Blue Spirit, Nosara, Costa Rica

The stunning Blue Spirit Retreat Centre is situated on Pacific coast of Costa Rica, near the town of Nosara. The retreat centre is the vision of Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, a founder of Omega Institute in New York who had long-time dream of creating a similar facility internationally. Seeing Costa Rica, and particularly Nosara, as the perfect location, he made the dream a reality, opening Blue Spirit in December 2010.

Located at the south end of Playa Guiones – a three-mile (five kilometre) stretch of white sandy beach, which is a protected a turtle refuge – Blue Spirit is immersed in pristine nature. Perched on a hill overlooking the ocean and surrounded by beautiful hills and abundant nature – with a vibrant animal life including plenty of howler-monkeys – the beach is right in front of the centre, only a three minute walk away. For those that prefer tamer waters, there is also a sparkling swimming pool in the garden. Food at the centre is provided by an onsite restaurant and café serving beautiful meals sourced locally from natural ingredients.

Yoga Spaces

Blue Spirit has no less than three yoga studios, all built with sustainably harvested wooden floors and equipped with yoga mats and props, and the two biggest with excellent quality audio visual and air conditioning. The largest  studio is the Sky Mind Hall, measuring 3000 square feet and located on the top floor of the main building, with a one hundred and eighty degree view across the ocean. This space can accommodate up to 120 people in a yoga workshop and 250 people in a conference. The second space, ‘El Silencio’ measures 1800 square feet and boasts three sides of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the forest and fits 70 people for a yoga workshop and 130 in a conference. The third space is the Nature Studio, embedded in the surrounding nature and at 1,000 square feet the smallest group space at Blue Spirit, accommodating up to 35 people in a yoga workshop and as many as 60 in a conference.

Activities

Extra curricular activities at Blue Spirit include great surfing for all levels on Playa Guiones, canopy tours, nature and bird watching walks, gentle river kayaking and horseback riding on the beach. As well, there are top notch restaurants and an interesting community all within a few miles of Blue Spirit.

Accommodation

Blue Spirit retreat can host up to 100 guests on the property, and can arrange places to stay nearby for a further 40. Guest accommodation at The Blue Spirit centre ranges from exclusive spacious double rooms with step out balconies, ocean views, private bathroom, solar hot water and air conditioning to exquisite all wooden self-contained Nature Cottages, nestled into a hillside overlooking the surrounding lush vegetation. These aesthetically beautiful and cottages sleep two and have private bathrooms with an outdoor shower overlooking the jungle. Run on solar energy, they were built from materials sourced from the immediate environment.

Sustainability

In keeping with the environmental priorities of Costa Rica as a whole, Blue Spirit  ‘is committed to the highest standards of ecological awareness and sustainable practices’ (Blue Spirit website) and it puts this commitment into practise in every area of the business, from construction materials used to sustainable energy, recycled water, composting systems and more. Only open six months at the time of writing, Blue Spirit is already attracting repeat visits from many satisfied guests, who take away with them a little piece of spectacular Costa Rica that lodges in their hearts and calls them back time and again. For more information about Blue Spirit, Make an Enquiry.