7 Day Yogi Explorer - Yoga and Soft Adventure Holiday on Hvar Island, Croatia
Yoga and Soft-Adventure Holiday in Croatia
This is one of the most popular yoga retreats offered in Croatia.
Join Suncokret Dream at their integrated holistic yoga lifestyle retreat center, selected among Lonely Planet's "10 incredible yoga retreats in Europe for 2024." The program is overseen by your host and program manager, Evening Marie, a yoga therapist with over 20 years of experience leading top-rated retreat programs on Hvar, together with her partner Stipe, a certified chef, agro-tourism expert, and Hvar Island native who acts as the chef and local guide during the retreat. Together with their visiting team of holistic yoga lifestyle instructors from around the world, Suncokret provides a masterful retreat program in a safe and cozy shelter that enables you to explore the various levels of your being.
Meet the instructors
Highlights
- Daily yoga sadhana practice
- Sacred opening and closing ceremonies
- Five elements deep-dive sessions
- Optional holistic TLC treatments and workshops
- Daily mindful soft-adventure experiences
- Consultation with the holistic lifestyle coach
- 6 nights accommodation
- Daily meals
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Yoga styles
7 days with instruction in English
Accommodation
Facilities
- Air-conditioned rooms
- Dining area
- Garden
- Lounge
- Terrace
- Yoga deck
- Yoga studio
- Free Wi-Fi
- Laundry
- Library
You are situated in one of three semi-attached stone cottages; each is representative of one of the three realms of existence: primal, human, and heavenly, while each of the seven rooms has been designed to represent one of the seven major chakras that govern the way you think, feel, and act. No matter your choice of cottage or room, your stay in the retreat will enhance the holistic nature of your experience.
Facilities
- Outdoor yoga terrace
- Indoor yoga shala
- Two living rooms
- Outdoor and indoor dining areas
- An enclosed garden
- Organic fruit and veggie garden
- Two patios and a sundeck
- Three kitchenettes with tea-making corners
- Two libraries with inspiring books, music, films, games, and art supplies
- Three washing machines
- Free parking
- Comforts of a home away from home
- Wi-Fi access in all rooms and throughout the facility
Program
The yogi explorer program offers an inspiring retreat adventure in paradise for yoga, nature, and soft-adventure lovers. Take time out to move your body and reconnect with yourself and the temple of nature through this five-elements-inspired yoga and soft-adventure program. The morning yoga sessions are followed by a delicious and nutritious breakfast in the garden, after which you will be taken off the property on a dedicated soft-adventure experience that may involve walking, cycling, hiking, and, in summer months, either a snorkeling, SUP, or sea-kayaking adventure around the paradise island. The daily adventures are followed by dedicated free time so you can relax your way, in town and by the sea.
In the evenings, you will enjoy nourishing Dalma-Veg meals and evening deep-dive sessions that explore theme-based topics through discussion, meditation, and holistic practices to prepare you for the next day's adventure. At the end of the week, there will be a glorious Sunset Experience and the opportunity to enjoy a meal in a local restaurant. Move your body and free your mind on beautiful Hvar Island. This experience is best suited for fit and healthy participants between 25 and 65 years of age. The team members, including Mona Bektesi, Tanja Novojevska, and Zelda LeQuellec, have received training in Yoga Nidra, Yin Yoga, and Restorative yoga.
Approach
The program blends the daily Elemental Yoga Sadhana with a daily soft adventure in inspiring locations around the paradise island, followed by free time at the various locations, where you can relax and rejuvenate the day away, in town or by the sea, doing whatever feeds your body and soul best. The soft-adventure activities will depend on the season and weather and will include a mix of hiking and cycling, and possibly snorkeling, sea-kayaking, or SUP, when the weather allows.
The daytime activities are supported by two daily delicious and nutritious meals, a Satsang on the connection between yoga and the senses, and a mid-week moonlight meditation, and a sunset meditation and wholesome celebration on the last day of the event, plus plenty of free time each day for you to rest and recharge at the beach or in town, and relaxing evenings at the retreat. Hosted by Suncokret co-founders, Eve and Steve, and led in collaboration with visiting instructors, this light-hearted retreat adventure is intended to get you tuned up and into yourself and the temple of nature so that you can better breathe, move, feel, be, and connect.
Who is this for?
The program is suitable for yoga, nature, and soft-adventure lovers who are in good health and physically able to participate in the activities on offer.
