No Man's Land

As feminism reaches peak popularity, there’s growing interest in destinations and clubs that are female only. The latest? A secluded island offering reinvigoration and inspiration for an exclusive group of women. Hannah-Rose Yee packs her bags

- Hannah-Rose Yee

I’ve read enough Scandinavian noir to know that where private islands in remote, top-secret locations in rural Finland are concerned, nothing good can come of it.

Throw in a few more narrative devices, such as guests signing up for a wellness program under the watchful eye of a businesswoman whose last company was valued in excess of $60 million USD, and you have the plot of a Jo Nesbø novel. The kind where the visiting journalist – reader, that would be me – never ends up filing her copy, if you catch my drift.

But as I skim across the Baltic Sea towards SuperShe Island in a boat piloted by Ida, a fresh-faced Finnish teenager, my concerns are allayed.

“That’s the island,” she says, smiling at a rocky expanse shrouded with pine trees jutting out from the clusters in the archipelago. As the boat docks, a family of swans swim past, five little cygnets gliding across the water with barely a ripple.

Ida marches me to Fire, my home for the duration of my stay and the smallest of the four available cabins, she says, but with “the best view”. I am here to experience firsthand the restorative powers of SuperShe Island, an exclusive all-female retreat in the Gulf of Finland launched in June by German entrepreneur Kristina Roth.

It will set you back about $6300 for the seven-day program, which includes transfers, a night in the capital Helsinki, farm-to-table meals and a roster of fitness, meditative and contemplative activities. The island houses a traditional Finnish sauna, a private beach, a yoga yurt, a massage and facial hut, kayaks and plenty of swinging hammocks for rest and relaxation as well. The retreat can accommodate no more than eight guests at a time, alongside six staff members and Roth herself. And there is not a single man among them.