Spa Chance Harbour

We’d also like to take a moment to introduce the new faces behind Nature Spa Chance Harbour 🩵

We’re Holly Waycott-Matthews and Eric Matthews, along with our daughter, Hazel.

Our connection to this area runs deep. The Waycott family has called this part of the Fundy coast home for more than 200 years, and today, Eric and I are fortunate to be raising the next generation here as well. 🩵

Nature has always been a big part of our lives. We love exploring, being outdoors, discovering new places and spending time along the coast. We’re also both creative people who genuinely enjoy building, restoring and taking an idea from something imagined into something real.

Those parts of who we are have shaped much of our vision for Nature Spa Chance Harbour.

We see an incredible opportunity here, not to change what makes this property special, but to build upon it. Our goal is to create an experience that feels connected to its surroundings and encourages people to slow down for a few hours. The sauna, hot and cold experiences, waterfall, beach, estuary and natural landscape will remain at the heart of what we do.

Over time, we hope to thoughtfully expand upon that experience.

One of our ambitions is to make greater use of the beautiful estuary and create new ways for guests to experience the water and surrounding landscape. We already have some exciting ideas in the works that, if all goes well, we hope to begin bringing to life next summer.

We’re also excited about the future addition of Apitherapy. 🐝 Our hope is to eventually introduce a dedicated bee theapty hut experience at the end of the beach, adding the unique opportunity to slow down and experience the healthing properties of honey bees vibrations, hive air, and the natural environment of the movement, scent, and art of the honey bees.

There are many other ideas we hope to explore as Nature Spa Chance Harbour grows, wellness experiences, local products and partnerships, seasonal offerings, retreats and opportunities to bring people together.

Community is especially important to us.

This is where we live, where our family has history and where we’re raising Hazel. We want this business to contribute positively to the area, support other local businesses and makers wherever possible, and give both residents and visitors another reason to appreciate what makes Chance Harbour and the Fundy coast so special.

We have ambitious plans, but we also believe in growing thoughtfully. Some changes will happen quickly, while others will take time, so please be patient with us as we grow along side. Most importantly, we want to preserve the character of this place as we move it forward.

We’re incredibly excited for what’s ahead and look forward to introducing you to more of our plans, asking for input and eventually welcoming you here in person!

From our family to yours, thank you for following along and supporting this next chapter of Nature Spa Chance Harbour. 🩵

●Disconnect ● De-stress ●Reconnect.

Why the scallop?

We could have chosen a fern. A tree. A leaf. Something that simply said nature...

But Nature Spa Chance Harbour is about something deeper....For centuries, the scallop shell has represented journey, renewal and transformation. Most famously, it became the symbol of the Camino de Santiago, carried by people who stepped away from everyday life to walk, reflect, heal and return home changed.

And then we looked at the shell itself.
Its lines branch outward in completely different directions, yet every one returns to the same centre.

That felt like us.🌊

Because isn't that what life does?
We start from one place, ourselves, and then life begins pulling us outward.

We become parents. Partners. Caregivers. Professionals. Friends. Providers. Dreamers.
We build careers. Raise families. Care for homes. Chase goals. Carry responsibilities.
We grow so many branches that sometimes we forget where they all began. At the centre is still you. And sometimes, you need to come back there.

To be quiet long enough to hear yourself again.
To let your body rest.
To breathe deeply.
To stand beside the ocean.
To feel the heat of fire9 and the shock of cold water.

To disconnect from everything pulling you outward

And then reconnect with the person underneath it all. 🌊

But for me, the scallop has an even more personal meaning. The water you overlook from Nature Spa Chance Harbour is the same water my family has worked for generations. 🩵

I have fished this bay. My father fished this bay. And my forefathers before him made their lives from these waters. For more than 200 years, generations of my family have been connected to this exact coastline, to its tides, its weather, its salt air and everything the sea provides.

So when we chose something to represent Nature Spa Chance Harbour, I didn't want a generic symbol of nature. I wanted something that belonged here. Something from the sea. Something connected to our history. Something that represented where we've come from.

So we didn't choose the scallop because it simply looked beautiful beside our name.
We chose it because it tells our story and, in a way, we hope it will become part of yours.🩵
A reminder that no matter how many directions life takes you, your centre is still there.
Come as all the different pieces of yourself.
Rest here.
Restore here.
Return to yourself.
And when you're ready, branch outward again

● - •

Nature Spa Chance Harbour isn't your typical spa. 🌊🌿

When you hear the word spa, you might picture polished floors, white robes and everything perfectly in place.
That's not quite what we're creating here.
At Nature Spa Chance Harbour, nature is the spa. 🩵

The ground is uneven. The shoreline is rocky. The wood is weathered. Plants grow where they grow. The tides change, the fog rolls in, and the Fundy air has a mind of its own.
And that's part of the experience!

We're not trying to polish away the nature around us. We're building with it, creating places to warm up, cool down, sit by the fire, breathe the salt air, wander the shore and simply slow down.

This isn't a space just for "spa people," either.
It's for men and women. Young and old. Couples, friends, parents and grandparents. Anyone who could use a few hours away from the noise of everyday life.

