Spas & Retreats

Ahh! Imagine the blissful pleasure of sliding into the warm waters of a bubbling thermal pool, knowing that a massage by a professional therapist is yet to come.

New Zealand’s pure, natural environment lends itself to blissful vacations that spell relaxation for body and soul. So whether your muscles demand a treat after a day spent sightseeing or relaxation is the main purpose of your visit, take time out to indulge in a pampering treatment. A specialty in this part of the world is the opportunity to bathe in a thermal pool rich with minerals and heated by nature – one of the benefits of geothermal activity that also shows itself in geysers and bubbling mud.

Glorious Mud

Since the 19th Century, visitors have travelled to places like Rotorua to ‘take the water’. It was believed that thermal pools held curative properties for a wide range of illnesses. For Maori, geothermal features also hold spiritual significance (Maori used thermal pools therapeutically for generations before the arrival of Europeans). Opinions vary on the health benefits of thermal bathing, but there’s no doubt that soaking in a warm thermal pool is wonderfully relaxing! Rotorua is home to several hot pool complexes which offer thermal mud treatments or the unique experience of bathing in soft, fine mud. In the South Island you can enjoy a soak against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains, and if you’re in The Coromandel, you can dig your own hot pool – a geothermal spring filters up through the sand at Hot Water Beach. Hire a spade and get digging (the best times are two hours either side of high tide).

Pampering spas

Indulgence doesn’t end at geothermal pools. There are beauty clinics and day spas throughout the country where you can expect to have essential beauty maintenance performed while being thoroughly pampered by the professionals. For the ultimate escape from everyday stresses, unwind at a wellness retreat. There are numerous specialist retreats throughout the country offering all manner of treatments to enhance your wellbeing – from massage, spa therapy and hydro-treatments to yoga and weight-loss programmes. Holistic retreats taking care of mind and spirit as well as body, are easy to locate.

Take the water

For the ultimate indulgence, New Zealand offers a range of appealing destination spas. Soak your body to relaxation and let the professionals take care of you with massage and beauty treatments.

1. Mount Maunganui Hot Salt Water Pools [Mount Maunganui]
2. Ocean Spa [Napier]
3. Hell’s Gate and Wai Ora Spa [Rotorua]
3. Polynesian Spa [Rotorua]
3. The Blue Baths [Rotorua]
3. Wai Ora Lakeside Resort & Spa [Rotorua]
4. The Glacier Hot Pools [Franz Josef]
5. Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa [Hanmer Springs]
6. Alpine Springs & Spa [Lake Tekapo]
7. The Spa at Millbrook [Arrowtown]