Daily schedule
Day 1
- 16:30 Transfer from the Stari Grad Port
- 17:30 Welcome circle, dinner, and walking tour of Dol
- 22:00 Mauna (quietude)
Days 2 - 6
- 07:30 Self-catered coffee or tea
- 08:00 Morning yoga sadhana
- 09:45 Breakfast
- 11:00 Daily yogi explorer adventures and free time
- 17:00 Transfer back to the retreat
- 18.30 Dinner
- 20:00 Deep-dive sessions
- 21:00 Socializing, journaling, or self-reflection
- 22:00 Mauna (quietude)
Day 7
- 08:00 Sadhana and closing circle
- 09:45 Breakfast
- 10:45 Check-out and free transfer to Stari Grad Port
Once weekly:
- A meal in a local restaurant (you are given a packed lunch or snack at the retreat instead of dinner at the retreat on this day)
- A sunset experience
Included excursions
Sample adventures
Day 1 - Welcome: Walking tour of Dol and program intro
After settling in at the retreat and a warm meal, they will take you on a fascinating walking tour around their home village of Dol, where you will learn about the island's natural habitat and local customs that date back to time immemorial.
Day 2 - Earth: Walking tour in and around Stari Grad
Walk in the footsteps of ancient Illyrians, Greeks, and Romans and witness the incredible history, culture, and beauty of Stari Grad, Croatia's oldest town, dating back over 4000 years! Enjoy free time exploring Stari Grad's many beaches and hidden coves before heading back to the retreat for dinner and the evening program.
Day 3 - Water: Sea adventure in Soline
Today, you will head off to Soline, a beautiful beach resort with a pristine forested peninsula framed by countless crystal-clear coves and beautiful bays. Here you can enjoy an immersive water adventure, including the option to go snorkeling, stand-up paddleboarding, or you might even decide to test your skills at the local water park. Enjoy beach time for the rest of the day or explore the many charms of the area on foot, including a nearby village known as the "Little Venice of Hvar." You can treat yourself to TLC at the local spa.
Day 4 - Fire: Hike from Fortica to Hvar (optional boat trip to “Hell's Islands")
Experience the fire element in Hvar's most sun-drenched town. Hike from the town fortress “Fortica” down the botanical-lined pathway and 182 steps to reach the town's main square. Once in the square, you can create your own itinerary: catch a water taxi to the nearby Pakleni (Hell's) Islands, where you can literally spend a day in hell while enjoying all the pleasures of paradise. Another option is to remain in town, where you can enjoy all the sights, smells, and sounds of the island's most bustling marble city by the sea.
Day 5 - Air: Sea adventure in Soline and visit to Vrboska (or) cycling adventure from Soline to Jelsa
Today, you will return to Soline, where you can decide whether to enjoy an adventure by land or sea that helps you connect to the breeze. You can choose to go sea kayaking or windsurfing, starting off at the northern coast of the Soline peninsula in a gorgeous channel that stretches between Hvar Island and the Island of Brac. If you are talented enough to navigate the winds, you might just manage to glide your way over to the nearby Zecevo (Rabbit) Island before heading back to Soline for another day in this stunning resort. Alternatively, you can go on a cycling adventure, heading along the shady, aromatic coastline from Soline to Vrboska, a fisherman's village known as “Little Venice” with its quaint footbridges.
After taking in the sights of Vrboska, you can continue along the coastline into Hvar’s youngest and most wind-exposed town, Jelsa, where you can refresh yourself with a scoop of the island's famous gelato before continuing onwards to the town's famed sandy-bottomed beaches for some swimming and relaxation before heading back to Soline just in time for the transfer back to the retreat (18 kilometers round trip).
Day 6 - Ether: Yoga in a surprise location, free day in “little heaven on earth", and scenic drive through the Lavender Villages topped off by a spectacular sunset
On this last full day together, you will be treated to yoga in a surprise location in nature, followed by a free day in a village known as the “Little Heaven on Earth," where you can spend the day in joyful relaxation, connecting to all the elements that are within and around you. In the evening, you will enjoy a celebratory meal in a traditional restaurant before heading off on a short and gentle hike, where you will soak up glorious views and be carried off into an etheric state by a transformational sunset meditation session that will connect you to the magical energy of that which fills and supports life itself.
Note: This itinerary serves as an example only. They reserve the right to make adjustments according to weather, participant needs, and other factors, and will do their best to ensure you have an unforgettable experience on Hvar.
Instructors
Evening (Eve) Marie
Working together with Evening Marie, you will discover a refreshing, spiritually enriching, and deeply profound retreat experience - one that blends tradition with intuition to render a transcendental journey that is appropriate for both new and seasoned path walkers alike. Evening Marie is a highly qualified holistic yoga therapist with over 500 hours of training and 22 years of teaching practice running back-to-back weekly retreat events who is able to adapt to and challenge varying levels of experience.
Stipe Suncokret
Stipe (Steve) is Suncokret's Co-Founder, Head Chef, and Island Host. A Hvar Island native with a lifetime of hands-on experience in the local customs, culture, and cuisine, Stipe is a certified Agro-Tourism manager and a trained and gifted Chef who creates nourishing meals for our retreat guests, sourced from local ingredients, often those found in his family gardens and fields. Stipe's role at Suncokret as a head chef, local guide, logistics manager, and all-around good guy is a natural extension of the skills, interests, and natural talents he was born with and values.
