The best destinations that combine kicking back with body maintenance.

Those who make 2018 the year they treat themselves to a wellbeing break will be pleased to discover that over the past decade the market has come to offer something to meet every requirement and taste. No longer a choice between the golf hotel with a sauna attached as an afterthought, the terrifyingly austere Eastern European health spa, or the yoga camp with yurts run by hippies in patchwork trousers, this new breed of retreats features slick hotels with a range of experiences that blend healthy eating with spa treatments, outdoor activities and sports and fitness.

Even if you are not much of a sportsman, the focus of a week trying out a new activity – learning to surf in the tropics, say – can provide a far better mental detox than lying on a beach wondering what to do next (and even then occasionally checking your emails).

At the other end of things, health spas have become increasingly scientific, even to the point of blurring lines between wellness and medical treatments. Anti-ageing no longer means an exfoliating face scrub, but a DNA test to reveal your susceptibilities to various diseases and a programme of preventive action. If that all sounds a little scary, don’t worry, it’s still a holiday, with plenty of fun and relaxation thrown in. Anyone who wants to wear a hair shirt and hole up in a monastery for a silent retreat can go ahead. We’d rather sweat the calories and be pummelled into insensibility within the luxurious confines of one of these retreats.

Even those new to surfing know that Indonesia is a land of promise. Waves from the gentlest beginner-friendly ripples to huge turquoise barrels are par for the course, with riding sessions followed by balmy nights under coconut palms. The country has a wide choice of surf camps, but Nihi Sumba Island blows the others out of the water with its world-class surf school and decadent villas – decked out in Balinese carvings – that boast canopy beds, private pools and hot tubs.

Created in 1984 as a tropical surf camp with a bohemian vibe, it was bought in 2012 by Mr Christopher Burch, ex-husband of the fashion designer Ms Tory Burch, and Mr James McBride, former MD of The Carlyle Hotel in New York. They gave it a $15m revamp, keeping the laid-back spirit while raising the quality of catering and service to industry-leading standards.

Novices who sign up for lessons will benefit from tutors who swim alongside them, pushing them onto the waves to get them going and coaching on that crucial breakthrough moment – standing up for the first time. More experienced surfers can learn to ride barrels, perform power carves, fin throws, airs and snaps. A big sell is Sumba’s own “private” wave, Occy’s Left, one of the world’s most famous barrels, which only 10 surfers a day get a chance to ride. To calm down, there’s yoga and a spa safari, which involves a rice paddy trek and treatments in a private cliff-side space.

Having opened its doors in July 2017, Alila Yangshuo is brand spanking new and jaw-droppingly beautiful. Set among the karst rock formations of Guangxi Province near Guilin in southern China, it was converted from an old sugar mill. It’s a place for switching off and getting outdoors, which makes it the perfect add-on to a business trip to China or Hong Kong. Most dramatic is the outdoor pool built onto a platform over a river, from which sugar used to be loaded onto cargo boats.

The spa is like nothing you’ve seen before, set underground in what looks like a designer cave, reminiscent of the Tate Modern Tanks, with a chunky concrete spiral staircase descending from above. Specialist Asian treatments, such as a Balinese massage with black sugar, are the focus while the hotel can arrange rock-climbing on the iconic limestone crags, hiking and mountain-biking. Being wholly abstemious here would be something of a waste, considering there’s an on-site rum distillery, whose produce is put to delicious use in the 1969 Bar in the old sugar mill’s refining room.

How old are you? But how old are you really? The DNA and blood tests performed at the SHA Wellness Clinic near Alicante will work out how old your body thinks you are, rather than what it says on your passport, and how susceptible you are to various health problems. But you won’t be soothing any shock revelations with a stiff drink in the bar afterwards. The resort has a controlled approach to food and drink, focusing on therapeutic nutrition, but the battalion of anti-ageing experts on hand will sort out a programme to Dorian Gray you tout de suite.

This place has a super-sciencey approach with a futuristic menu of cognitive functioning assessment, cryotherapy and even an “ozone therapy consultation” (no, us neither), which involves an intravenous drip. There are several week-long programmes to choose from, such as intensive weight loss and detox and a “life reset” to address emotional and physical fatigue. The fitness course includes seven sessions with a personal trainer, deep tissue massages and lymphatic drainage, while the “anti-stress” week features psychotherapy and nutritional consultations. If it all sounds a bit full-on, be assured it gets results, and it takes place in sunny courtyards with views of the Med, which stop it feeling at all clinical.

