Top Caribbean Wellness Getaways Based on 2022 Trends

Top Caribbean Wellness Getaways Based on 2022 Trends

To no surprise, wellness is trending to be the top focus of 2022, especially when it comes to travel. Now more than ever, travelers are focused on trips that will improve their quality of life and leave them feeling more fulfilled than when they arrived. And with its natural beauty and relaxing way of life, Caribbean getaways are moving to the top of traveler’s 2022 lists. Moreover, the Caribbean is one of the best places for honeymoon.

In fact, some people decide not to just visit the Caribbean, but to actually move there for a more relaxed and enjoyable pace of life. If this is something that you are interested in, it is well worth looking into the various Caribbean Citizenship by Investment programs that are now available.

Trend 1: Full Immersion
(Longer spa rituals versus the standard 50-minute session. Bespoke experiences.)

The Palms | Turks and Caicos: The world-renown Spa at The Palms is one of the first and only luxury spas to utilize Zareeba huts. Zareeba, meaning “protected enclosure”, is an indigenous herbal steam cleansing, detoxification and meditative ritual. A practicing Caribbean herbalist designed this uniquely personal and powerful holistic experience exclusively for The Spa at The Palms.It begins with a foot ritual, using a blend of precious hand-crushed local queen conch shells and essential oil. While seated in the Zareeba, you will be pre-scented with a clay pot filled with freshly brewed therapeutic herbs and a wand to blend them. The rhythm and rate at which you stir the herbs produces the intensity and amount of herbal steam you will inhale. A cool-down moment and a one-hour Palms Healing Touch massage with local Organic Coconut Oil completes this purification ritual and produces a balanced sense of well-being.

Secret Bay | Dominica: This Relais & Chateaux property offers a full encompassing, Waitukubuli Wellness Retreat offering. Healing begins the moment you step onto the Nature Island. Guests often report a feeling of being enveloped and nourished by the moist air, the simplicity of life and the lush beauty of Dominica. After getting settled on Secret Bay’s secluded rainforest promontory, you will take part in an initial consultation to excavate your deepest health-focused desires. At this time, your Wellness Consultant will take inventory of your mind / body health, energy and chakras, and will outline a schedule for your four treatments over the course of your stay that is entirely bespoke and customised to your specific wants and needs.

Trend 2: Wellness Gets Outside 
(Mindfulness, meditation and spirituality meet the outdoors— from hiking to forest bathing.)

Eden Roc Cap Cana | Cap Cana, DR: With outdoor spa treatment rooms, hiking, outdoor yoga classes and guided meditation, wellness-seekers can unwind while they indulge in luxurious island-inspired services. For a truly unique outdoor wellness experiences, the property launched a Cenote Wellness experience for guests to connect with nature, the session includes a Yoga session, followed by a massage, meditation session and a healthy smoothie. There is a waterfall fountain in the cenote and the healing sound of the water provides a more therapeutic experience for guests. The ancient Tainos referred to the cenote as “being in the womb of the mother earth" Images here

Sugar Beach | St. Lucia: An exceptionally unique, immersive wellness experience, the Rainforest Spa at Sugar Beach, which just underwent renovations, is nestled in the heart of a unique rainforest on the edge of the striking UNESCO Pitons. All individual treatment rooms are their own treehouse, built on stilts and perched high above the ground for an indoor/outdoor experience in nature. A sulphur spring also runs through the spa, where warm mineral-enriched water from the island's sleeping Volcano meets the rainforest for a unique outdoor wellness experience. Fun fact: the spa is also home to a Temazcal - a traditional stone igloo steam room! Not to mention, over 70% of the island is covered in rainforest. Spa Images here.

Trend 3: Sound Healing
(Auditory experiences like personalized soundscapes & sound baths. Psychoacoustics.)

The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas | Paradise Island: The specially curated spa menu is designed to provide a rejuvenating experience as well as a cultural one such as the Bahamas Rhythm Massage which utilizes vibrations of percussive instruments to loosen muscles and open energy channels.

Trend 4: Mellow Moves 
(Low impact is the new high intensity. People will fall in love with more mellow ways to move their bodies.)

The Shore Club | Turks and Caicos: The Shore Club wants guests to feel good and move their bodies, but in a productive and relaxing way that emulates their surroundings. This is why the property created its wellness center - consisting of a fitness center, an indoor/outdoor yoga center and stunning lap pool right in the heart of the outdoor complex. Guests can take a dip in the 75-ft lap pool for an invigorating yet refreshing swim at their own pace, or set up a session with Yoga Master Mukesh Nair in the yoga center. In just a short time session, he will walk you through understanding the importance of how to breathe properly and offer several techniques for alleviating stress, encourage natural detoxification and increasing overall health. He is incredible at guiding you through poses and postures to connect energy, assist in cleansing, releasing muscle tension, reducing anxiety and minimizing the effects of every day life on the mind, body and spirit.

Pine Cay | Turks and Caicos: Sun salutations take on new meaning at this Relais & Chateaux property, thanks to their beachfront yoga classes. Start your day with an energising flow, connecting mind, body and breath, at one of the open-level group sessions. Private one-to-ones can also be arranged with an expert local instructor.

Trend 5: Hypnotism retreat

Palacio Provincial | Old San Juan, PR 

This spring, this 43-room luxury hotel in Old San Juan will be partnering with Nicole Hernandez, known as The Traveling Hypnotist to launch a hypnotism retreat experience. She has conducted numerous pop-ups at hotels across the United States where she supports emotional healing by guiding individuals through past life regression and hypnotherapy combined with more traditional spa experiences such as massage and sauna. In January, Nicole launched a course called TRANS-formation that teaches self hypnosis that makes her expertise - and the results - more widely available.

Trend 6: Indigenous Traditions

SE Spa at Grand Velas Riviera Maya is now offering a new Xkalim Mayan Gourd Massage. The treatment (80 min / $342 USD) begins with a traditional Mayan blessing honoring the elements - water, wind, fire and earth. Then, the spa therapist rolls different sizes of calabash gourds across the whole body, massaging every muscle, applying increased pressure to reflexology points, and releasing all tension. The gourds, one of the world's first cultivated plants grown not primarily for food, but for use as containers, collect everything that does not belong by renewing your energy. Before moving from the back, the therapist performs a traditional barrida (sweep) of the body with alcohol on a bouquet of herb-of-grace (or common rue). The therapist continues with the gourd massage on the front of the arms and legs before a massage of the face and head to activate ones’ vital energy, called CHI.