19 of the best luxury spas in the Mediterranean

From Monaco to Bodrum the Mediterranean is full of hotspots that attract some of the largest private superyachts and the most expensive luxury yachts for charter. Thankfully, the Mediterranean is also home to some of the world’s best spas. So after a long week of socialising at some top Mediterranean party destinations, hop off your yacht and enjoy a spot of pampering.

1. The Opium Health Spa, Elysium Hotel, Cyprus

From a bright and contemporary reception area with a Grecian mosaic at one end, stroll down the stone-floored corridor to the vast indoor pool, which is surrounded by comfy loungers and lies adjacent to a Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, perfect for an afternoon of relaxation after a stint in the fully-equipped gymnasium. Opt for a Pilates class with the charming in-house personal trainer to help improve your posture and core strength.

For the main pampering event, retire behind a curved wooden wall into the Balinese styled relaxation lounge, a quiet spot to enjoy a cup of herbal tea and a book before your treatment. Begin with an ESPA full body Balinese massage and enjoy 80 minutes of muscle unravelling by way of warm essential oils and hot stones — be sure to say what pressure you prefer, though a stronger massage will leave you feeling light and extremely relaxed. To add to your experience, opt for a restorative mud wrap to leave your skin feeling smooth and rejuvenated.

Best by boat: Superyachts up to 110 metres can moor at the Limassol Marina on the southern coast of the island.

Wrapped around a bay in Northern Greece with a marina for yachts up to 33 metres at the centre, the Sani Resort has five spas (with just a golf buggy ride between each). There is an extraordinary amount of treatments and wellness options for guests to try, all boasting luxurious products by Anne Semonin.

Guests at Sani Club can head to the beautiful Club Spa to unwind with a range of treatments, including Thai massage, Mediterranean salt exfoliation and Indian Shirodhara, among many others. Additionally, there's a couple's suite where you can enjoy a treatment with your other half. Bright, light and airy, this is an elegant space with both indoor and outdoor relaxation areas alongside thermal offerings.

The resort's newest hotel is the stunning Sani Dunes, which features the D spa. Here, guests can partake in the latest cryotherapy treatments, Xerolipo Bodysculpting, Opera LED therapy and a sparkling pink quartz exfoliation body scrub, among an expansive list of relaxing therapies.

Guests staying at Sani Asterias can enjoy an exclusive-use and fully-equipped spa, complete with two private rooms with steam baths and a couple's suite – this VIP-only spa is just one of the reasons to visit Halkidiki this summer.

The towering atrium that houses the Finca Cortesin spa is a soothing oasis, which boasts a 25 metre salt water indoor pool bathed in natural light. Mirrored doors lead guests to beautiful stone thermal areas with steam rooms, Finnish saunas, a plunge pool and the first snow cave to be built in Spain.

A huge range of treatments are on offer, from manicures and pedicures to facials and body wraps – don't deny yourself the indulgence of a therapeutic Thai massage, which will leave you feeling so relaxed you can barely grasp your post-treatment cup of herbal tea.

Guests can also make use of the fully-equipped gymnasium just around the corner and the three outdoor pools – opt for 50, 35 or 30 metre lengths to keep in shape while on vacation in this tranquil corner of Casares.

Best by boat: Superyachts can make use of the anchorage just off the hotel's Beach Club, tender in and take a private car up to the hotel, which is just 1.5 kilometres away.

With calming views out onto the gulf of Elounda the spa at the heart of Crete’s Blue Palace Resort offers 24 treatment rooms, three thalasso pools and two traditional Turkish Hammams. As well as its focus on Thalassotherapy, using seawater as a form of therapy, the spa offers a series of treatments using natural ingredients from Crete to improve your wellbeing.

Try the Traditional Cretan Experience, which starts with a relaxing soak in a hot tub of seawater at 34◦C, with chamomile, dittany and sage. This is then followed by a body scrub using a mixture of dried herbs, olive oil and warm honey before a final massage using olive oil, herbs, honey and raki.

Leave time after your treatment to unwind in the luminous relaxation pool which, during special spa evenings, is lit by candles and has a musician playing a grand piano.

Best by boat: Moor out in the bay, which is protected by the now deserted island of Spinalonga, and tender in to the hotel’s private jetty.

From the times of Emperor Augustus Capri has been a favourite retreat for Italy’s most influential. The draw of the island is not just its natural beauty and balmy temperatures but also its pure air and rich, health giving waters.

Located in the Capri Palace Hotel, and run under the guidance of Professor Francesco Canonaco, Capri Beauty Farm provides a balance of luxurious spa treatments with long-term medical benefits. The Beauty Farm offers the Metabolic Response weight loss program, the Clean & Lean method by Bodyism. It is also home to the “Leg School” — designed to give you the perfect pins the method has a celebrity following which includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Mariah Carey and Julia Roberts.