Tanja Novojevska
Tanja is a traveling international yoga teacher with a background in the fitness and wellness industry. She completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Ashtanga Vinyasa & Yin Yoga studies at "Bend it Like Buddha Yoga Algarve" in Portugal; and her Advance Yoga Teacher Training in Hatha Yoga at "Yoga Skyros Academy" in Athens, Greece. After experiencing a personal evolution through her yoga practice, she believes that the heart is the most powerful element in the human body and she invites her students to take a journey into the heart-opening practice of yoga.
Bethany Demelza
Certified Yoga, Meditation, and Flow Dance Meditation Instructor Bethany started practicing yoga nearly 7 years ago when she had just had a baby and needed something to feel restored after sleepless nights. But it was when she began to experience a difficult time in her life through loss and trauma that the true benefits of yoga really shone through. Yoga became a channel to connect to herself, to come home to her body, and to set herself free. She knew then that she needed to share this healing technology with others and this is when she enrolled in a yoga teacher training course in 2019.
Mona Bektesi
Certified Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Ever since her first Vinyasa yoga class, yoga has fascinated her with its unique blend of breath and movement. It doesn't matter whether she wants to relax or needs more energy, she feels completely in good hands when she practices. Yoga is now an integral part of her life and is always an exciting path to her center, which gives her strength and peace at the same time. As a yoga teacher, Mona aims to accompany her students to be loving and careful with themselves and to get to know and expand their own limits again and again.
Annie Niswanger
Annie is a yoga teacher & movement educator with a background in dance & performing arts. She completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in New York City and gained her Personal Trainer Certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Her work is rooted in trauma-informed, injury-preventative movement, with an emphasis on helping students feel safe, supported, and confident in their bodies.As a dancer, she has years of experience studying the body through movement. However, it wasn’t until she found yoga that she discovered movement could be medicine.
Retreat location
Suncokret Body and Soul Retreat is based on Hvar Island. It is located in Dol Sveta Ana, a pristine, 12th-century hamlet located just five minutes away from the island's oldest settlement, Stari Grad, yet discreetly tucked away from holiday crowds. Dol is an ancient settlement whose first inhabitants date back to prehistoric times. It is a place that evokes a deeper sense of connection to a simpler, more wholesome way of life and is the homeland of your co-host, Stipe, and his family. Often compared to Provence and Tuscany, the Dol is beautifully nestled into a lush and majestic green landscape, which is characterized by lavender fields, olive groves, vineyards, and a pinewood forest, and is beautifully framed by the distant blue sea and sky.
A retreat at Suncokret in Dol Sveta Ana provides an ideal escape from ordinary life to a true organic oasis for the soul. The retreat center is nestled into a secluded hilltop of Dol, Sveta Ana, which remains unpopulated most of the year. The village features two restaurants and a cafe. There are no ATM's, banks, or shops, but plenty of peace to help you disconnect from the stresses of modern-day life. Stari Grad is two kilometers from the retreat and can be reached on foot. However, Suncokret Dream offers conceptualized daily outings for the retreat guests so you can just relax and let them sweep you off to the best spots around.
Distances
- Stari Grad, 2 kilometers
Unique features
Services
- Free Wi-Fi
Food
During the retreat, Suncokret Dream offers two fresh, tasty, and nutritious "Dalma-Veg" meals per day. International vegetarian dishes inspire the meals with a distinctive Dalmatian twist and are predominantly made up of fresh, organic, locally-produced island ingredients (often their own), and are prepared with love and care. The fusion cuisine is conceptualized to support the energetic work of the weekly yoga sadhana practice, and therefore is chakra-balancing, nurturing, and fulfilling. Tap water, mineral water, herbal tea, and homemade organic cordials are provided with each meal. A morning coffee and a celebratory glass of local wine at the end of the week can be ordered on request.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Dinner
- Snacks
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
- Detox juices
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten Free
- Organic
- Lactose Free
- Yogic
Exclusive Gifts
Suncokret Dream has prepared a few special surprises for you, including unique experiences and thoughtful extras to make your journey even more memorable.
Free use of mask and snorkel
Things to do (optional)
While in Stari Grad, take a taxi boat to a hidden cove along the Stari Grad Peninsula, visit the local handmade specialties shops (there a quite a few), and visit the local museums (including the outdoor summer garden of Petar Hektorovic). While in Soline, indulge in spa treatments at a local spa with a 10% exclusive discount on services as a guest of Suncokret. While in Hvar, take a taxi boat to the neighboring Pakleni Islands, visit Europe's oldest indoor theater, and visit the Agave Lace exhibit. While in a Fisherman's Village, treat yourself to an outdoor massage by the sea in a quaint fisherman's cove, indulge in a Dalmatian seafood snack by the sea in one of the many outdoor seafood restaurants, people-watch in a boho-chic cafe, and maybe meet some new friends.
