The Wellness Prescription You Didn’t Know You Needed - Nova Maldives

The Swedish Prescription, where doctors can prescribe travel as a form of treatment, has been making headlines this month, representing a paradigmatic shift to the path to wellness. We'd love to highlight how Nova Maldives offers a complementary antidote to modern stress: a soulful escape designed to heal, restore, and reconnect.

Nestled in the heart of the South Ari Atoll, Nova is the perfect destination for travellers seeking a holistic “treatment” beyond traditional wellness. Think less quick fix, more slow healing, where the prescription is sunrise yoga, gentle ocean dives, and long, unhurried dinners under the stars, that stays with you long after you return.

Travel as Self-Care

Set on an untouched island fringed by white sands and surrounded by wildlife and marine creatures in pristine waters at SAMPA, the Maldives' largest marine biodiversity reserve, Nova invites guests to rediscover themselves through simple pleasures and meaningful experiences. Designed to help adults seeking serenity to decompress, the resort’s soft luxury positioning offers both seclusion and connection without breaking the bank.

With 76 beach and overwater villas, communal tables in its main restaurant, Soul Kitchen, and open bar, Wink, the resort brings a real balance between privacy and community, Nova provides the ideal setting for guests looking to recharge - whether on a solo retreat, girls’ getaway, or quiet escape from the digital rush.

The Therapy of Togetherness

At Nova, community is part of the cure. Guests are invited to share stories and local flavours at the resort’s weekly Holhuashi gathering, held beneath a banyan tree on the beach. Here, travellers can exchange tales, savour authentic Maldivian cuisine, and experience rituals that have stood the test of time - proof that human connection remains one of the most powerful therapies of all.

Following the ceremony, travellers can also explore a mini Maldivian food market to sample traditional snacks and island beverages, including screw pine (pandan) juice — a local favourite and feel-good fruit, celebrated for its refreshing taste and natural healing properties. Known to help ease arthritis pain and support balanced blood sugar levels.

Mindfulness Underwater, Healing on Land

Newly launched back in March, Nova offers wellness diving activities that can be fitted into your tailored itinerary. This unique “underwater meditation" experience involves a multitude of marine activities surrounding breathwork, yoga, buoyancy practice, and restorative massages. The programme highlights the long-term therapeutic benefits of diving in reducing anxiety, insomnia and stress, which are still relatively unknown to many.

Complementing the underwater mindfulness experience, EsKape Spa offers a holistic menu of treatments designed to nurture both body and mind. Guests can indulge in aromatherapy and detox massages that target deep-tissue tension, warm stone therapies to stimulate blood circulation, lymphatic drainage treatments, and herbal compresses enriched with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, all crafted to restore balance, release tension, and promote overall well-being.

Each treatment is carefully curated to release tension, restore balance, and enhance overall well-being, ensuring that the serenity experienced beneath the waves extends seamlessly to the land-based wellness journey.

Embracing A New Kind of Wellness Prescription

As the world embraces travel as a form of treatment, Nova Maldives stands as the ultimate prescription to flush all stress and strain away, one that requires no pharmacy, only presence. Whether it’s a restorative dive beneath the waves, mindful yoga in the morning sun, or quiet moments spent watching the horizon melt into the sea, Nova offers travellers a holistic path to renewal in mind, body, and soul.

Rates for a stay at Nova Maldives start from £321 per night. For more information or to book your dose of experiential wellness, visit www.nova-maldives.com .

Images are available here.