TRIBAL
GATHERING
An island escape that marries luxury with fitness could help you take your fitness offerings to the next level.
WORDS: OLIVER KITCHINGMAN
itness and wellness travel has
been one of the biggest travel
trends of recent years. People for
whom fitness is integral to their lifestyle
don’t want to put it on hiatus when they go
on holiday, so the idea of combining the two
can be very appealing.
Similarly, if you’re a personal or
group trainer, or mind body instructor,
or if you deliver courses to upskill fitness
professionals, the allure of training your tribe
of clients or students in an exotic location
can be strong. This is exactly the opportunity
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28 | NETWORK SPRING 2015
that Hotel Komune on the East Coast of Bali offers. Think ‘working
holiday’ – and then some.
As you arrive at the resort on Keramas Beach, a 45-minute drive
from the airport, you find yourself in a tropical retreat, with the noise
and bustle of Kuta already becoming a distant memory. Whatever
your reason for coming, work or play, it’s time to unwind.
I’m greeted with a welcoming smile and an iced tea as the friendly
staff guide me down avenues of palms and giant taro leaves to my
room, a clever design in cool tones of stone and blue. Inspiring surf
images adorning the wall are a reminder that this place was created
as a surf retreat, although its newly completed Health Hub confirms
its transition into a fully-fledged fitness and wellbeing destination. In
fact, I’m told, it has just played host to 85 trainee yoga instructors.
And from what I’ve seen so far, I can see why they’d want this place
to be their classroom.
The next morning I wake early and make my way down to the
beach, where a handful of surfers are floating in the pre-dawn ocean
waiting to catch their first waves of the day. Soon, after early morning
beach yoga and breakfast, their ‘surf widows’ assume their positions
poolside, waiting to catch their first rays of the day.
After getting the lay of the land, I make my way to the Beach Club
for some breakfast overlooking the ocean and the distant island
of Nusa Lembongan. As I try to choose from a range of local and
western options to rival any Eastern Suburbs café back home, a
couple of surfers lean against the edge of the nearby pool, checking
out the surf breaking on the glitterin