By Michelle Payer
Stepping inside Acqualina’s villa-like setting, with its attentive service, comfortable luxury and relaxed surroundings feels like stepping into a wellness retreat, albeit one with fantastic cuisine at one’s fingertips. With negative ions emanating from Atlantic Ocean waters, the resort’s oceanfront location already provides stress reduction the moment guests step outside and inhale the fresh air. Breathe deeply, for that’s just the beginning. Grounding toes in the sand has its own stress-relieving health benefits – maybe that’s why the resort put its cornhole game directly on the beach – to raise the heartrate, exfoliate the soles and provide a little strength training in the midst of family fun.
For more family-friendly competition, the resort has an oceanfront basketball court with the best views in the country, a well-tended soccer field on the Great Lawn, and organized games every day of the week to get the heart pumping.
A swim in the ocean is de rigueur, but one of the greatest joys of any vacation is trying something one has never done before. Aquamermaid classes, offered Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 2 pm and 4 pm (by appointment only), fuses monofin and synchronized swimming into a memorable one-hour core workout for adults (and a real-life Ariel experience for kids ages seven and older). And for one of those bucket-list items, there’s no better place to learn the thrill of scuba diving than at the hands of PADI instructors from Squalo Divers, a PADI Five Star Dive operation. Ideal for the entire family, classes are done in the safety of one of Acqualina’s ocean-view pools.
With all this outdoor recreation, it still might be difficult for guests to pry themselves away from the Acqualina Spa, awarded its own individual Five Star rating for its combination of beauty, wellness and results within a luxurious setting. As guests receive a daily $40 body or facial spa treatment credit (non-cumulative & non-transferable) for up to two adults, it’s the ideal way to relax, de-stress and discover some of the most advanced therapies and treatments in the world. With a menu of innovative wellness treatments including the Cryo T-Shock Body Treatment, Deep Tissue Massage with Hypervolt, TMJ Release Massage, Collagen Sculpting Facial and the newest IV therapies and aesthetic offerings in collaboration with Apprize Beauty, Acqualina Spa is an irresistible siren song.