The Wellness Stay At SwaSwara In Gokarna Truly Unwinds Your Body, Mind & Soul

A 20-something us would have never considered Gokarna being a wellness retreat spot, but a 30-something us is a different story. If you are looking for something relaxed, mindful, and wellness-oriented for your next visit to Gokarna, we recommend SwaSwara by CGH Earth. Located by Om Beach, it presents itself as a slice of wellness heaven, complete with Ayurvedic care and rehabilitation. Our three-night, four-day stay was nothing short of rejuvenating. Especially given that we are in our 30s and rejuvenation is all we care about. 

We arrived at the resort on a balmy Thursday noon, feeling completely drained out from the travel, and all we wanted to do was just crash. But somehow, post check-in formalities, as the staff walked us to our villa, we couldn’t help wanting to see more of the resort. Mainly because of the way it’s done up — nature and civilisation co-existing in harmony.

That thought was short-lived as we stepped into our villa because it’s that gorgeous. Each of the 24 villas that dot the resort is modelled after typical Konkani houses. Think spacious courtyard with a pebbled garden, a sit-out that opens to the fauna that surrounds the resort, and an upper deck that you can laze around in the afternoons with a book. Oh, and red oxide flooring because that just adds so much charm. The bedroom sits in the centre with a gabled roof, and honestly, the best part of the entire villa is the open-to-sky bathroom. It just feels so close to nature, yet with all the privacy.

Once the staff left, we washed up, pulled out a pillow and crashed outside in the courtyard because it felt right. We woke up with a slight fever because every time there’s a weather change, we fall sick, but luckily, we were at a wellness resort, so we didn’t worry too much. While the bed is obviously the most comfortable, if you’re looking at getting a quick nap in, we recommend plopping yourself in the courtyard or on the upper deck. That outdoor fresh air does wonders. 

During our stay, before we went about our pre-selected wellness programme, the Swa Wellbeing, we visited the in-house Ayurveda doctor to get a download of what’s ahead of us, but also sort out our full-blown fever. Given that we were a bit out of it body (but not mind), the doctor recommended skipping the more intense bits like head massage and such, but we also skipped yoga even though the doctor mentioned it’s not intense (he didn’t know we are big babies when we are sick, and he did say it happens on the Meditation Hill and he lost us at hill). Post the Ayurveda consultations, we decided on a full body oil massage and foot massage, we went about exploring the resort for the rest of the day.

Our first wellness programme, the full body oil massage, was probably one of the best massages we’ve had in a while. It was so good, we slept off in between and had to be woken up so they could move ahead with the rest of the massage. The team walks your through the entire massage and how it helps your body, and the hour-long massage ends with a bath. Post that, we headed back to our villa for another one of those long naps, which became our norm during our entire time here at SwaSwara.

The foot massage later in the evening really gave us back our spring in our step, and we decided to explore the rest of the resort with this newfound energy.  

The meals at SwaSwara are all about clean eating, and depending on your programme, they curate a special menu. Since ours was the Swa Wellbeing programme, we had a choice of fresh seafood preparations as well as vegetarian fare with produce from their organic farm. On our first night for dinner, we dug into Prawn Mango Curry at Cocum, their all-day dining space. At their beach restaurant, Anamya, which opens on select nights for dinner, we had Patrani Machhi, a Parsi dish featuring coriander and mint fish wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled. Breakfast features South Indian dishes.

SwaSwara is modelled as an eco-resort and features all the creature comforts and then some. A swimming pool, an activity centre, a shop, and a library are there for you to explore and spend time at. They have daily cooking classes, and the activity centre lets you get creative with paint or clay. We did the latter and made our tiny little clay bowl. But perhaps the best part of the resort is the close proximity to Om Beach and the flora and fauna inside the resort. Om Beach is really a hop, skip, and jump away and you can spend the evenings at the beach catching the sunset or even sunrise. If you are looking for something to do outside of the resort experiences, you can check out our Gokarna guide.

If you are thinking of driving down to Gokarna from Bangalore, it’s nearly a 10-hour journey, or you could always fly into Panjim, Goa and have SwaSwara arrange for an airport pick-up and drop. It takes about four hours on a good day without any seasonal traffic from the airport to the resort. We recommend this over driving down unless you plan on staying for longer, as nothing beats getting an Ayurvedic massage after the 10-hour ride. 

Charges Per Night: INR 31,000 for two (approx.)

Check In: 1 PM

Check Out: 11 AM

Instagram Handle: @swaswarawellness_cghearth