DESTINATIONS CARIBBEAN HOTELS, RESORTS & SPAS LEFT:
Open-air massage, Sandals
RIGHT:
Swimming with pigs in
the Bahamas BELOW:
Candlelit
dinner at Anse Chastanet, Saint Lucia
out of Hollywood film Avatar. Try beating that for Insta-food glory.
w THE COUPLE’S SPA TREATMENT For those wanting an even more intimate experience, suggest a couple’s spa treatment. Sandals resorts offer a commissionable Scents of Love couple’s massage with candles, aromatic scents and a warm oil ritual on hand to add spice ($304 for an hour). Meanwhile Saint Lucia’s Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort, features a Sulphur Seduction therapy that combines a dip in volcanic, black-water springs with a visit to a sulphur mud bath, an all- natural shower under the Toraille Waterfalls and a 25-minute back massage in a treetop treatment room back at the spa. Elsewhere on the island,
Windjammer Landing has a similar idea with its Soufrière
Experience the healing properties of the steaming waters, while staring at the jaw-dropping vistas
volcanic mud bath tour, a half- day expedition that whizzes passengers over to the west coast to experience the healing properties of these warm, steaming waters while staring out over the vistas that characterise this jaw-dropping island.
w THE ROMANTIC SWIM If that’s not unique enough, Hard Rock Hotels’ Mexico and Dominican Republic outposts have the answer – a swim with dolphins.
Guests get the chance to admire these sleek and elegant creatures from above the water, before stepping in to interact with them during an hour-long experience they’ll never forget. While it’s not commissionable for agents, it is redeemable using the $1,800 resort credit clients get per week – meaning it’s worth highlighting as a selling point to those unsure about going all-inclusive. For an alternative version though, suggest the Bahamas – specifically Dolphin Cay at Atlantis Paradise Island, where guests get the chance to snorkel, kayak, swim and paddleboard in dolphin-dotted waters (prices from $55). For the ultra-keen, there’s even the option to be a trainer for a day ($490). But the unique experience
here has to be swimming with pigs in Exuma. Sandals offers the chance to do just that on a
three-hour adventure combining the once-in-a-lifetime experience with stops at several remote cays, where secluded paradise meets the thrill of speeding along on a 35-foot Power Cat. Persuaded?
w THE ISLAND GETAWAY It’s not only the Bahamas that’s speckled with idyllic little spots to explore by boat, and with thousands of islands and cays dotted around these bright teal waters, you’d be daft not to embark on a sailing trip. St Vincent and the Grenadines alone boast 32 islands – several of which were among the settings for the Pirates of the Caribbean films – and Mandarin Oriental Pink Sands Club on Canouan Island gives clients the perfect opportunity to explore them with a catamaran excursion add-on, which is bookable and commissionable through Caribtours.
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travelweekly.co.uk 12 April 2018
PICTURES: STEVE SANACORE; CARLOS BOLANOS; BERND RAC
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