hot mineral water relaxes muscles and lowers blood pressure.
2. AQUA THERAPY
Bali
We all know relaxing in the pool while on holidays is good for one’s wellbeing, but at COMO Shambhala Estate it counts as legitimate exercise.
The spa resort’s aqua therapy sessions combine stretching, aerobics and water jet massage in a heated vitality pool.
Health and wellness is the major focus at the resort, set in the jungle outside Ubud. Its extensive fitness schedule also includes mountain biking through rice fields, jungle gym circuit training, yoga and meditation.
comohotels.com/comoshambhalaestate
3. DOLPHIN YOGA
Las Vegas
Whatever experience you can dream up, chances are you can already do it in Vegas.
Yoga with the dolphins? Check. Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel & Casino offers yoga classes in the underwater dolphin viewing area, with multiple windows providing an intimate opportunity to view the resort’s family of bottlenose dolphins while flowing from pose to pose.
4. FURE, PUGLIA
Italy
Remember when you didn’t think about “exercise” as a chore, but you ran around, played, jumped, skipped and climbed trees?
That’s the concept behind the Fure outdoor fitness program, which is inspired by childhood games.
The Borgo Egnazia luxury resort in Puglia, southern Italy, offers a three-day Fure program aimed at “those who never really felt the urge to be sporty or active”, incorporating early morning sessions by the olive trees or the sea, as well as activities such as dance, table tennis, juggling classes and yoga.
5. SKYRIDE
Carnival Vista
Forget pedalling away on a stationary exercise bike. Instead, why not bike around a ship, high above the deck, with views across the ocean? The SkyRide experience is one of the innovative attractions on board Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship, Carnival Vista, which was launched this year. Guests can race each other or try to better their own lap times as they zip around, or choose to take it easy and enjoy gazing out to sea.
6. DAYBREAKER
New York and various cities
What better way to experience a new city than to start your day with a massive dance party at sunrise?
Daybreaker is a morning dance phenomenon that started in New York and is spreading around the world. It aims to promote wellness and mindfulness, with a pre-dance yoga session and rehydration in the form of fresh juices. While you sweat it out on the dance floor, you’ll rub shoulders with locals getting their pre-work energy boost, and enjoy unique venues, such as the rooftop of New York City’s Lord & Taylor department store building.
7. UNDERGROUND GLOW IN THE DARK YOGA
Maldives
Whether you call it “glowga” or “flow in the dark”, this form of yoga is one of the latest fitness trends – and it’s now being offered at one of the world’s favourite island escape destinations. At the W Maldives resort, the 15 Below club – so named as it is 15 steps below sea level – has recently added the classes to its timetable.
Practising yoga in near darkness (participants wear fluorescent bracelets during the class and can have their body painted with glow-in-the-dark paint) is said to allow a heightened awareness of one’s surroundings.
8. SNOWGA
Falls Creek
It’s perhaps the ultimate chill-out exercise retreat – both physically and mentally. Trackers Mountain Lodge at Victoria’s Falls Creek Resort has been hosting winter retreats for the past couple of years, combining yoga and skiing during a five-day alpine escape.
Guests can participate in twice-daily yoga sessions and spend the rest of the day on the slopes, combining the two experiences high in the beautiful mountains.
fallscreek.com.au / trackers.com.au
9. CLUB MED CREACTIVE
Dominican Republic
Running away and joining the circus got a whole lot easier when Cirque du Soleil teamed with Club Med Punta Cana last year to launch CREACTIVE, a program that lets resort guests learn circus skills while on holiday.
Under the instruction of Cirque-trained teachers, guests can try their hand at acrobatic activities including flying trapeze, tightrope, juggling, trampolining and unicycling.
cirquedusoleil.com / club-med-creactive
10. MUAY THAI
Koh Samui, Thailand
Thai boxing may have been around for centuries, but it’s a much more recent addition to the up-market island resort scene in Thailand.
At W Koh Samui, guests can learn boxing technique as part of a fun workout. But perhaps the best part is the opportunity to have a post-class muscle repair session in the resort’s extravagant spa, home to Asia’s first Thaimazcal herbal sauna. Inspired by the traditional Mexican temazcal (steam bath) ritual, it’s said to cleanse and purify the body and soul.
