Soak it Up
A Caribbean trip isn’t just about relaxing by the pool – it’s also a chance to learn new things and improve your mind, body and soul!
Whether it’s learning to salsa, picking up fresh cookery skills or helping protect nesting turtles, the Caribbean is the ideal place to take your life a step further while still finding time to soak up that allimportant sunshine.
Here’s a selection of some of the best new things to learn and discover, along with some smart ideas for making yourself look and feel good.
Challenge yourself
Amaze your friends by learning to sing in a week at the Caribbean Choir Workshop, which is led by a leading UK voice coach and held at Elite Resorts properties in Barbados, Antigua and Saint Lucia. Or pick up some dance skills in Cuba as La Casa del Son in Havana offers private and group classes in salsa, rumba and many more styles.
Always wanted to learn how to dive? All Sandals Resorts, including those on Barbados and Antigua, offer lessons for a nominal fee (starting at $100). Sailing is another classic skill to master here and a good way to meet people – give it a try in the blissful
waters of the British Virgin Islands with the Rob Swain Sailing School in Virgin Gorda. Elsewhere, the Graycliff Culinary Academy on Nassau in The Bahamas offers high-class cooking demonstrations as well as lessons on how to enjoy cigars and rum.
Get close to nature
Conservation is an important issue in the Caribbean and visitors can get to do their bit by experiencing and supporting local projects. On Nevis, guests staying at Four Seasons Resort Nevis can assist the Nevis Turtle Group from July to October, as they identify and mark sea turtle nests on the island’s beaches. Joining the battle against the nonnative lionfish that have proliferated in Caribbean waters is another valuable contribution – help out by eating it in restaurants, buying lionfish jewellery or, on Curaçao, join a spearfishing dive to try and catch the pesky invader. In Saint Lucia, Anse Chastanet Resort offers weeklong courses in underwater photography, including camera rental and 12 dives in a marine reserve close to the famous Piton mountains.
Fit for purpose
Several resorts offer complimentary non-motorised watersports such as kayaking, windsurfing and snorkelling: all a great way to keep in shape while trying something new.
At La Pagerie Resort in Martinique, guests can ‘work out’ by learning to sail a catamaran, taking a kayak excursion to meet sea turtles, enjoying pods of dolphins in the middle of the Flamingo Bay or learning to dive.
Another popular way to tone up is to check into a one-stop wellness resort such as La Luna in Grenada, which comes with an Asian spa, beachfront yoga pavilion, sustainable organic garden and state-of-the-art gym.
In Jamaica, the seaside Go Natural Sanctuary runs retreats devoted to ‘getting back into balance’ through yoga and meditation, while the Kariwak Holistic Haven in Tobago also offers complimentary yoga or tai chi classes every single morning.
On Montserrat, biking is a great way to discover the island while enjoying spectacular views of the ocean and the sweep of lush green hills, which have more than a passing resemblance to the Irish countryside.
Soak it up
In Saint Lucia, the treatments at Jade Mountain’s Eco Spa sound good enough to eat! They feature an organic chocolate facial, mango body scrub and a de-stress massage using black pepper, rosemary and ginger.
At COMO Parrot Cay in Turks & Caicos, which now has a new COMO Shambhala gym, therapies include a massage using hot, oiled river stones as well as Ayurvedic treatments.
At the Fern Tree Spa at Half Moon in Jamaica, guests can treat themselves to a traditional Jamaican Bush Bath, using waters steeped in healing herbs, roots and fruits.
Or float away with an ‘Island Drift’ ritual – which starts with a rum and coconut foot soak – on offer at Malliouhana hotel, on Anguilla, when it re-opens in spring 2018.
At the Pink Sands Club on Canouan, in The Grenadines, clients can be pampered in both hillside or over-thewater treatment suites, while the oneroom Sunset Spa at Turtle Inn in Belize is set inside an elegant Balinese rice house. Guests who book an all-inclusive spa package at Le Grand Courlan Spa Resort in Tobago can claim a 30-minute taster treatment for each day of their stay.
Elegant Hotels’ Waves Hotel & Spa in Barbados provides a complimentary steam room and sauna plus free health treatments and fitness classes. •