Water Therapy

Water, or balneotherapy, is a must have element at a medical retreat. At Santa Maria, we are blessed with both Baja's natural mineral water and the Pacific ocean to offer a unique balneotherapy program. Our patients enjoy includes Russian sauna, ocean pool for swimming and efficient medical procedures in Baja mineral water (hydromassage, Vichy shower, Sea of Cortez salt baths).

Hydromassage is an efficient water procedure suitable for about any patient. It consists of applying a strong water current on different body parts. Hydromassage is more gentle on skin and more relaxing than hand massage, yet it can be more powerful in affecting internal organs and systems. Hydromassage was also proven to promote cell renewal and regeneration. Hydromassage is highly recommended for patients with anxiety, high blood pressure, digestive issues and migraines.

Mineral baths with Sea of Cortez salt are quite unique. The reason is that Sea of Cortez salt is very special in its mineral content. A typical sea salt has 98-99% NaCl. Sea of Cortez salt contains only 70-72% NaCl. The other 30% represent 90 elements of Mendeleev periodic system, with many rare and trace elements not available from food or elsewhere. During the water bath procedure, these elements get dissolved in water and become accessible for the body as ions via skin osmosis. 30 – 40 minutes bath may be sufficient for delivering rare elements enough for several months.

Vichy shower, or an affusion shower, is a combination balneotherapy procedure, which combines hydromassage from several shower heads with steam treatment. A patient lays down on the back and stomach in a covered The procedure is named after the town of Vichy in France, famous for its natural mineral water springs. At Santa Maria, we also use local Baja mineral water for all procedures. Baja mineral water is known for high content of magnesium and

Russian sauna, or banya, is a stand-alone wooden sauna, which combines high temperature with humidity for the best effect on the body. For the best effect, heat & humidity sessions intersect with cold water submersions. In Santa Maria, our patients cool down in an ocean front sea-water pool, a cold water buckets and showers. With design virtually unchanged for centuries, banya is a highly enjoyable healing and longevity procedure, perfect for cardio-vascular system, immune system activation, and metabolism boosting.

We built a series of sea water pools on the volcanic rock on the ocean front. Safe swimmable and highly "instagramable", our pools are open year-round and enjoyed by our patients and guests.