Spa on Gili Air: massage, sauna and ice bath

Spa options on Gili Air

For a small island there is a reasonable spread. Independent massage huts along the main path charge roughly IDR 150,000–250,000 for an hour; quality swings from genuinely good hands to a plastic table under a fan, and you cannot always tell which you will get until you are on it. A couple of yoga studios add bodywork on the side, usually Thai-influenced. A few of the guesthouses have a single treatment room they will book for non-guests. Then there are the proper hotel spas, which is where you go if a clean treatment room, a therapist trained to a standard, oils you can ask about, and a booking that actually holds all matter to you. On a small island those things are not a given, and the price gap between a hut massage and a hotel one is smaller than you would expect — often a few euros.

Note also that the two Gilis either side offer less: Gili Meno has a handful of small spas and Gili Trawangan a couple of larger ones aimed at the party crowd. For a considered treatment, Gili Air is the pick of the three.

What Soma Vita is

Soma Vita is KOHO’s wellness house, open to hotel guests and, by arrangement, to visitors staying elsewhere on the island. It is organised around five pillars — movement, nourishment, recovery, sleep and connection — and the space reflects that rather than a treatment menu: a dry sauna, a cold plunge, a mineral-rich magnesium jacuzzi, Gili Air’s first red light studio, an open-sided breathwork pavilion, and treatment rooms for massage and bodywork, all set in their own corner of the garden away from the pools. The idea is a circuit you move through, not a room you book for an hour and leave. The overview page has the full layout and photos; the Longevity Lab covers the more structured multi-day protocols and IV therapy; our story explains why it was built this way.

Treatments, and which to book

If you book one thing, make it the Signature Soma Massage — our own blend of Balinese and Sasak technique, 60 or 90 minutes, firm without being punishing. The 90-minute version is worth the extra half hour; most people wish they had booked it.

Couples usually add the Four Hands treatment — two therapists per person working in mirrored sequence — which is the one people describe to their friends afterwards rather than the one they expected to remember. There is also a couples’ flower bath to follow it.

Beyond those: a traditional deep-tissue for anyone carrying training or long-haul travel in their shoulders; a lymphatic drainage, lighter and slower, good after a flight or in the heat; a scrub-and-soak ritual; and a foot ritual that is the right length for a hot afternoon when you do not want a full hour face-down. Durations and the full list are on Rituals & Massage. If you would rather someone else structure a multi-day plan around all of it, Programmes sets the order for you.

The recovery circuit, step by step

Sauna — 15 to 20 minutes of dry heat, around 80–90°C. It moves circulation, opens the airways, and regular use has some of the stronger observational evidence in this field for cardiovascular benefit. It is also the fastest way on the property to stop thinking about your inbox. Sit low if the top bench is too much, and come out if you feel genuinely dizzy rather than just hot.

Ice bath — two to three minutes, around 10–12°C. The benefit is not proportional to the suffering, and holding your breath makes it worse: breathe out slowly and long, keep your shoulders down, and get out while it still feels like a choice rather than an ordeal. The alertness afterwards is the part people come back for.

Magnesium jacuzzi — a 20-to-30-minute soak in mineral-rich water. Magnesium absorbed through the skin supports muscle relaxation and, for most people, noticeably deeper sleep the same night. It is also just a very pleasant place to end. Our explainer goes into the mechanism behind the whole heat-and-cold contrast.

Red light and breathwork — 12 to 20 minutes under the red light panels for skin and joint recovery, and a guided down-regulating breathwork session most mornings in the pavilion. The breathwork is slow exhales and long holds at the bottom, meant to leave you calm rather than lightheaded — it is not the hyperventilation kind.

The right order for a spa day

Sauna first for fifteen minutes, then the ice bath, then five minutes of rest in the shade with water — do not skip the rest, it is where the nervous system actually resets and the adaptation happens. Repeat for up to three rounds if the day allows; two is plenty for most people. Finish in the magnesium jacuzzi rather than starting there.

Book your massage after the circuit, not before: muscle responds better warm, so the same hour of bodywork does more once you are heated through. Our therapists’ diary is built to allow that sequence — say so when you reserve and they will slot the massage to follow your circuit. Leave at least an hour before dinner so you are not eating while still flushed, and skip alcohol on circuit days if the sleep is what you came for — it undoes most of the benefit.

What a first visit looks like

Arrive ten minutes early in swimwear, with a change of clothes. A therapist walks you through the space, asks about injuries, blood pressure, pregnancy and how you slept, and adjusts the plan — shorter cold, cooler sauna, a gentler massage — around whatever you tell them. Towels, water and tea are provided; you do not need to bring anything but sandals. A full circuit plus a 60-minute massage is about two and a half hours, so it is an afternoon, not a quick stop. Phones stay in the lockers. If you have never done cold immersion, the therapist will get in with you for the first plunge and talk you through the breathing; nobody is pushed to stay in longer than they want.

Prices and how to book

Massage treatments start at around €35 for 60 minutes; the 90-minute Signature and the Four Hands are more. The recovery circuit itself — sauna, ice bath, magnesium jacuzzi — is included in the room rate for KOHO guests who book direct, along with breakfast and all three pools. Treatments and add-ons are charged to your room account or paid on the day by card or cash, with no service fee on cards. A full price list sits on Programmes. Reserve a slot when you book your room, or message us on WhatsApp once your dates are set — the treatment rooms are small, there are only so many therapist hours in a day, and the good slots (late afternoon, before dinner) go first, especially in July and August.

Day visitors and who should skip parts

If you are staying elsewhere on Gili Air, day access to Soma Vita is possible by arrangement and subject to space, with hotel guests taking priority — message us with your dates a day or two ahead rather than turning up. A day pass covers the circuit and the facilities; treatments are booked on top.

The full circuit is 18 and over. Cold immersion is not advisable if you are pregnant, have a cardiac condition or uncontrolled high blood pressure, have had recent surgery, or are unwell — the sauna and a gentle massage are usually still fine, and the therapists will build the session around you rather than have you skip it entirely. None of this needs a doctor’s note, but if you have a condition that needs managing, ask your own doctor before you travel and tell our team when you arrive.

Common questions

Written by the team at The KOHO Air Hotel, a four-star boutique wellness retreat five minutes’ walk from Gili Air harbour. We answer questions like these by message most days — just ask.