While in Jelsa (location varies according to the group's wishes), enjoy cycling along the coastline or take a water taxi to a hidden nearby cove. There is also a great scuba-diving club that offers beginner's training. From Stineva, enjoy a unique swimming expedition to the hidden twin bay. From Sv. Nedelja, hike to the Cyclopean cave with a hidden monastery. Visit the famous underwater wine cellar for a bite to eat and wine tasting.
Spa treatments
Enjoy a wide range of spa services and specialty massages, including: medical massage, back massage, Hvar plants massage, or paradise massage (just to name a few). The price varies according to the time length of the massage and whether it is conducted in the indoor Spa Zone or under the outdoor gazebo. Spa services are not included in the price; however, as a guest of Suncokret, you will receive a 10 percent discount on services, made by appointment (the discount does not apply to drop-ins).
What's included
- A free consultation with the holistic lifestyle coach
- Sacred opening and closing ceremonies
- 5 elements quiz to assess your overall state of being
- A fully integrated daily yoga sadhana practice
- A Satsang on the connection between yoga and the elements
- Daily 5 elements deep-dive sessions
- Wide choice of optional holistic TLC treatments and workshops
- Conceptualized daily soft-adventure activities (walking, cycling, hiking, and sea-based adventures, weather permitting)
- 6 nights accommodation
- 2 daily fresh and nurturing "Dalma-Veg" meals
- Water, mineral water, tea, and herbal drinks at each meal, coffee on request
- A program manual with a summary of key topics and journaling prompts to help you focus and gain mindfulness
- Daily free time to relax and rejuvenate your way
- Free use of a yoga kit (mat, mat bag, block, strap, blanket, cushion, and protective foam mat)
- Free transfers from and to the Stari Grad Port
- All soft-adventure equipment
- Ambient facilities
- Access to tea corners with organic herbs
- Use of books, magazines, games, and art supplies
- Use of a beach towel and foam mat
- Essential toiletries
- Comforts of staying in a home away from home
- Free Wi-Fi throughout the retreat property
Included Exclusive Gifts
Free use of mask and snorkel
Book with Suncokret Dream and they'll treat you to the use of a mask and snorkel throughout your stay! Discover the hidden gems of the crystal clear sea. They can't wait to hear all about your adventures!
What's not included
- Flights
- Airport transfers
- Ferry transfers
- Anything else not mentioned as included
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Transfer available for additional US$ 47 per person
Split Airport
48 km away from your destination
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Zagreb Airport (ZAG). From there, you can book a connecting domestic flight to Split Airport (SPU). From Split, you will have to take the ferry to get to Stari Grad. You will be picked up by Suncokret Dream from the Stari Grad port at 4:30 p.m. to be transferred to the resort. From Zagreb Airport (ZAG), you can also book a bus transfer with Flixbus to Split, which takes approximately two hours, and then a ferry from Split to Stari Grad. When you arrive at the Stari Grad port, you will be picked up by Suncokret Dream at 4:30 p.m. to be transferred to the resort.
Arrival by bus
Outside the Split airport, a bus operated by Croatia Airlines departs from just outside the terminal door. You buy the ticket from the driver, 4 EUR. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the city center. There is also a local bus that goes to the bus station in Split and from Trogir every 20 minutes from a stop on the road in front of the Airport Terminal. The price of the ticket is approximately the same. After you have reached Split Port, you will need to get a ferry transfer from Split Port to Stari Grad Port. You will be picked up by Suncokret Dream from the Stari Grad port at 4:30 p.m. to be transferred to the resort.
Arrival by ferry / boat
After your bus transfer to Split Port, you will need to get a ferry transfer from Split Port to Stari Grad Port. The airport bus stop is just next to the old town. From there, you can see the ferry, a short walk away. Next to the ferry, bus, train, or taxi station, there are ticket booths for Jadrolinija, the ferry company, where you can buy your ferry tickets. Alternatively, you can buy your ticket at the booth in the ferry terminal itself or online. You will be picked up by Suncokret Dream from the Stari Grad port at 4:30 p.m. to be transferred to the resort.
Arrival by taxi
From the Split airport, a taxi to Split's old town costs about 33 to 40 EUR. You can book a taxi online or, on request, they can book one for you for a small additional fee. Once you have reached Split Port, you will need to get a ferry transfer from Split Port to Stari Grad Port. You will be picked up by Suncokret Dream from the Stari Grad port at 4:30 p.m. to be transferred to the resort.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 14% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 21 days before arrival.
Reviews
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