What to do at The Sanctuary and beyond
Not only do we guarantee plenty of RnR during your stay at The Sanctuary Thailand (this is beach life epitomised!), we also promise a whole bunch of other fun stuff to keep you entertained… if you choose to leave your lounger. Here we have compiled a list of the best Sanctuary offerings, as well as some of our favourite local spots:
Healthy Eating
We’re outrageously proud that our vegetarian restaurant and menu are world-renowned. The super-friendly Thai team serve up a huge range of mouth-watering meals, snacks and drinks daily from 8am-9pm featuring Thai, Indian, Vietnamese and Western dishes, as well as an extensive raw food menu. Even our cake counter has healthy (as well as naughty) options, such as Raw Berry Crumble and Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt and Orange (yum!).
The restaurant offers a tasty Sunday Brunch menu while the Sunday Street Market takes place outside. The market is run by travelling locals selling beautiful jewellery, sarongs, fragrances and oriental fans. Indian street food is the order of the day on Thursday evenings during our legendary Open Mic Night.
Beach Time
Haad Tien is our slice of paradise on the east coast of Koh Phangan. For ultimate relaxation and joie de vivre, follow these simple steps:
1: Settle yourself on a lounger
2: Lie back and enjoy the view
It’s that straightforward!
During an obligatory dip, take one of our snorkels from reception and enjoy the underwater coral life which is flourishing with parrot fish, angel fish and zebra fish.
The waves here are much stronger from December to March but the rest of the year sees super-calm flat water.
Our two neighbouring beaches are definitely worth the short walks. To the north is Haad Whynam which is a small chilled out bay with a restaurant. To the south, over a small hill is Haad Yuan, a longer white sand beach with several food and drink stops and a sunbathing platform out in the water.
Yoga & Pilates
Yoga is a big part of Sanctuary life. As well as hosting many yoga teacher training retreats throughout the year, we hold 3 daily classes (Sun-Fri) in the Buddha Hall. 8am class is a dynamic form of yoga; 10.30am class is gentle and excellent for beginners and fasters; and 4pm Yoga Alchemy class is yin yoga.
Pilates takes place at 9am in the Garden Hall, Sun-Fri.
All of our teachers are available for private 121 sessions too; you can book at the Tea Temple or with the teacher direct.
Meditation
We are huge fans of meditation here thanks to its endless emotional and physical benefits. Don’t miss our free 6pm meditation class in the Buddha Hall every night (except Saturday). Each evening one of our Tea Temple healers leads a different style of meditation that is suitable for everyone, including absolute beginners. Styles include relaxing breathwork, heart-centred, mindfulness, dance and creative meditation. It’s a great way to connect with yourself at the end the day.
Spa Time
The Sanctuary Spa is a fantastic place for pampering yourself silly with a range of relaxing treatments including traditional Thai or aromatherapy massage, a natural fruit facial, hot coconut oil ‘hairapy’ or body treatments such as the detoxifying Bali body scrub & wrap or the cooling aloe & cucumber treatment.
The Spa also has a steam room & plunge pool.
Open 11am-8pm.
Detox programmes
The Sanctuary Wellness Centre is famous for its effective cleanse programmes, ranging from a 1-day Quick Detox right up to a 10.5 day Cleanse. Detoxers are continually supported by Moon, our Wellness Centre manager and his team to ensure they get the very best effects from their cleanse experience.
If fasting is not for you, the 3-day or 7-day Raw Fest is an uber tasty and healthy way to build natural energy and vitamins from raw veggies and supplements.
Moon also offers a 2-week Weight Loss programme which combines 5 days of Raw Fest, a 7-day detox, personal training, yoga and much more.
Healing
The Tea Temple is a must while you’re here. Located in our Sanctuary Garden, it is the place on Koh Phangan to meet healers who offer incredible modalities. Whether it is emotional, mental or physical healing you are looking for, you’ll find it here. Techniques available include ayurvedic consultations, bodywork, reiki, acupuncture, abdominal massage and lymphatic drainage massage (both especially good for fasters), astrology and rolfing.
As well as private healing sessions, the Tea Temple organises a weekly schedule of workshops and free talks to keep you busy when you’re not in class or catching some rays. For a taster, see this week’s schedule.
Delicious teas and smoothies are served all day Sun-Fri from 10am-6pm and lunch is served 1-3pm. There is also a shop selling health supplements and gifts, as well as a library of healing and health reference books.
Every Sunday at 3pm, The Tea Temple Team present The Gathering; an hour-long session introducing all of the healers and the forthcoming week’s workshop and talk schedule.
Shop-tastic
Our newly extended Sanctuary Shop sells clothes, sunnies, swimwear, beauty products, jewellery and plenty more, so don’t fret if you forget to pack anything as we will have it all here, 5 steps from the restaurant!
The Sanctuary Shop is open 9am-9pm (closed 3-5pm).
Movies and Music
Two absolute essentials for beach life. Every Tuesday night, we show a movie on the beach under the stars and every Thursday night is Open Mic, an evening of guest performances… by our guests. This is your opportunity to sing, play guitar, read poetry, belly dance; basically dazzle everyone with your talent. Our crowd are full of fun and applause so don’t be shy.
Around The Sanctuary
Restaurants – Spice in Haad Tien serves incredible BBQ seafood, meat dishes and cocktails; Beam, also in Haad Tien offers great Thai food at budget prices; Bamboo is beautifully set on the rocks overlooking Haad Yuan and serves a huge Thai & Western menu; Big Blue on Haad Yuan is a relaxed place for breakfast, lunch or dinner and also plays two movies every night starting at 7pm.
Walks – our surrounding jungle is beautiful and it’s worth finding a friend who can show you the two viewpoint paths; one between Haad Tien and Haad Wynam for a stunning view of the east coast of Koh Phangan; and another between Haad Tien and Haad Rin. This second one is steep and sweaty but worth the effort for the unbeatable (and very high) view of Haad Yuan and Haad Tien. We also love to admire the stars from the hill next to our restaurant by the Thai resort, Horizon.
Parties – Koh Phangan is famous for the Full Moon Parties, but for something a bit more underground, hit Guy’s Bar on Friday night or Eden Garden on Tuesday and Saturday nights.
We hope you have found this helpful. If you have any further questions on any of the above, just drop us a line relax@www.thesanctuarythailand.com
