Bowen Island sits just a 20-minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, close enough to reach on a weekday afternoon and far enough that the city disappears from your mind. Once the ferry docks into Snug Cove, the currents of water, wind, birds, and forest take over.

Mist Thermal Sanctuary is a private sauna and cold plunge spa set inside that forest, on the same land as Nectar Yoga Retreat. It is one of the few places in British Columbia where the thermal experience is set outdoors, among the towering trees, without the ambient noise of the city bleeding through. The outdoor showers and cold plunge draw from an aquifer beneath the property. The wood-fire sauna looks out into the canopy. Between circuits, you rest by a fire while the ferns and conifers do what they do.