If you just want to recover from the stresses of life then book in for the three-day “La Dolce Vita” programme and truly embrace Mediterranean indulgence.

Best by boat

Capri is home to some of the most iconic Italian moorings. Simply anchor out and tender in to enjoy the delights of the Capri Palace.

Resplendent on the 43rd floor of this slick beachfront hotel — just one floor from the top — the views of the city from 43 The Spa are staggering indeed. The treatments are spine-tinglingly good, too. Kick-start the proceedings with a circulation-boosting whirl around the circuit of vitality pools, steam rooms and ice fountains. Then switch the chromotherapy mood lighting to a soothing blue before you sample the wickedly indulgent spa treats from Natura Bissé, Spain’s most innovative skincare brand. Everything here looks tempting, but if you sign up for only one treatment, make it the 43 Sea Experience. The therapist uses deep-tissue chiropractic techniques followed by pressure manoeuvres with small sea shells. It’s so relaxing most people struggle to stay awake.

Best by boat

After completing an €80 million development in 2014 a further expansion is underway at OneOcean Port Vell in Barcelona, which can accommodate yachts up to 190 metres. Its central location makes it perfect if you are planning to spend 24 hours away from your superyacht in Barcelona.

This glamorous beachfront resort is the first phase of an audacious plan to turn a little-known but spectacular pocket of the south west Peloponnese into a rival for Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda. Explore Messinia’s secret islets and hidden bays on board the hotel's yachts, Carmen Serena and Carmen Fontana, with local crew recounting the area’s ancient myths and legends from the deck. The spa also references Messinia’s fascinating history. Its indulgent olive-oil treatments were inspired by techniques described on centuries-old clay tablets discovered at the nearby Palace of Nestor. They outlined the ancient Greeks’ bathing rituals, elements of which have been incorporated into signature treatments. These include Nestor’s Baths, a hydro massage in a therapeutic bath, using herbs from the spa garden, and the Healing Massage Remedy by Hippocrates that combines therapies described by the father of western medicine with cutting-edge methods.

Best by boat

Kalamata Marina, about 20 miles away by road, accommodates small superyachts, but if you moor in one of the quiet coves near the resort you can zip straight back to your yacht to explore the beautiful western Peloponnese coast when you are all spa-ed out.

There really is nowhere else quite like this place: a 15th century fishing village built on a tiny islet that rises out of the sparkling Adriatic Sea. Its cute cottages have been converted to five-star hotel suites and, across on the mainland at Aman’s Villa Miločer, is one of the best luxury spas in the Mediterranean, with a heated indoor/outdoor swimming pool and treatment rooms with fireplaces for cosy winter pampering. Therapists make full use of the herbs that grow wild along this rugged coastline to create restorative massages that are heavenly scented with local valerian, sage, thyme and lavender. You can moor in the nearby Bay of Kotor at the Adriatic’s superyacht capital, Porto Montenegro, which has ambitions to become as important as Saint-Tropez and Porto Cervo on the Mediterranean yachting calendar.

Best by boat

Superyacht Heaven Porto Montenegro has 400 berths ranging up to 180 metre and a huge range of facilities. Yachts often anchor off Villa Milocer and tender into its pier, or to the pier on Sveti Stefan island.

Located on the north coast of the Bodrum Peninsula, a destination that’s currently sizzling hot with superyacht owners, this resort is a great choice for families. Rooms are big enough for bounding, the restaurant has a sweet shop, there’s a dedicated children’s pool, playgrounds and the MiniMO Panda Club, which will entertain your four to 12 year olds. If you book the VIP sea-facing apartment, which features its own hammam, sauna and spa pool, you might even raise a smile from that sulky teenager. The luxury spa offers a myriad of treatments using olive oil, local pumice stone, honey and herbs from the resort’s organic garden. If you venture out for some adult time, head for the grand, white marble hammam. A Turkish delight: you’ll be laid on warm stone, brushed with soft muslin until you’re heaped with cloud-like piles of bubbles, gently scrubbed and massaged. You might even forget you have a family.

This award-winning clinic offers a full medical menu in a warm and pampering environment that feels rather more caring than clinical. There’s revolutionary work going on here and you can be one of the first to try pioneering cognitive stimulation. It uses electrodes to monitor brain activity, identify weakness and prescribe exercises to strengthen key neural pathways for protection against early dementia and Alzheimer’s. If getting a good night’s sleep is the problem, check into the specialist clinic to reset your body’s biorhythms through a programme of meditation, acupuncture and nocturnal polygraphs. General health is boosted with intravenous vitamin drips as well as macrobiotic cookery classes in the chef’s studio.