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Seeking seawater therapy? You might want to head to Tunisia

Tunisia is going all-in to become the top destination for thalassotherapy, restorative wellness treatments that incorporate seawater

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Guests bathe in a thermal pool at a spa in Korbous, Tunisia, on January 25. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:14pm, 6 Feb 2025

With a Mediterranean coastline, natural thermal springs, clement weather and affordability, Tunisia has become the world’s second-largest destination for seawater-based treatments known as thalassotherapy. Now, it is setting its sights on overtaking France to claim the top spot.

“The main advantage of Tunisia is its coast and thalassotherapy,” compared with neighbouring countries, said Mario Paolo, an Italian, at the Korbous thermal spa, perched on a hill an hour’s drive from the capital, Tunis.

A woman prepares for thalassotherapy at a spa in Korbous. Photo: AFP

A 78-year-old retiree who has lived in Tunisia for the past five years, Paolo said he frequently visits Tunisian thalassotherapy centres “to get back in shape”.

“Enjoying seawater and natural springs is not just leisure but also a therapy,” Paolo said after a thyme and rosemary oil massage.

Thalassotherapy is an “ancestral heritage” for Tunisians, “since hydrotherapy has existed in Tunisia since antiquity, at the time of the Carthaginians and the Romans,” said Shahnez Guizani, the head of the National Office of Thermalism (ONTH).

Korbous, a coastal town on the Cap Bon peninsula, has historically been one of Tunisia’s hotspots for the therapy, which uses seawater and other marine resources.

Other popular thalassotherapy destinations in the country include Sousse, Hammamet, Monastir, and Djerba, which Tunisian news agency TAP said was named the Mediterranean thalassotherapy capital in 2014 by the World Federation of Hydrotherapy and Climatotherapy.