Yoga & Wellness Retreats at Mar de Jade, Mexico — Oceanfront Reset on the Riviera Nayarit

Mar de Jade sits on Playa Chacala, a small bay about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast. The retreat calendar runs from October through June, with each week led by a different visiting teacher or pair of teachers. The through-line is the facility: two yoga shalas (including a newer one with a rope wall and an ocean view), a saltwater pool, a spa offering massage and bodywork, and three meals a day built around produce from the property's own farm.

A typical day starts with a 90-minute morning class — for the Iyengar weeks this is active asana; on an Ashtanga week it's Mysore-style self-practice with adjustments; on the Pilates weeks it's mat work; on the Anusara and vinyasa weeks it's a flow class. Breakfast follows, usually fruit, eggs, beans, fresh bread and coffee. The middle of the day is unscheduled: swim in the bay, walk into Chacala village for a coffee, book a massage, or join an excursion like a boat trip, a waterfall hike or a snorkelling outing. Afternoon sessions run roughly 4:30–6:00pm and tend toward restorative work, pranayama, meditation or, on the somatics weeks, TRE and myofascial release. Dinner is served family-style, and several weeks add evening elements: sound baths, kirtan, yoga nidra, or a Temazcal ceremony.

What differs between weeks is the teaching and the focus. The Iyengar weeks (Anneke Faas, and Nancy Marcy with Shannyn Joy Potter) split active asana in the morning from restorative work and chanting in the afternoon. The Ashtanga week with Ariel Forcier and Lily Luna runs Mysore sessions plus workshops. Martha Peterson's Essential Somatics week teaches gentle Clinical Somatic movements for chronic tension. The Kaiut Yoga week with Wendy Zerin moves slowly and holds poses to work with joints and nervous system rather than flexibility. There are also weeks that aren't primarily asana: Laurie Wagner and Andrea Scher's Wild Wonder retreat is writing and intuitive collage for women; Martha Randall and Roberta Mohler's week is Nia-inspired dance, modern dance and 5 Rhythms; Zoketsu Norman Fischer's Rohatsu week is a silent Zen sesshin held in a bilingual and bicultural format, and Guo Yuan Fa Shi leads a Chan meditation retreat in the lineage of Master Sheng Yen.

Accommodation is on the property, in rooms spread across the grounds just above the beach. Guests eat together three times a day, and the kitchen grows much of what it serves — the farm supplies the restaurant, which makes eating vegetarian or gluten-free here straightforward rather than an afterthought. Between classes there's a pool, a spa, hammocks, and the bay itself.

Practical details: most weeks run Saturday to Saturday, seven nights (a few are shorter — the SLOW retreat is 4 days, Ser Tierra is 3, the New Year Reset runs 13 nights). Teaching is in English on most weeks, with Spanish used where needed; the November 21 week with Lyne St-Roch is taught in French. Prices vary by week and room type, so it's worth checking the specific dates you want. Anyone booking should be able to walk a short hill to the shalas and handle heat and humidity on the coast.

What's included

- 7 nights accommodation at Mar de Jade (most weeks; some shorter or longer) - Three meals daily from the on-site farm kitchen - Twice-daily yoga, meditation or movement sessions with the week's teacher - Use of the yoga shalas, pool and beachfront grounds - Workshops, ceremonies and group activities as scheduled for your week - Use of yoga mats and props

What's not included

- International and domestic flights - Airport transfers (arranged separately) - Travel insurance - Spa treatments and bodywork - Optional excursions (boat trips, surf lessons, waterfall hikes) - Alcoholic drinks and personal expenses - Tips and gratuities