Road to Wellness

Bask in the pleasures of Los Cabos' world-class spas

By Sarah Muñoz

After all the fun under the sun, are you ready to wind down and rejuvenate? You’ve come to the right place. Wellness options in Los Cabos are not just about spas, but the whole health enchilada: light and fit menus, fitness for mind and body, and local and worldwide traditions coming together to address the entire essence of one’s being. Here, it’s more about an all-encompassing healthful lifestyle — and that includes ensuring the mind and the soul are as sound as their bodily vessel.

From yoga to a temazcal cleansing session — Asian traditions, European standards and, of course, muy Mexican teachings are all used throughout the area’s spas, while the latest food and nutrition findings go into creating the healthy menus offered at many resorts. Others also have Pilates machines, yoga and tai chi sessions, meditation and hydrotherapy rituals to further assist the mind-body health connection. Mixing the most modern techniques and technologies with ancient healings and centuries-old teachings, the services and healing therapies you’ll find in Los Cabos are anything but routine. In fact, they are some of the most avant-garde in the world, ready for the taking as a solo act, a couple’s pampering escape or an enjoyable girlfriends’ getaway.

Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos, for instance, celebrates Baja California’s wines with its SOMMA WineSPA. Touting the grape’s antioxidants and other anti-aging properties, this is the first vinotherapy spa in Mexico, with a menu that sounds like a good wine list. There are Cabernet, Chardonnay and other wine oil–based treatments available, often mixing grapes with olive oil and other natural ingredients. Before the treatment of choice begins, guests can enjoy a session in the hydrotherapy circuit or just wind down in a quiet waiting area. They are then whisked away to a treatment room, where they indulge in a special treat such as a chilled red grape with cheese and just a tiny sip of wine before having an expert masseuse take over. Some of the most decadent options include the Le Vin massage, which combines various techniques (including lomilomi) to achieve a deep therapeutic effect with grape seed oil, which is rich in vitamin E; the Cabernet Sauvignon Grape Wrap, which leaves skin firm; and the Red Bath Great Reserve, which helps to re-mineralize one’s skin and leaves it supple. The resort also offers meditation sessions and yoga by the beach.

Capella Pedregal, a newcomer in Los Cabos, takes advantage of its intimate size and cliffside setting to offer a unique Baja experience. At its Auriga Spa, the first Mexican spa by spa designer Sylvia Sepielli, the treatments are shaped by local healing traditions and the phases of the moon. The spa features distinctive treatment pods that float on a private pool as well as active and relaxation areas for men and women and two couples’ suites with private tubs.

The Marquis Los Cabos resort is all about details, extending to its holistic spa and fitness center. The spa menu is exquisite, with everything from a Marquis Anti-Stress Experience to detoxify and relax, to a Pregnancy Massage for expecting ladies that focuses on the lumbar region, backbone and legs. Several treatments also incorporate long-standing disciplines, such as Ayurveda and Shiatsu, while its updated gym looks out to sea for an inspiring workout. For the utmost in relaxation, book the resort’s 70-foot schooner.

In Médano Beach, the Saltwater Spa at Casa Dorada Los Cabos brings together both Eastern and Western spa philosophies with inventive results. For example, a Chinese Balls Stimulating Massage uses special metal orbs to release tonal vibrations for physical and emotional balance. The Saltwater Spa also features its Couleur de Vie treatment, which combines color therapy, aromatherapy and thalassotherapy. Also available is the Bamboo Massage, performed using genuine bamboo poles and green tree oil. The spa itself is accentuated by a waterfall, Japanese-style bridge and fitness studio, along with cold plunge pools, sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi. Guests who’d rather get their treatment outside can do so by the beach.

In San José, The Grand Mayan Los Cabos welcomes you with two giant Mayan gods as you walk in, which go well with the two serpent heads spewing out water onto its main pool while lounge chairs, beach umbrellas and canopied daybeds surround it. Its Brio Spa, done in oranges and tans, follows the Maya and aquatic themes with flowing water installations at the entrance and a couples’ section for lovebirds. There is a temazcal (a Mexican-style steam bath of pre-Hispanic origins that helps detoxify the skin and purify the soul) here as well as a full array of facials, wraps and massages.

If you’re looking to treat yourself to true indulgence, Sea Spa & Salon at Cabo Surf Hotel is the place to visit. Covered in murals of sea creatures in muted tones, the spa (which welcomes walk-ins) features a vast menu of therapies and treatments. A small reception area gives way to the salon, where manicures, pedicures, hairstyling and makeup application take place. In addition, there are three treatment areas: two for individuals and one for couples or progressive massages. The menu includes varied types of facials, assorted massage techniques, progressive therapy options and nine body treatments that incorporate natural products created exclusively for Sea Spa & Salon by spa designer Camille. Its shampoos, body butters, scrubs and lotions are scrumptious, and makeup is mineral based.

Medical Treatments. Los Cabos has long offered much more than just beauty regimens for visitors. From dental procedures to dermatology, there’s a whole roster of medical options to consider here. The most attractive incentive is that medical treatments in Los Cabos cost a fraction of the price that they do stateside, with the same care, expertise and attention as in your own country. Additionally, you get to undergo your procedure of choice and recovery in privacy and in one of the prettiest locations in Mexico. Offerings here are affordable and safe and keep growing exponentially as travelers discover they can combine top medical treatments with their escapes.

