HEALTH SPAS FOR FITNESS AND FUN

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Safety Harbor Spa. Initially founded to provide access to the famed Espiritu Santo Springs and their reputed restorative powers, this luxury resort hotel and tennis club complex has since expanded to offer much more. Located on Old Tampa Bay between Tampa and Clearwater, Florida, Safety Harbor features an indoor therapy pool (with swirling waters maintained at 98°F), mineral baths, a whirlpool, "his and her" solariums, yoga instruction, and the services of a variety of medical experts . . . as well as the usual tennis, golf, and water sports. The resort is open only from December to May, and double-occupancy rates average $108 per person per day. (You can find out more from Safety Harbor Spa, Dept. TMEN, Safety Harbor, Florida 33572, 800/237-0155 ... in Canada and Florida call 813/726-1161 collect.)

San Carlos Inn. When Ponce de Léon traveled from Spain to the New World in search of the Fountain of Youth, he may well have been responding to tales about the warm mineral springs located behind the San Carlos Inn in Fort Myers, Florida. It's said that the waters come from deep within the earth — a full quarter-mile down — and about a million gallons of the warm (90.26°F), bubbly, mineral-rich liquid spew forth each day. The springs have been judged to be some of the finest in the world, rivaling those of the more famous mineral spas in Baden-Baden in Germany and Aixles-Bains in France.

Additional features include freshwater swimming, fishing, canoeing, golf, bicycling, and exercise facilities. The inn itself is fairly modest, and the off season double-occupancy room rate (from May 1 to December 15) is a reasonable $32 per night. (Write or call San Carlos Inn, Dept. TMEN, Rt. 22, Box 800, Fort Myers, Florida 33908, 813/481-3818.)

"THEY THAT BE WHOLE NEED NOT A PHYSICIAN . . ."

The Ashram. This austere, no-frills resort, located 45 minutes north of Los Angeles, reputedly packs a powerful punch . . . from all reports, it takes real stamina to last out one's stay! Eight guests are selected each week (through extensive telephone interviews), and those who are permitted to come are subjected to grueling physical workouts, especially hiking in the mountains surrounding the retreat. The diet is primarily raw, always vegetarian fare . . . consisting of fruits, vegetables, seeds, sprouts, nuts, and berries. Guests lose weight . . . but — more notably — they lose inches, and they work muscles that they often never knew existed! The weekly rate is $1,100 per person. (The Ashram's address is Dept. TMEN, P.O. Box 8, Calabasas, California 91302 . . . telephone 213/ 888-0232.)

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