One of the most beneficial aspects of a spa can be its location, so when like in Bali you have a natural environment that enhances the spa experience everyone is the better for it. Sea air, sea water, sea salt, seaweed, the rhythm of the waves echoing the beat of the heart, the invigorating spray as waves crash onto rocks and the constant heaving of that vast body of water that surrounds our island home, all these elements of sea are found in their most beneficial forms in many spas on the island.
Sea Air
The Karma Kandara Spa Huts and Nammos Beach Bales are the perfect places to experience sea air ‘therapy’. With a varied menu and highly professional therapists any treatment taken in this open air environment has the extra advantage of its exquisite location. In the Spa Huts you can feel suspended above the world as you receive your treatment, although the highlight has to be the cliff-side jacuzzi that leads the eye to an unending horizon and where the feeling of spaciousness and freedom is something you’ll never want to end.
Sea Water
Sea water is used in Thalasso therapy pools and at The Grand Mirage, Tanjung Benoa. The pool is located close to the surf and you can work out in it under the guidance of a trained therpaist. The Thalasson Grand Mirage also applies Thalassotherapy treatments in the form of warmed seaweed body masks. Penetrating the skin through a blanketed application allows the essential minerals to rejuvenate the cells, increase the sensation of relaxation through the muscles and improve the tone of the skin.
At The Ayana Resort on the cliff-top of Jimbaran, their aquatonic pool contains 700 million litres of filtered seawater that is warmed to create an environment of rejuvenation and relaxation in which to take treatments as varied as the Aqua Exercise and the Underwater Massage. The Underwater Massage involves floating while supported and having gentle stretching and massage applied in the weightlessness of water. This treatment is ideal for the release of back and neck tension where the added benefit of water support enables the therapist to create gentle weightless movements of areas that are often restricted. These treatments are ideal for any kind of stress release or the release of physical discomfort as movement in water is twofold, the therapist uses the body of water to act as a supportive counter-balance to their pressure and movement of limbs.
Sea Salt
The properties of salt in body scrubs, when combined with other organic ingredients such as virgin coconut oil bring many benefits to the skin.
The Divine Renewal treatment at Prana uses a sea salt exfoliating scrub under a rain shower massage to prepare the skin for detoxification. This is followed by a seaweed mask and then a steam bath to remove all the surface toxins eliminated. The effect of the salt scrubs leaves the skin smooth and ready to absorb the essential oils in the aromatherapy massage, which then replenishes the skin to leave it radiant.
Alila Manggis on Bali’s East Coast is in a perfect location for all the benefits of the sea. The calm strait between Bali and Lombok offers a beautiful view, the sound of the waves breaking over the pebble shore creates a relaxing lullaby and the spa itself, located almost on the water’s edge is a calm, peacefully designed, uncomplicated haven of natural nurture. Their Heavenly Body Wrap contains locally grown seaweed and kelp, rich in minerals, proteins and vitamins beneficial in cleansing and detoxifying ones body. This treatment is designed so the skin may easily absorb the vital nutrients which are also essential for restoring skin elasticity and vitality.
Seaweed
Theta Spa is the spa by the sea, on the beach at Tuban in the Ramada Bintang Resort. This elegantly designed spa offers a creative menu of treatments that embrace fun, nurture and spiritual focus in everything. The Marine Morning Invigorator embraces the sea element in its sea salt scrub that is followed by a banana leaf and seaweed body wrap. After receiving the treatment there is a soak in an Ocean-Citrus bath that awakens the mind and body and sets you in the right mood for a day beside the seaside.
The sea is where life began; here in Bali it is life for us, it is where we go for renewal and to remember who we are – we surf , we swim, we dive and snorkel. It is a living for others who fish and harvest the fruits of the sea. The ocean is a miracle for some, the realm of spirits for others, however we feel about it, it is not just our life blood but a living environment for many of the world’s inhabitants, and just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean we can neglect their needs. The ocean needs our respect and our care. On this planet we are all one and the ocean, in its power and vastness, connects us all.