Costa Rica has always attracted adventurous travelers who love the outdoors, high energy activities and of course, its wildlife. It is also attracting a new kind of vacationer. Those in search of wellness vacations. These are people who want to achieve something from their vacation in terms of body and soul. By this I mean yoga retreats, surf retreats, or both of the above including nutritional food diets or raw food diets and perhaps meditation.

These vacations are different from the normal package vacation as they work around increasing one's health and wellbeing, as well as getting a tan and seeing what the local area has to offer in terms of the more traditional holiday tours.

These 3, 5 or 7 day packages include daily yoga practise and surf lessons, a well balanced diet introducing guests to raw food and a whole host of other activities including massages. It is a holistic experience that sends you back to New York, London or Toronto feeling rejuvenated and ready for anything. More that that, it puts you on a road to better physical and mental health and can give people a new hobby / passion for future wellness, surf retreats or yoga retreats in years to
come.

There are several places that offer great wellness packages including Anamaya, Montezuma, or Puravida based out of Tropical Latino in Santa Teresa. The best place, in my opinion, is Pranamar along the north shores of Santa Teresa where it meets Playa Hermosa. They have an incredible shala in which to practise, wonderful Balinese inspired beachfront villas, a delicious restaurant with nutritionally balanced meals but more importantly, a world class yoga instructor - Nancy Goodfellow.

Dahlia Nahome is the Costa Rica editor for Wandering Educators. As well as running her rental business, www.costaricanvacation.com & launching
www.purasonica.com (a local radio station & whats on guide with her
husband) she also enjoys writing about and raising the profile of the Nicoya
Peninsula, Costa Rica and has work published on various travel blogs.
You may reach her at dahlia at costaricanvacation dot com