Tulum has become the go-to beach spot for bohemians everywhere, from Brixton to Berlin. Yäan Wellness is one of the latest openings, and has all the roughly hewn bare wood, overhanging palms and mid-century furniture you might expect, though the addition of a concrete-clad indoor pool, black marble worktops and deep copper baths take it to the next level.

The retreat’s signature treatments, such as a monthly Moon Temazcal (sweat lodge), are indigenous-inspired and include massages involving the whispering of sacred chants. Urban cynicism should be checked at the door. One of its founders, clinical psychologist Dr Bobby Klein, lived and studied with Native American tribes and Tibetan Buddhists and is deeply influenced by their ancient approach to wellbeing. He also worked as a rock photographer in the 1960s, hanging out with The Stones and The Doors, though that particular experience thankfully doesn’t appear to have informed any of the wellness therapies. Expect a fair bit of chat about healing and energies, but it remains an upmarket, laid-back escape.

Anyone who needs to ramp up their training to meet their targets will find a specialised training retreat provides the requisite push in the right direction. Almyra, a glamorous, minimalist resort just south of Paphos on the Greek side of Cyprus, has launched a six-day triathlon training camp that combines winter sun with open water swims in a dazzling crystal sea, technique sessions in the four pools, long bike rides in the Troodos Mountains, and running along the coast – all so much more appealing than a dip at the gym and a sprint round the park.

Those with any energy left can attend rooftop yoga classes or tennis lessons; those without can flop in the spa, which features a “just for gents” menu and deep pressure massages.

One of the most interesting retreats we’ve seen, Finn Lough is a serene rural escape beside Lough Erne, with an intriguing Elements Trail private wellness experience. Guests walk through woodland between cabins each containing a different treatment, such as a salt bath, Finnish sauna, hydrotherapy pool and a hot tub overlooking the bay.

There’s a quirky approach to the accommodation, too, with a collection of transparent “bubble domes”, in which guests can fall asleep looking up at starry skies, as well as modern lakeside cottages with white panelling and wood burners, for those who like more privacy and a real roof over their heads. Tennis, fishing, boating and kayaking fill up the rest of your stay.

Sri Lanka is the warm, beguiling antidote to the ragged misery of a harsh winter – it’s the place I long for on a grim sleety day.

Above the ancient capital Kandy lies the transformative Santani Wellness Resort, which claims to be the country’s first destination spa. Its magical location, in 48 acres of tea plantations amid exotic fruit trees and complemented by an Ayurvedic (whole body) philosophy focusing on healthy eating and hydrotherapy, should have stress seeping out of every pore.

In stark contrast to the typically flouncy boutique hotels elsewhere on the island, Santani boasts 16 mountain-view chalets set on steel pillars with cement walls, and almost monastically minimal interiors, intended to limit distraction in the way that nearby Buddhist meditation caves do.

Shakti Himalaya’s epic adventure holidays immerse travellers in the culture and staggering scenery of three mountain states: Sikkim, Ladakh and at Kumaon in Uttarakhand.

In places of intense beauty intended to soothe the soul, this place’s aim is to teach you about living on the roof of the world. With trekking altitudes of 3,500 to 4,200m, you are sure to get a boost to strength and stamina, too, as athletes will testify.

Trips are largely tailor-made and can include one or all three destinations, but they typically involve daily hikes between remote villages, with guides, chefs and porters to ease aching limbs. Accommodation is in lovely, traditional village houses and luxury tented camps.

Example trips include a Ladakh Village Experience holiday into tiny mountain villages in the Indus Valley, and a new “Head in the Clouds” mindfulness retreat, also Ladakh-based, combining morning Buddhist meditation and prayers with monks, silent hikes featuring stops for meditation and yoga at mountain beauty spots, plus a a stay at Shakti 360 Leti, the outfit’s own luxury lodge. Book direct or choose a package with Ampersand Travel.

Those who really need a crack of the whip to get the year’s fitness regime going could do worse than sign up for an intensive five-day retreat at Yeotown in north Devon. Staying in a chic farmhouse, guests get out on early-morning hikes along the coastal path, then it’s a series of gut-busting core and boxing workouts, plus strength and fitness training, with time for napping and relaxation, too.

Here it’s not just about short-term gains; the aim is for guests to develop their own healthy habits and fad-free diets to allow them to make – and keep – permanent changes to their lives for their own good. The founders have an interiors background which shows in the wood panelling, swinging egg chairs and art, while the kitchen turns out fresh, healthy “fuel for body and mind”. The food can also be sampled at a new off-shoot London restaurant, Yeotown Kitchen, in Chiltern Street W1.

Shop all sports gear here