One alternative for those seeking to fix a little something here and there is the Miguelángelo Plastic Surgery Clinic, which helps visitors spruce up from top to bottom. Here, Dr. Miguelángelo González and his professional, board-certified experts provide a wide array of services — scar revisions, Botox and Restylane, tummy tucks, breast enhancement, facelifts, butt lifts… the list goes on and on. The clinic’s staff can also help you arrange pre- or post-op accommodations.

Pueblo Bonito Pacífica Holistic Retreat & Spa, the first of its kind in Los Cabos, is overseen by a physician with ample knowledge in natural therapies and holistic wellness, with certified therapists that also embrace the philosophy of a body-spirit connection. Besides a temazcal facility, Armonía spa’s extensive menu includes Jantsu, an aquatic energetic therapy that simulates the dance of a dolphin and is wonderful for meditating, and Watsu, another water therapy that combines the soothing feel of the water with yoga and Shiatsu techniques.

Area hotels have increased their roster of wellness programs, which incorporate both visits to the spa as well as outdoor yoga or Pilates by the sea, hiking excursions and more. At the same time, resorts have augmented healthy dining options in their menus; many offer vacation packages that include all these services, promising a rejuvenating and fun getaway. You can soak up relaxation at Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort, which has a natural hot spring below whose water ends up in a Jacuzzi that fits up to 12 people. The resort’s health practitioner can get you ready for your soak with assorted treatments — from sea salt wraps to cranio-sacral therapy.

The Mexican-style Cactus Spa at the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort & Spa adheres to the Seven Pillars of Well-being, the founding principles of the Starwood Spa Collection: Life Balance, Beauty, Harmony, Aqua, Vitality, Nature and Nutrition. Besides activities such as aquaerobics, its full array of treatments and services — including a hot-stone massage and a decongestive facial — are geared to the fulfillment of a healthy body.

Viviana Valdiviezo Mejía
Invites You to Relax at the Sheraton Cactus Spa

By Rick Stedman

Los Cabos is like no other paradise in the world. With countless ways to delight you, excite you and pamper you, Cabo is also the perfect place to lose all the stresses and strains of everyday life. And the Cactus Spa can help you with that. The treatments will not only relax you, but will infuse you with a sense of inner peace and harmony. Overseeing that effort at the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort & Spa is Spa Manager Viviana Valdiviezo Mejía. “Providing the finest service, ambience and innovation always has been our philosophy here at Cactus Spa,” says Valdiviezo. “We follow seven pillars of well-being that include beauty, life balance, harmony, aqua, vitality, nature and nutrition.”

Under her guidance, the Cactus Spa offers a wide variety of options. This Mexican-style spa offers aromatic and seaweed wraps as well as mud treatments and every type of massage from aromatherapy to reflexology, along with Shiatsu and LaStone, plus a full range of facials, manicures, waxing and pedicures. “We have 11 treatment rooms, one Vichy shower and one soft pack system, or ‘German Bed,’ for body wraps,” explains Valdiviezo.

After a round of golf on the nearby championship 18-hole Cabo del Sol course, gentlemen may want to experience a Facial para Hombres or facial treatment designed specifically for men. Women, on the other hand, may enjoy a caviar or aromatherapy facial. “Most guests, after taking one of our yoga or Pilates classes, follow up with a spa treatment of some kind,” says Valdiviezo, who was born and raised in Los Cabos. “Our signature treatments will soften, pamper and moisturize your skin. Specialties like the Evening Primrose and Goat Butter Cream Wrap will result in skin that glows and feels like silk.”

Within the peaceful sanctuary of the Cactus Spa, guests will find a sauna and steam room as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center. For first-time visitors to the spa, Valdiviezo recommends a visit during the evening. “In addition to a fabulous massage, the lights here at nighttime are splendid, and it puts guests in a great mood. It’s really a magical place,” says Valdiviezo, who spent five years overseeing the spa activities at Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos prior to joining the Sheraton.

When not overseeing the Cactus Spa, she loves to spend time with her 5-year-old son Gael. “We have great times just hanging out at home or going to the beach.” Her other passion in life is shopping. “I’m a shop-a-holic!” she sheepishly exclaims.

Guests, too, will love the spa packages available at Cactus Spa. “We try and offer spa packages that provide an overall relaxation result,” says Valdiviezo. Some of those spa packages include the Ultimate Freshness, the Special Care, the Full Body Combination, and the For Him and Her. The latter, for couples, incorporates Swedish, aromatherapy or sport massage, coupled with your choice of facial, along with a pedicure or manicure. To truly add to the ambience, Valdiviezo suggests taking your massage down on the beach. “It’s wonderfully relaxing listening to the ocean while having your massage.”

No matter the type of massage you choose or the specific location, the 28 acres of seaside bliss that encompass the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort & Spa are the perfect setting to experience your slice of paradise in Los Cabos.

To continue learning more about the fine hotels, resorts and condos in Los Cabos, please visit: www.VisitLosCabos.org or click here for a complete quick list of accommodations.

Why is Cabo so much fun? There is so much to do! Click here for a list of dive, watersports, fishing and tour operators. You'll also find links to Cabo's world class golf courses, spas, adventure tours, horseback riding, wedding coordinators and cruises.