OK, you’re tired of reading about Bora Bora and I’m tired of writing about it. BUT – the Intercontinental Thalasso’s Deep Ocean Spa is well worth a post. Seeing as we spent our last day there and it was the perfect ending to an amazing trip, I don’t mind writing this (penultimate) post in this ridiculous trip report!
Let me just kick this post off by saying this – I am not a spa kind of guy. I am so not a spa guy that I literally could not tell you whether our spa day at the Thalasso was expensive or not, though since it’s Bora Bora I’m sure it was. To be honest, for me, ANY money spent on spa treatments felt like a waste of money – until this trip. I booked a treatment at the Thalasso’s Deep Ocean Spa for a couple of reasons, let me break them down.
The point of going to Bora Bora is to relax. Unfortunately, with an 11 AM checkout time and flights that are redeyes, it can be tough to relax on your final day. The Intercontinental Thalasso actually has day rooms that you can get for an hour for free on your day of check out, but they were under renovation and I wanted to make sure we’d get a chance to shower before our long trip home. What better way to do that than to book a spa day? Spas have showers! (Incidentally, we ended up getting a 4 PM checkout due to my IHG Platinum status but we didn’t find out about that until the night before, and it wasn’t guaranteed).
The second reason I booked the spa treatment is because I felt like it’s something we would never do in the United States, even at a cheaper price. By “we” I mean us as a married entity, I’m sure Jess would do the spa with a girlfriend if she could find the time but she’d hard pressed to get me to go with her. I wanted to take the opportunity to do something I wouldn’t otherwise do, and what better place to do it then in Bora Bora?
Booking a treatment at the Deep Ocean Spa gets you two things. First, it gets you your actual treatment: you can choose between a variety of massages and spa treatements. Secondly, packaged with your massage package you receive full access to everything at the spa – personally I valued this as much or maybe even more than the massage itself.
The cool thing about massage treatments at the Deep Ocean Spa is that they take place in overwater bungalows above the Thalasso’s fish pond. So as you are getting your massage you are staring down into the water at “the fishies.” It’s all very relaxing. I bought a “La Orana” neck and shoulders massage for myself while Jess got a full body massage. The treatments weren’t cheap – Jess’ 45 minute full body massage cost ~$180 and my 25 min head and shoulders massage was ~$100 – but it’s Bora Bora and with the amount we saved actually staying at the hotel, I thought it was worth it.
Entering the lobby area, there are some fountains running where you can get a drink of water – seawater! Slightly diluted, but still. So I drank some salty water, which was surprisingly refreshing. After checking in for our massages, we were invited to enter the spa. There are locker rooms for men and women, each equipped with showers and all the towels you could ever want (which we would have used if our checkout hadn’t been extended).
The Deep Ocean Spa gives you a nice little tote for your towel and stuff. There a few different areas in the spa that you can enjoy before or after your treatment. The first is the “chiller walk.” It’s essentially a long walk with all these jets shooting water everywhere – it feels like a really nice massage for your legs. The water wasn’t really that cold, though, so I’m not sure it was “chiller” but it was definitely pretty awesome.
Like any good spa, there is a sauna/cold combination. We sat in the sauna for a few minutes, though I’m weak sauce so I couldn’t stay in there as long as Jess. The idea is to sit in the sauna, open up all your pores, get super relaxed and sweaty, and then get into a freezing cold pool of water. I mean FREEZING cold. Anyway, I wasn’t too into it, but Jess loved the sauna and would have done it a second time if we had the time.
My favorite part of the spa was the outdoor jacuzzi. There are normally four, although only one was open when we were there. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves here.
After enjoying the spa, we went to the tea room to wait for our massages. They had a really nice selection of teas, but I was warm so I didn’t want any tea. But of course Jess partook. (If you can’t tell, Jess got a lot more out of this experience than I did). After that, we were escorted to the overwater bungalow for our massages. The bungalows are set up for couples to get massages together – there are two tables per room. Each table is set up over a glass bottom floor with fish in the snorkeling pool swimming underneath. It’s a pretty cool experience. The massages were great – we both left super relaxed – and the setting couldn’t be beat. After our massages were done I sat in the jacuzzi for another ten minutes, and then we finally had to go back to the room to get ready to go.
Final Thoughts
Thought it wasn’t cheap, the Deep Ocean Spa was one of the highlights of our time in Bora Bora. It was relaxing, picturesque, and memorable – everything you could want from vacation. I asked the front desk, non hotel guests are allowed to make reservations, you just need to make sure you take one of the free shuttles (so basically you need to go in the morning). Even if you’re not staying at the Intercontinental Thalasso, I think the spa is worth checking out. It was the perfect ending to our trip.
Other Posts in this Series
Babyless in Bora Bora – Introduction and Planning
Preparing to Travel Without the Baby
A Three Leg Trip to LAX and the New Tom Bradley International Terminal
Air Tahiti Nui Old Business Class
Air Tahiti Inter-island Flights and Transfer to the Intercontinental Thalasso
Intercontinental Thalasso Emerald Overwater Villa Review
Eating Options in the Intercontinental Thalasso
Hanging out in the Intercontinental Thalasso and My Archnemesis
Intercontinental Thalasso’s Deep Ocean Spa – Paradise in Paradise
Air Tahiti Nui New Business Class Review