This Caribbean Floating Spa—Built From Hurricane-Salvaged Lumber—Is Pure Paradise

Like much of the Caribbean impacted by Hurricane Irma, the British Virgin Islands spent a good portion of 2018 picking up the pieces from their shattered paradise and heartily rebuilding.

For entrepreneur Dale Mapp, that meant literally picking up the wind-blown pieces—scraps of metal, closet doors, an old wooden gate ripped from its hinges—and turning them into the most genius idea ever.

Mapp’s Ocean Spa, which opened in the fall of 2018, consists of a buoyant, breezy shack just offshore from the BVI’s Jost Van Dyke. Seven days a week, he invites guests over to escape, relax, and indulge in a massage set amidst a blissful salt-air ambiance.

In the spa’s four treatment rooms, guests are completely immersed in the serene atmosphere of the ocean. The structure’s wood-slatted walls allow the sounds and scents of the sea to flow in with ease, while rectangular glass-bottomed portholes below the massage tables make it possible for guests to spot fish and other sealife mid-treatment.

Related: How To Make a Caribbean Rum Swizzle:

But the spa’s unique setting is just one part of the puzzle that makes this outpost special. After Hurricane Irma ravaged the BVI, Mapp found meaning in much of the debris scattered around Jost Van Dyke and put it to good use. With the exception of necessary metals and pontoons, most of the materials that make up the spa are salvaged parts from around the BVI after the hurricane, including a wooden gate that was converted into benches and an old “closet door with the scribbles of a child.”

As the website says, the deeper meaning of it all is to remind people that “there is peace in simple living. And don’t be so quick to get rid of the old; they can be our source of comfort.”

Want to book a treatment at this blissful spa? A signature Ocean Oasis massage starts at $65 for 30 minutes, but you can also book a 75-minute sunset couples package—champagne included—for $240. #yesplease