An Affordable Wellness Vacation in Maine

Wellness travel is big business in the year 2026. According to a recent article in the New York Times it’s easy to create or curate your own mini wellness experience without the prohibitive price tag. They suggest visiting places where communal amenities like public pools or saunas are accessible and already part of the culture. You don’t have to fly all the way to the onsens of Japan to reap the benefits of a natural thermal bath. And if a trip to Iceland for the Nordic spa circuit and blue lagoon isn’t in the budget this year, fear not! We at The Craignair Inn by the Sea are MidCoast Maine experts in the latest trends and happenings in our area. 

We are always paying attention to wellness practices when we are out and about around Rockland, Maine. We have been noticing something exciting happening in the last few years. There has been a marked increase in the number of places to sauna. This development isn’t entirely new or surprising. Immigrants from Scandinavia, specifically Finland, settled in this part of the country hundreds of years ago and have maintained the tradition of sauna within the confines of their own homes and families. It was a private practice. Well known among the old timers and locals, saunas are definitely experiencing a second wave of popularity in Maine, especially where we are, in the MidCoast region. 

Beginning in Portland, Maine’s cultural capital of cool, two hours to the south of us, Washington Baths is a popular spot for the urban sauna experience. They stay open late and impose silence on Fridays. There are snacks and sometimes bands play. It’s a great place to meet up with friends. Recently Waterstruck Wellness in Newcastle has been making a splash. Located just 40 minutes west of where we are, in Spruce Head, locals and tourists alike are raving about the spot, immersed in the woods, and very welcoming. You can easily make a day trip to both Portland and Newcastle from here. 

We can point to a handful of businesses responsible for transforming an old way of life into business. Jackie Statton, who owns Cedar Grove Sauna, was at the forefront of the sauna renaissance in Maine. Jackie owns property in the tiny town of Montville, which is about an hour northwest from The Craignair. She built a mobile sauna that she parked by the ocean in the north end of Rockland. We have been lucky enough to spend time in the mobile sauna, a converted horse trailer, when it was parked on the stone beach in Rockland. Have you visited a sauna before? Is this ancient tradition a new concept to you? We can help explain the benefits and significance. 

A sauna is simply a room built around a source of fire, in which to sit and bathe in the profound heat. The word is a noun that refers to the bathhouse itself, and also a verb used for the experience, to sauna. To sauna is often, though not necessarily, a collective or communal experience. To sauna can be a nightly or a weekly ritual, and is often followed by a shared meal. It is therapeutic in the winter months as a way of raising one’s body temperature, to perspire profusely, and benefit from the heat. To achieve the full benefit, one must complete the circuit, which means after getting hot in the sauna, you cool down. In winter there is something thrilling about falling into the snow, glazed with heat from the sauna. Some people roll around in the powder, or make a bathing suit snow angel, believe it or not! Others plunge in a small tub or pour a bucket of cold water over themselves. When you are near the ocean you can always run down to the shore and dip in the icy Atlantic. 

In the New York Times article we mentioned above, they noted that in Ireland there is  practice of soaking in a bath of warm seawater and mingled seaweed, often in a wooden barrel near the sea. We could definitely recreate this kind of bath in coastal Maine. Especially considering our owner’s reserve society for the appreciation of fine spirits! Wouldn’t it be marvelous to sit immersed in mineral rich seawater, sipping a whiskey and staring out into the ocean? We are going to have to consider this! We live in such a beautiful place. It is simply and naturally restorative. We would love to invite our guests to a warming soak on a chilly day. If you don’t feel like getting wet, there is always forest bathing, the practice of immersing yourself in the woods. 

We are surrounded by pine forests in Spruce Head. The tall trees are always green and reassuring. In winter or early spring a walk in the woods is a meditative act. Often you can walk alone on Clark Island, on three miles of trails, and not see another human being. You may encounter birds, foxes, deer, turkeys, and squirrels though. An up close and personal encounter with wildlife is part of our daily experience here at The Craignair Inn. We are well acquainted with the cycles and patterns of nature. This rhythm gets into your body and mind, and offers comfort and hope when the world looks frightening. Look closely at the grasses and mosses. Observe the flight of seabirds. Notice the leaves, when they change color and how they fall. Witnessing these processes year after year is a gift and a balm for the weary soul.

What other wellness practices would you like to pursue? In the nearby village of Tenants Harbor there is a yoga studio and gallery named Salt and Stillness. They offer therapeutic massage, avita yoga, meditation and sound therapy, as well as infrared sauna. If you drive into nearby Rockland, there are more options for yoga, Pilates, and meditation, as well as numerous other massage therapists of various modalities. When the weather warms we encourage guests to swim in as many different bodies of water as they can find. Besides the wild and mercurial ocean there are excellent ponds and small lakes, quarries of both salt water and fresh water, and even rivers to wash your feet. 

Natural wellness does not have to be expensive. To feel the benefits you don’t have to travel to far flung locations or spend thousands of dollars. It is a terrible shame that wellness has been co-opted by the greedy and opportunistic as just another money making scheme. For the cost of a night at The Craignair Inn you can indulge in completely free activities in the woods, on the sandy beach, at rockier, wilder beaches, at Acadia National Park, or any trail on the side of a country road. We are not gate keeping nature or well being. We encourage every single person to take advantage of the peace, the space, and the fresh air. Our environment has so much to offer. Which is why we try to take such good care of it. 

At The Craignair, we are stewards of the land. The natural environment is our home. We are an eco-friendly green hotel not only in name but in practice. We recycle extensively, we compost, we don’t buy single use plastic. We refill containers of soaps and do laundry when guests request it. We have an EV charger and solar panels. We source food locally. We are thoughtful in our consumption and ease our carbon footprint as much as possible. It’s part of being in Maine, respecting the earth, and thinking many generations ahead. We want our guests to return with their children, and their children’s children to enjoy the quiet, the fresh scent of salt and pine, the healing waters of a salty ocean float. Wellness is affordable in Maine, and we are here to help you discover your bliss in this wonderful place!

Are you interested in pursuing an affordable wellness vacation this year? The Craignair is the perfect jumping off point for wellness adventures in Maine. RISE Massage at the top of the inn offers healing, integrative massage without leaving the property. Soak up the art in our gallery, Sit by the fire. Connect with your family, Make new friends at the bar. Play a board game, Read a book, newspaper, or magazine. Get out of your head, off your phones, and connect with what matters. Book a night or a few right here in Spruce Head, Maine!