WELLNESS
Clockwise from top right: At Niva Labriz Seychelles, Lime Wellbeing stands for Lifestyle, Intelligence, Mindfulness and Energy; the Waldorf Astoria Spa has six treatment suites; Gili Lankanfushi has just 45 overwater villas, making it one of the Maldives’ most intimate luxury resorts Previous pages: At Niva Velassaru, guests can paddleboard directly from the beach to the resort’s reef restoration project
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Hike from reef to ridge
NIVA LABRIZ, SEYCHELLES
Silhouette Island rises straight out of the water in steep, forested slopes — nearly 5,000 acres of protected rainforest cloaking the weathered remains of a 63-million-year-old volcano. Shaped by ancient eruptions, it feels almost prehistoric; a place where rare carnivorous pitcher plants, giant tortoises and endemic birds thrive. There are no roads threading through the interior, only hiking trails that wind across volcanic ridges, over granite outcrops and into valleys filled with hardwoods and cinnamon trees. Niva Labriz is the only resort here, a 45-minute boat ride from Mahé, and its new Lime wellbeing programme takes that landscape as its whole philosophy: reef to ridge, guided by a wellbeing team who know the island’s quieter corners. The Anse Mondon Hike is the centrepiece — a two-and-a-half-hour trek through the jungle of endemic palms, an ascent of the volcano’s flank for sweeping views over the Indian Ocean before descending to a beach that can only be reached on foot. No spa can manufacture that kind of arrival. HOW TO DO IT: Five nights at Niva Labriz Seychelles start from £1,223 per person, including breakfast and ferry transfers.
nivalabriz.com
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NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/TRAVEL
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Chase the full moon
THE NAUTILUS, MALDIVES
No clocks. No schedules. No fixed hour for breakfast or check-out. On this speck of an island in the Baa Atoll Unesco Biosphere Reserve, time’s set by the sky instead — and once a month, when the moon rises full over the palms, guests gather barefoot on the sand to greet it. The group Moonlit Renewal session unfolds as a sound bath under open stars: the resonant hum of a Tibetan singing bowl layered over the rhythm of the waves, aromatherapy drifting through both. For something more private, a yacht carries guests to a moonlit sandbank for the 60-minute Celestial Sandbank Escape — crystal bowls, dinner under the stars — while the 120-minute Lunar Serenity Spa Ritual pairs a warm oil massage with Shirodhara, the ancient ayurvedic practice of pouring warm oil steadily across the forehead as the moon does its work overhead. HOW TO DO IT: Rates at The Nautilus Maldives start from $19,390 (£14,500) in an Ocean House with Private Pool for seven nights between May and September, inclusive of return standard seaplane transfers for two people on a B&B basis.
thenautilusmaldives.com
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Let your biomarkers lead
WALDORF ASTORIA, SEYCHELLES
The first thing that happens here isn’t a massage — it’s a diagnosis. On this private island 80 miles south of Mahé, which has just 50 beachfront pool villas, every wellness journey begins with a 60-minute Medical Screening: non-invasive technology reads at least 30 biomarkers, from cardio fitness and oxygen distribution to stress and immune response. Rather than prescribing the same menu of treatments to every guest, therapists use the findings to create a programme shaped around individual needs. Guests on the Purify programme might move from a Detox Massage into an Ocean Essence Body Wrap; those on Restore combine Ayur-Abhyanga, a traditional full-body ayurvedic massage, with guided meditation and breathwork. It’s wellness as bespoke prescription. HOW TO DO IT: Three nights at the Waldorf Astoria Hilton Seychelles Platte Island start from €3,720 (£3,190) for two adults sharing a One Bedroom Hawksbill Garden Pool Villa, including breakfast and transfers. The Medical Screening starts from €260 (£222) per person for 60 minutes; the Wellness programmes start from €2,200 (£1,885) per person for 60 minutes.
hilton.com
IMAGES: NIVA VELASSARU; GILI LANKANFUSHI/WALDORF ASTORIA
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