Get ready for take-off! Announcing Forbes Travel Guide's Inaugural Verified Air Travel Awards. 
It's easy to spend a whole day indulging in the airy, gold-hued The Spa at Terranea along the Palos Verdes Peninsula at Los Angeles' only oceanside retreat. Offering treatments and day passes to both guests and visitors, the sprawling 50,000-square-foot spa, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean, is filled with luxurious, why-don’t-you-stay-awhile amenities.
Our Inspector's Highlights
- The Four-Star spa takes a unique approach to wellness by paying particular attention to the timing of your visit, recommending treatments according to nature and the circadian rhythm. For example, in the morning you might want a skin-stimulating volcanic clay wrap.
- As for the late afternoon and evening, Ocean’s Renewal features a warm, long-stroke oil massage utilizing the healing benefits of laminaria seaweed oil.
- Services have elements that tend to celebrate the sea, such as the revitalizing seaweed wrap that takes place in a low-lit, tranquil room by the water where you can hear the waves crashing.
- The spa uses crystals, which were once mined in caves on the resort's property.
- Treatments at the spa employ an array of products, depending on the service. Facials utilize luxurious skincare items from Natura Bissé.
Things to Know
- Coastal breezes and the gentle echo of Pacific Ocean waves offer a serene oasis to rejuvenate body and spirit.
- All products can be purchased in the spa boutique, as well as other chic souvenirs like designer swimsuits, charming jewelry, beauty products and summery cover-ups, the perfect garb in which to float about the resort.
- In between a massage or a seaside cycling class, sustain yourself with fresh samplings from the Spa Café, an eatery featuring healthy yet hearty foods that make you feel good inside and out.
- The fitness center provides diverse group fitness programs that range from yoga to water aerobics and outdoor adventures.
The Treatments
- The Spa at Terranea awakens you to nature’s sacred rhythms with healing rituals that follow the daily cycle of energy, rest and repair. Morning treatments stimulate the mind and spirit, while calming afternoon and evening rituals restore balance and peace.
- The Ocean's Prelude starts with a seaweed wrap, followed by a salt-water bath in one of the resort's signature deep copper tubs. It’s finished with another sea-themed service, a laminaria oil massage.
- Take advantage of the local gym source with a crystal-quartz body scrub or the Crystal Reflections, a foot reflexology treatment that incorporates a copper tub filled with harmonizing quartz.
- Choose from a variety of luxurious facials, including the revitalizing Diamond Luminous Facial featuring diamond essence; Inhibit Face-Lift Facial for youthful, smooth skin; and Nature’s Transformation combining ultrasonic exfoliation with plant stem cell serum.
The Facilities
- Jutting out over the water on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the spa includes a private, adults-only pool, an outdoor hot tub and cold water plunge bath, steam rooms, private cabanas, fire pits and a 5,000-square-foot fitness center and movement studio with sweeping ocean views.
- Exercise and pool lounging aside, the main reason to visit The Spa at Terranea is to book time in one of the 25 state-of-the-art treatment rooms.
- The spa’s full-service salon offers signature beauty rituals, rejuvenating skincare treatments, hair styling and makeup services provided by a dedicated team of specialists.
- Vichy showers and amazing copper tubs are both perfect for soaking in after a seaside yoga class.
Getting There
