Pilates in paradise: Inch towards your dream body while enjoying a spectacular setting on the glorious Greek isle of Lefkas

  • On Lefkas, a team of instructors offers a beach health holiday with classes
  • Yoga, Pilates and other fitness options are on offer at Vassiliki Bay
  • Try as few or as many classes as you like - then head out for snorkelling

We all like a dollop of indulgence in the sunshine, but no one wants to return with a flabby reminder. Here's a solution. 

On the Greek island of Lefkas, a friendly team of instructors offers a beach holiday that will help you inch towards the body beautiful.

Based at Vassiliki Bay, it teaches yoga, Pilates and higher-energy exercise classes, such as body sculpt, in a cool tent when the sun's calmed down. 

In shape: Lefkas, a close neighbour of Kefalonia, offers glorious beaches on the Ionian Sea

In shape: Lefkas, a close neighbour of Kefalonia, offers glorious beaches on the Ionian Sea

Helping hand: Yoga, Pilates and higher-energy exercise classes are available at Vassiliki Bay

Helping hand: Yoga, Pilates and higher-energy exercise classes are available at Vassiliki Bay

There are also guided bike rides, paddle-boarding sessions — trying to stand upright on a surfboard, long paddle in hand — and more.

But the programme, Healthy Options, is no Spartan regime. You can do as much or as little as you choose. 

For me, that means early morning yoga before breakfast by the still empty beach, then another class or two — allowing plenty of time for afternoon dozing on a sun lounger.

Lefkas is known for its sailing, so as the wind picks up later in the day, the long, pebbled beach, flanked by green mountains, fills with windsurfers and sailors (swimmers have their own protected patch). 

The crowd — mostly women, but men are welcome — can join in.

Into the blue:The Lefkas coastline is a woozy dream of cliffs, beaches and turquoise waters

Into the blue:The Lefkas coastline is a woozy dream of cliffs, beaches and turquoise waters

An introductory windsurfing class is gloriously exhilarating, even though I spend more time in the water than on the board. 

And a snorkelling trip, where we're dropped off by boat at an outcrop of rocks, has us drifting gently in perfectly clear waters — nature's own meditation lesson.

As evening falls, most people head to Vassiliki village at the end of the beach for huge prawns, fresh fish and salty Greek salads, before turning in early to our family-run apartments by the waterfront.

Like anything, there's an art to tuning out. While the programme caters for a range of abilities, you'd certainly feel the benefits of a few yoga classes before arriving.

All ablaze in orange: The west edge of Lefkas is a fine spot for sunset-watching as the evening fades 

All ablaze in orange: The west edge of Lefkas is a fine spot for sunset-watching as the evening fades 

Tradition: The small village of Vassiliki still has a fishing harbour where boats pull in with the day's catch

Tradition: The small village of Vassiliki still has a fishing harbour where boats pull in with the day's catch

To begin with, I'm rusty — and distracted. A pesky wasp holds my attention during a group meditation session and letting my hair down at a midweek barbecue means I fail to make the next morning's first class. 

But by the end of the week, I am bending like the best of them and feeling far more relaxed than I do after a booze and snooze break.

And, even if I can't quite manage a headstand on a paddleboard like a fellow guest (a repeat visitor, I sniff), at least I don't fall off.

Travel Facts: Plan your own week on Lefkas 

A week's trip with Healthy Options in Lefkas, Greece (healthy-options.co.uk, 0844 499 2909) costs from £595 per person, open May to October, including return flights from London Gatwick, resort transfers, accommodation and access to classes and activities, including a free massage.