Dubai Post 65: Sailing, Sunsets and Relaxation

Could you blame us for not wanting to leave our villa?

Had Samantha and I gone to India, our days would have been hectic touring around all the sights.  Our stay at the Banyan Tree was the complete opposite.  We could not have asked for a more relaxing weekend just lounging around in our private pool.  We did manage to leave our serene environment for a few laid back activities on the resort.

On the first night, Samantha and I opted to go on a catamaran ride in the lagoon surrounding our resort.  I figured we would be able to sit back and relax as some skipper sailed us along the shore.  However, as we strapped on our life jackets and headed to the catamaran, we saw two guys pushing it into the water and no one on board.  Five minutes after some broken English instructions, I was sailing Samantha and myself out to sea.  My Hoofers (Wisco's sailing club) skills came back to me and we enjoyed a great hour as the sun set.

Our faithful vessel. 

Shortly after our departure, I was back in prime sailing form in no time. 

We may have needed a little help on the ride home since the wind died down.
Personally, I think we would have been fine and the workers just wanted
to go home for the day since we were the last boat out there.  This was also
not my first time on a boat and being pulled into shore...Granddad.

Just cruising around watching the sun go down. 

After our catamaran ride we headed back to our beach cabana to relax and watch the sun go down.  Because of the heavy haze, a UAE sunset in June does not compare to a Nantucket sunset.  However, because of the haze, a whitish glow appears over the water as the sun goes down.  We enjoyed it with our sunset staples: wine and cheese.

A true sunset in paradise.

Some wine and cheese as the sun goes down...and Samantha's peeking face.

Another advantage of it being off season is that every activity had a discount, including hour long massages.  With 30% off, how could we not treat ourselves to Balinese massages? 

The view from teh SPA was not so bad either.

The massage was incredible but it was the Rainforest spa treatment that got us really excited.  Think of it as an adult water park of relaxation.  The Rainforest spa was located at the desert property and was also included in our promotion, for free!  The rainforest contains a number of different therapeutic stations that you complete on your own.  Some of these included different types of saunas, hot and cold foot massages and jungle rain showers. 

Jacuzzi surrounded by different sauna chambers.   There was one
sauna where we felt like we were gonna suffocate it was so hot.
Immediately after, we went into the igloo room and put ice all over our body. 

The last stop was a gigantic pool with all different types of
massaging stations using different water pressures. 

The rainforest shower walk with different
types of rain.  (Obviously I got this image from their website.)