As wellness yacht charters continue to edge ever closer to the mainstream, travellers’ wish lists for health and wellness options on board are growing to match.
Gone are the days when on-deck yoga at sunrise and a sauna would suffice. Now, there is a plethora of different options on offer, from ice baths to lymphatic drainage massage to infrared light therapy.
To find out more about the latest luxury travel wellness trends from someone who lives and breathes all things wellness, we speak to Emmeline Gee, Founder of Angels on Board, which provides a wide range of wellbeing professionals for yachts, as well as recruitment services for superyachts and private residences.
How did you enter the wellness space on yachts?
I first trained as a massage therapist in 2006 and a few years later joined my first 72‑metre charter yacht as a stew/masseuse, working on prestigious charters across the Med, Caribbean and even up the Amazon.
Very quickly, I realised how hard it was to deliver truly high‑quality treatments while also doing 12‑hour stewardessing shifts, and that there was a real need for a dedicated therapist on board rather than a crew member offering wellness on the side.
When I went freelance, offering massage and yoga just for charters and guests, the demand grew organically: I was passing on jobs I couldn’t take to colleagues, and that’s when I understood there was not only a business here, but a genuine gap in the luxury travel market for properly trained wellness professionals at sea.
How does the wellness landscape look in 2026 when it comes to luxury charter yachts?
When I first started in yachting in 2016, wellness on board and yacht spa services were really quite basic. You might have a few add-on treatments like massages, manicures and pedicures offered in a mobile, improvised setup, and a dedicated sauna or massage room on a 70‑metre yacht was considered unusual.
Now, on most larger yachts, it’s standard to have a proper spa area or even a full spa deck, and wellness has become a central part of the design brief rather than an afterthought. There’s also been a big shift away from the idea that a stew can just ‘do a bit of massage on the side’ towards bringing in dedicated, professionally trained therapists whose sole focus is wellness, which makes a huge difference to quality.
What used to be seen as an unnecessary luxury is now an expectation: travellers want regular, high‑level treatments, are increasingly asking for things like HydraFacials, temperature therapies and Reformer Pilates, and are thinking more holistically about movement, sleep and nutrition when on wellness yacht charters. The industry has definitely raised its standards, even if staffing and training to keep up with those expectations can still be a real challenge.
What makes an onboard wellness professional stand out?
You need far more than just technical skills. Of course, you must be highly trained, constantly updating your techniques and able to deliver a genuinely excellent, bespoke massage or treatment every time you are working on wellness yacht charters. But just as important is your ability to ‘hold the space’ for very high‑profile clients.
That takes emotional maturity, confidence, discretion and a calm, grounded presence. You have to read the room, adapt quickly, and know when to offer something a bit more ‘woo-woo’ and when to keep it very evidence‑based and straightforward. In the end, it’s that combination of real expertise, professionalism, and human warmth that elevates wellness yacht charters and makes those onboard feel genuinely cared for rather than just pampered.
What are the most popular treatments on board yachts?
At the moment, for wellness yacht charters, we’re seeing a lot of interest in advanced facials that can show immediate results, such as hydra-facials, red light therapy, as well as temperature therapies, such as cryo-chambers and ice baths.
But if I’m honest, the most interesting and important ‘treatment’ is still a really good, bespoke remedial massage delivered by a highly skilled therapist: that never goes out of fashion. Around that, there’s growing demand for movement‑based wellness like Reformer Pilates and strength or resistance training, which reflects a wider shift towards people wanting to feel genuinely healthier and stronger, not just pampered for a week.
Why is wellness more than a trend?
I wish more people understood that wellness isn’t a luxury extra; it’s the foundation for how we function, and that applies just as much to crew as it does to guests. For me, it always comes back to the basic pillars of wellness: eating well, sleeping well, moving your body and having genuine quality time and connection.
On yachts, there’s a big focus on creating a restorative environment for those on wellness yacht charters, but if the crew are exhausted, underpaid and never able to switch off, that imbalance will always show. A well-rested, fairly treated, supported crew is one of the most powerful ‘wellness tools’ on board, because when crew wellbeing is taken seriously, service becomes calmer, kinder, and the whole atmosphere on the yacht feels more genuinely relaxing.
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