Start your wellness-themed vacation in Dana Point at the
Monarch Beach Resort, where you will check in this afternoon. You may start to feel your shoulders relax even before you’ve made it to your room, as you breathe in the ocean air at this resort perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific.
There’s no shortage of opportunities to focus on fitness and wellness here—the resort offers more than 40 different yoga, meditation, and other classes each week. Among the Monarch Beach Resort’s many amenities is its Miraval Life in Balance Spa, and its fitness center. This afternoon, ease into your wellness weekend by signing up for one of the afternoon classes: perhaps dance, yoga, HIIT weights, or a TRX circuit class with a trainer ready to introduce novices to the program that simultaneously focuses on strength, endurance, and flexibility.
Afterwards, choose from one of the spa’s long list of massages. With ones incorporating elements of everything from Ayurvedic medicine to reflexology principles, there’s a massage that will focus exactly on whatever ails you.
Another option for your base in Dana Point is the nearby
Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel. In a very Dana Point way, the resort embraces a certain casual elegance. Rooms draw inspiration from the colors of the seaside setting; two swimming pools, a fitness center, and tennis courts await when you’re ready for some exercise. Or you can choose to take a stroll along Salt Creek Beach—the setting of the 1966 surf classic,
The Endless Summer. Then try out the spa’s Wellness Experience, a treatment that draws inspiration from the Pacific Ocean, with a seaweed wrap and collagen mask followed by a massage.
Dine tonight at one of the restaurants at the Monarch Beach Resort. Many of the resort’s restaurants feature Miraval-approved Mindful Eating options; at
AVEO Table + Bar, which specializes in Mediterranean favorites, these include a tangerine arugula salad and the local catch of the day served with seasonal vegetables and a Meyer lemon hummus puree. At Michael Mina’s
Bourbon Steak, you can choose from steakhouse specialties (including wagyu and dry-aged beef) as well as a selection of fish and shellfish dishes. Following the belief that everything in moderation is acceptable, don’t hesitate to order a martini from the restaurant’s famous Martini Cart. Also, the Monarch Bay Beach Club recently reopened after extensive renovations and offers several dining options exclusive to Monarch Beach Resort guests.
Finally, you may want to check out what is sure to be one of Orange County’s most popular new dining additions once it opens its doors later this year. Outer Reef at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa will be helmed by Chef John Tesar, famous both for his turns on
Top Chef and his restaurants in Dallas that helped put that city on the culinary map.