Kamalaya at Twenty: How a Samui Hillside Shaped Wellness Travel
The Koh Samui sanctuary built around a monks' meditation cave marked its 20th year in 2025 with 19 programmes, a Longevity House and a Cognitive House.
Kamalaya, the wellness sanctuary on the south coast of Koh Samui, marked its twentieth anniversary in 2025. It opened in 2005, at a time when a destination spa in Asia usually meant either a medical clinic or a resort with a large massage menu. Kamalaya proposed something between the two, and much of what is now standard in wellness travel in the region was tried here first.
A cave on a hillside
The property is built on a steep, forested slope above a small bay, around a cave that Buddhist monks used for meditation for centuries. The cave, known as Arjan Cave, is still in use and remains the centre of the place; guests are free to sit in it.
The founders, John and Karina Stewart, came to the project from different directions. He had spent many years in a spiritual community in the Himalayas. She trained in traditional Chinese medicine. The programme they built combines Asian healing traditions with Western naturopathy and, unusually for the time, gave as much attention to emotional balance as to diet and exercise. Guests work with naturopaths, practitioners of Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, and with life-enhancement mentors, several of them former monks.
Twenty years on
Kamalaya now offers 19 programmes, covering detox, sleep, stress and burnout, weight, fitness and emotional wellbeing, delivered by a team of more than 100 practitioners. Stays are typically of five to fourteen nights, and a large share of guests return.
Recent additions show the direction of the field. The Longevity House brings together intravenous therapies, hyperbaric oxygen and other technologies. The Cognitive House, a newer facility, is devoted to brain health, with assessments and training for memory, focus and resilience. Kamalaya Connect extends consultations online before and after a stay.
How it compares
Thailand has three retreats of international standing, and they are easy to tell apart. Chiva-Som in Hua Hin is the most structured and the most polished. RAKxa, near Bangkok, is the most medical. Kamalaya is the most informal, with shared tables at dinner for solo travellers, and the one most concerned with the mind. Our guide to Thailand’s wellness retreats sets out the choice in more detail.
Koh Samui is reached by direct flights from Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. The retreat is about 45 minutes from the airport, and the drier months from January to August are the best time to go.