Los Cabos Spas Serve Up Food As Relaxation

Restaurants in Los Cabos, Mexico, aren't the only places in town that are serving fresh tropical fruits and the region's fine wines. Now, spas are slathering fruits, chocolate, and more on spa-goers as part of the growing food-based spa treatment trend.

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Food has long been associated with wellness, but it has become an essential part of many spa treatments in Los Cabos, on the southern tip of the Baja Sur peninsula in Mexico.

Chocolate, often used in healing rituals in ancient Mayan (and later, Aztec) culture, is incorporated into many treatments at various spas, as are tropical fruits such as mango, papaya, passion fruit, lime, and coconut. The treatments are a natural way to soothe and revitalize the skin — and make customers smell delicious as well.

Unique among the different food-based spa options are the treatments at SOMMA WineSPA at Fiesta Americana Grand Golf & Spa Resort, which use wine and wine grapes to enliven the skin. The wine comes from Mexico's Guadalupe Valley, which produces sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, tempranillo, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon grapes, among many others. These grapes are used in essential oils that are rubbed onto the skin during different massages, and grape skins are ground into powder and incorporated into mud wraps to create some of the most popular treatments at the spa.

"In Mexico, we are good producers of wines," explains spa coordinator Francisco Gutiérrez. "We want to show the world that in Mexico we have great wines and show that we use all of the benefits of these grapes."

While SOMMA focuses on wine, many of the other spas in Los Cabos opt for more food-based treatments, like a chocolate ritual at the One&Only Spa by ESPA at One&Only Palmilla and an orange juice-based body wrap at the Spa at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort & Spa.