We're happy to say.. we're still working behind the scenes but aren't open just yet... little by little this special piece of Chance Harbour is coming back to life...

Come as you are.
We'll keep nature the same way. 🌿

As we bring Nature Spa Chance Harbour back to life, I’ll be sharing polls and questions right here to hear from you, what you’d love to see, what you’ve missed, what you’d change, and what you think is an absolute must have. 🌿🌊

● ● -stress ●

There’s something about the ocean that asks you to slow down.

The salt air. The sound of the water. The cool breeze against warm skin. Bare feet on the shore and nowhere you need to rush off to.

Here, the ocean isn’t just the view, it’s part of the experience.

A place to warm up, cool down, breathe deeply, wander down to the water, and reconnect with the natural rhythms around you.

Wellness doesn’t always need four walls.

Sometimes, it looks a lot more like this. 🌊

●Disconnect ●De-stress ●Reconnect.

The shore is never really still.

Every tide comes in and rearranges it; rolling stones over one another, carrying some away, uncovering others that have been buried beneath the sand.

And slowly, almost invisibly, they change.

Sharp edges soften. Rough surfaces become smooth. Pieces that once came from somewhere else settle here together.

There’s something beautiful about that.

We spend so much of our lives surrounded by things made quickly, perfectly and exactly the same. Then you come down to the water and find a beach made of thousands of imperfect little pieces, shaped only by salt, stone, weather and time.

Sit among them. Walk barefoot over them. Stack a few. Skip one across the water. Notice the colours you would have missed if you were rushing.

Sometimes reconnecting with nature really is that simple.

Just you, the shore, and a few old rocks with nowhere else to be. 🪨🌊

Disconnect • De-stress • Reconnect

🌊 There is something about wild water.

The kind that hasn't been contained by concrete or surrounded by tile.

Here freshwater runs through the land, over ancient rock and into the estuary, where it meets the saltwater coming in with the tide.

Cool water. Salt air. Coastal fog. Sun warmed stone. Bare feet on the earth. Heat rising from the sauna before slipping back into the water.

For thousands of years, these were our pools.

We bathed in rivers. Swam from shorelines. Warmed ourselves beside fire. Rested on rocks heated by the sun. Our bodies experienced the changing temperatures, textures, sounds and rhythms of the natural world every day.

And maybe that's why returning to it feels so good.

We now know that time around natural water, our oceans, rivers and other “blue spaces”, is associated with lower stress and greater wellbeing.

But there are some things you internally understand simply by feeling them.

Stand in the stream.

Breathe the salt air.

Feel the cold water around your legs and the rock beneath your feet.

This is our treatment room.

Water. Fire. Stone. Air. Earth.

Nature isn't part of our spa.
Nature is the spa. 🌿

Disconnect • De-stress • Reconnect

The tide has a way of leaving little treasures behind. 🌊🤍

Sea glass softened by years of tumbling. Driftwood shaped by water and weather. Shells, stones, feathers and pieces of the ocean’s story scattered along the shore.

Some are easy to notice. Others only appear when you slow down enough to look.

Maybe peace is a little like that too.

We spend so much of our lives rushing, scrolling, planning and carrying the noise of everything that needs our attention. But when we disconnect for a while, walk the shoreline, listen to the waves, breathe in the salt air, we start noticing the things that were there all along.

A quiet mind.
A deeper breath.
A moment of gratitude.
A little piece of ourselves we hadn’t realized we’d lost.

Sometimes the best treasures aren’t the ones you take home in your pocket. They’re the ones you carry home within you. 🌿🌊

Disconnect • De-stress • Reconnect

There’s something different about a wet, foggy morning after the rain. 🌿🌧️

The forest is quieter. The earth smells stronger. Every leaf is holding onto water, the air feels cool against your skin, and suddenly slowing down doesn’t feel like something you have to try to do.

Roll out a mat. Stretch. Breathe. Move slowly. Or simply stand barefoot and take it all in.

Gentle yoga and stretching can help release muscle tension, improve flexibility, mobility, and encourage slower, more intentional breathing. Spending time in natural environments has also been associated with reduced stress and improvements in mood and overall wellbeing.

And you don’t need blue skies to receive those benefits.

There is wellness in sunshine, but there is something pretty special about the fog, rain and wild Fundy weather too. Sometimes the mornings that make you want to stay inside are the ones worth stepping outside for.

No perfect pose required.
No perfect weather required.

Just you, your breath, and the earth beneath you. 🌿

Disconnect • De-stress • Reconnect

📷Keri-Lynn Calp

There is something grounding about being near an estuary; a place where freshwater meets the sea and everything moves with the rhythm of the tide.

Water comes in.
Water moves out.
The landscape changes.
And then begins again.

Spending time in natural environments has been associated with lower stress, improved mood and a greater sense of wellbeing. Add the sound of moving water, fresh coastal air, bare feet on the earth and a few quiet moments without a screen and suddenly slowing down feels a little easier.

Maybe that's part of why we're naturally drawn to places like this?

An estuary is a reminder that we don't always have to resist change. Sometimes we can simply move with it.

Breathe in the salt air.
Feel the ground beneath you.
Listen to the water.
Watch the tide.

Come back to yourself. 🌊

Disconnect • De-stress • Reconnect