Weekend Yoga Getaway: Nectar Yoga BnB – Bowen Island, British Columbia
Where: Bowen Island, BC Canada
Website: http://nectaryogabnb.ca/
Instagram:@nectaryogabnb
Ideal for: relaxing retreat
We recently had the itch to get out of town, with the aim of a quiet small town feel to slow ourselves down from the daily bustle. Our goal was to take it easy on packing and travel time, which can often add some extra stress. Although these might appear as limiting constraints, it actually opened our eyes to get creative and better explore our more local surroundings. The decision? Bowen Island.
First off, it’s an easy 30 minute drive from Vancouver to the ferry terminal. Mission accomplished for keeping an easy transit time. Upon hopping on the quaint ferry, after only 30 minutes or so, the small town feel of Bowen Island quickly put the big city far out of mind. One of the nice things about arriving on a small island is that you know you won’t have far to go to reach your destination. Since our goal was to give ourselves a relaxing “getaway” feel to recharge our batteries, the choice of accommodations was key. From word of mouth, we heard that Nectar B&B/Yoga was just the place.
After literally just a 5 minute drive from the ferry terminal, we arrived at our destination. Situated on a gentle hill, three buildings organically emerge from the rock and greenery that make up the beautiful property. We stayed in the Nectar Loft, a cozy and warm space that felt inviting from the second we opened the door. The mini kitchen was perfect for a weekend getaway, and the split level design created a spacious elevated living room with tons of light and relaxing views out into the property. The space was just what we needed to unwind, relax, and rest up in the beautiful comfy bed in the treehouse-like loft.
After venturing about to check out a bit of what the island had to offer, we returned to Nectar to finally see the acclaimed yoga dome. Under the watch of calming evergreens and deer strolling through the property, the yoga dome was just as serene as you might guess. With cool winter temps, doing some yoga in a semi-transparent structure might not be your first idea to relax and unwind. These thoughts would be totally wrong, though. We had the heated yoga dome all to ourselves, which gave us an ample playground to stretch out and move, which was a nice changeup from wall-to-wall mats of the packed studios in the city. The heat really gave us a kickstart to an enjoyable yoga practice with views to the calming forest feels surrounding the space.
Although we can definitely see why the yoga dome is a major draw, for us it was really just the icing on the cake. The chill aesthetic combined with the genuine hospitality that Andrea, the owner and host, showed us will undoubtedly result in two repeat customers. The delish breakfast of overnight oats and fresh grapefruit didn’t hurt either.
Feeling rejuvenated, we threw our backpacks into the car and were homeward bound. Even though the ferry was too packed to make it on our first attempt, it gave us an hour to satisfy our appetite at Snug, which boasted a variety of healthy options and baked goods. Fully stuffed, the easy cruise-of-a-ferry sealed off the experience, and the one night sleepover perked our spirits for the work week that lay ahead. Success.
