Yoga, Biking and Island-Hopping Wellness Week Aboard a Private Yacht on Croatia's Dalmatian Coast

Day to day, the rhythm is: sail in the morning, stop somewhere worth getting off the boat, eat lunch aboard or ashore, and have the late afternoon and evening free in port. You'll start in Split with a walking tour of the old town — Diocletian's Palace, the peristyle, the cellars — before the ship heads south. Bisevo comes early: the Blue Cave, where a small boat takes you in through a low opening and the water inside glows that electric blue, is one of the included excursions and it's weather-dependent, so the schedule can shift. Mljet is the active day — you get entrance to the national park, a bike ride on the island, and the captain's dinner that evening. Korcula gets a walking tour of the walled old town, often described as a mini-Dubrovnik, and Hvar another. Ston is the oyster farm visit. The trip finishes with a tour of Dubrovnik's old town.

What separates this from a standard Croatian cruise is that it's run by a Pilates studio rather than a general tour operator. CC and Carolyn are on board for the week, and the group is made up of people who already train with them or found them through the studios, so the tone is more like travelling with a class than joining a strangers' coach tour. There's no fixed daily class timetable listed on the page beyond the bike ride and the walking tours, but the movement side of the week comes from those activities plus the swimming platform and the sundeck — this is an active sightseeing week rather than a schedule of studio sessions.

The ship itself is the MS Suzana, launched in 2020, with 19 cabins and a maximum of 40 passengers. Facilities include a sundeck with deck chairs and sun beds, a jacuzzi, a salon restaurant, a bar, an outdoor lounge with tables and sofas, a swimming platform, a large-screen LCD TV and air-conditioned en-suite cabins. Bedding is changed once during the week and cabins are cleaned daily. There's a cruise manager on board throughout the programme and the ship and crew are chartered for approximately six hours of sailing per day.

The October timing matters: it's the end of the season on the Dalmatian coast, so the towns are quieter than in July and August and the sea is still warm enough to swim from the platform, though the evenings cool down. If you're going for the Blue Cave or the swimming stops, keep in mind that those are the parts most likely to be reshuffled by weather.

CC and Carolyn have run C2 Body since 1999, with studios in Dedham, Milton and Walpole, Massachusetts, offering Reformer Pilates, TRX Pilates, Pilates-based Barre, infrared-heated mat Pilates and infrared-heated yoga, plus a STOTT PILATES® licensed training centre in South Windsor, Connecticut. This is their retreat offering — a way to travel with the studio community rather than a Pilates certification course, so come expecting a holiday with a training-minded group, not a teaching qualification.

What's included

- 7 nights aboard the MS Suzana in an air-conditioned en-suite cabin - 7 breakfasts on board - 6 lunches on board - 2 dinners, including the captain's dinner in Mljet - Blue Cave visit at Bisevo Island - Walking tour of Split - Mljet National Park entrance - Bike ride in Mljet - Walking tour of Korcula - Walking tour of Hvar - Oyster farm visit in Ston - Walking tour of Dubrovnik's old town - One round-trip group airport transfer in a private air-conditioned vehicle - English-speaking cruise manager throughout the programme - Chartered ship and crew, approx. 6 hours sailing daily - Entrance fees and VAT - Daily cabin cleaning - Bedding change once during the week - Natural water on board - Use of the ship's swimming platform

What's not included

- Tips for porters, cruise director, cooks, bar tender, cleaning staff and captain - Port charges of €40 per person - International airfare and international airport taxes - Travel insurance - Alcoholic drinks - Dinners not covered by the meal plan - Personal expenses - Airport porter and extra baggage - Boat early check-in and late check-out - Entrance fees or activities outside the listed programme - Any other services not listed as included