Mexico’s Costa Careyes Is Your Next Wellness Escape in Big Nature
How one woman is finding inner peace on the beach during the pandemic.
What happens when a top wellness PR professional moves to Costa Careyes, a remote luxury community on a 20,000-acre bio reserve on the south coast of Jalisco, Mexico? She creates a world-class wellness program. Yearning for inner peace from the chaos of COVID, Kim Kessler traded in her Mercedes car lease and urban Los Angeles lifestyle for a Jeep and ocean-front beach casita surrounded by jungle. Now, she flies in yoga instructors and wellness facilitators from around the globe for month-long transformational residencies.
Since its inception in the ’60s, Costa Careyes, a boho luxury destination famous for palatial ocean castles, has embraced an authentic spiritual vibe. A destination of mythical proportions, eight miles of untouched coastline is filled with spiritual and architectural wonders and cosmic art installations that summon the energy of the stars, ocean, and Earth. Long before wellness was a thing, seekers came to Careyes where dreams were said to manifest.
Founded by Italian visionary Gian Franco Brignone, Careyes has a Mexican heart and Mediterranean flair. In this remote, colorful, and eclectic community, residents from over 40 countries reside. For decades wellness seekers and professional escape artists – even Salvador Dalí – have come to soak up its carefree unpretentious spirit and reconnect to nature.
Today wellness seekers come to rest, renew and revitalize their energy. Kessler curates daily yoga with ocean views, monthlong wellness residencies, weekly retreats, vegan experiences, and private spiritual journeys. Yoga stars such as Andrew Sealy, Nessa Varez, Diana Paschal, and Niki Trosky grace the schedule and bring relevant modernity to ancient practices. For wellness enthusiasts desiring more traditional ceremonies, Amazonian shamans and Mexican mystics ground you in ancient wisdom and rebirthing ceremonies.
A highlight for all who journey to Careyes is a sound bath in the mystical Copa del Sol (Cup of the Sun). The impressive structure was born from a dream where Gian Franco Brignone saw the masculine and feminine energies unite. In 2006, his dream manifested on a cliff overlooking Playa Teopa as an 88 ft. architectural gem built to receive and transmit energy.
Between yoga and mystical sound baths, days are spent horseback riding on Playa Teopa or cruising through sea caves en route to a white-sand cove teeming with butterflies. Try paddleboarding, kayaking, and even surfing. During hatching season, release baby turtles from their sanctuary to the sea with the nonprofit Careyes Foundation.
Careyes is home to renowned architectural wonders. Stunning monochromatic ocean castles, villas, and casitas dot its dramatic cliffs and bays. Over 60 private villas and a cluster of Mediterranean-esque casitas join the newly renovated El Careyes, palatial luxury residences that embrace the ocean. Between yoga, spiritual journeys, and epiphanies, El Careyes is the perfect place to rest your mind and body as you sunbathe under flowering vines by one of five ocean view infinity pools.
Since you can’t reach nirvana on an empty stomach, Careyes offers divine yet utterly unpretentious dining. Beginning with the artistic and mystical Casa de Nada (House of Nothing) on Teopa Beach. Nosh on homemade vegetarian delights after a beach meditation. La Duna offers a garden-fresh menu, pressed juices, and shimmering ocean views. Stroll through the green, yellow, and blue casitas to Playa Rosa. You’ll feel like you’re winding through the narrow streets of the Mediterranean as it opens to a front line of beach bungalows and the newly renovated Playa Rosa Restaurant. At night, a full moon favorite under twinkling lights is La Coscolina in the town square.
While transitioning from city living to embrace her new life surrounded by nature, Kessler says the key is to surrender. For sure, there are challenges. In an interview with CNN Travel Kessler says, “I truly think this pandemic has taught us what is important in life, including living where you really want to live, doing what you really want to do, being in touch with family and close friends and letting the rest fall away.”
Her passion for wholeness led Kessler to move to Careyes to focus on nature and wellness, which she believes is the key to calm and inner peace. While she knows her move isn’t for everyone, the wellness program she created allows you to break away from the stress of your daily routine and plug back into nature. The fusion of modern facilitators, ancient wisdom, pampering, and just the right touch of mysticism leads you back to your natural stay of joy that you can bring with you wherever you go.
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