Nationally, spas now number more than 9,600, a figure that has doubled in the past four years; and gross receipts top amusement-park and box-office revenues, according to the International Spa Association in Lexington, Ky. Spas have proliferated apace in Southwest Florida. Even remote Everglades City now has one.

We've talked with savvy sources, combed through large lists and even done a few test runs to search out the Gulfshore's top day spas-places that make you feel good while they make you look good. We looked for day spas with a varied menu of treatments and facilities that enhance the spa experience. We were amazed to see just how many of these places have sprung up in the last few years-so many, in fact, that we lack the room to list them all in our pages. Here is a sampling of some of the best. To see the entire list, visit our Web site, www.gulfshorelife.com. Read on and relax.

A Massage Oasis

6258 Presidential Court, Suite 207

Fort Myers

466-2747

Despite its name, A Massage Oasis offers more than massages. A menu of nearly 100 treatments-everything from body wraps, hydrotherapy, thalassotherapy (treatment with fresh heated seawater), facials and body scrubs-offers something sure to relax.

Armando's Day Spa

2101 Estero Blvd.

Fort Myers Beach

463-1200

Owner/massage therapist Bobby Armando Mimmo has kneaded and de-knotted some of the world's top athletes, including the British track-and-field team during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. His spa specializes in massages including therapeutic and hot stone; it also offers facials, exfoliation peels, salt scrubs and body wraps in a rustic setting of hardwood floors, wicker furniture, a big bay window and aromatic cedar-planked walls. Monthly classes delve into subjects such as self-hypnosis, astrology and crystal bowl sound therapy.

Body and Soul Skin Therapy and Fitness Studio

851 Cape Coral Parkway East

Cape Coral

542-2639

Eighteen years in the biz in the same location, Body and Soul offers a full-service menu, including raindrop aromatherapy, a variety of massages, enzyme masks and European facials. Specialty treatments include egg-white facials for toning and tightening, and hydration and oxygen facials.

Blue Door Spa

827 Myrtle Terrace, Naples. 262-8585

www.elizabethfoxmd.com

The beauty business has been so good for Naples plastic surgeon Elizabeth Fox that she recently opened a new 4,000-square-foot facility to accommodate a growing list of spa services-and clients. Visitors are welcomed by a view of a gorgeous lily pond and relax in one of five treatment rooms, where they're massaged, wrapped, scrubbed, peeled and polished to perfection. Fox says the day spa was a natural complement to her medical office-"part of a whole package of patient care" that also focuses on state of mind and well-being.

Blue Skies Bodyworks

4301 Sanibel-Captiva Road, Sanibel Island. 472-0116 www.blueskiesbodyworks.com

Owner Bonnie Clancy offers three-day spa-and-fitness packages that, unlike their destination spa counterparts, do allow cell phones and alcohol. In fact, Clancy's overnight cottage guests are greeted with a chilled bottle of champagne. A trained occupational therapist, Clancy offers a full menu of services. Her motto is: "You won't believe what I could do if I could get my hands on you."

Danielle Spa for Beauty & Wellness

27160 Bay Landing Drive, Bonita Springs. 947-5900 www.daniellespa.com

Rumors fly about the celebrities who've visited Jinx Liggett's Bonita Springs spa, which, of course, no one at the spa will confirm. Privacy and exclusivity are the hallmarks of this 14,000-square-foot oasis, where the weary can indulge in massages lasting a dreamy two hours, body treatments infused with aromatic oils and Dead Sea mud, and virtually any other service known to man and woman, including a massage with two of your closest friends. Don't feel like leaving home? Danielle will bring spa and salon treatments to you.

Day Spa of Naples

4077 Tamiami Trail, Naples.

263-3447 www.dayspaofnaples.com

Laina Beach, owner and master aesthetician, says she introduced day spas to Naples when she broke ground six years ago. "People were familiar with massage but that was really about it," says Beach. Today, she offers the full range of services, including full-body paraffin treatments, oxygen facials and the revolutionary Quantum Detox, said to pull toxins from the body via the feet. The spa has seven treatment rooms, a wet room with Vichy shower, and a relaxing lounge serving ginseng and honey green tea, fruit, muffins and bottled water.

Everglades Spa-Fari

207 Broadway Ave. W.

Everglades City. 695-1006

www.banksoftheeverglades.com

Located in the 1926 Bank of the Everglades building, Cheryl Hender-son's spa caters to locals and tourists from around the world who love her old-fashioned hot-towel facials (she uses 30 in each session and charges just $45). Everglades Spa-fari also offers body polishes, facials, paraffin wraps, massages and clay baths in classic claw-footed tubs and plans to add colon hydrotherapy. Coming soon: a full-day package that includes an airboat ride and lunch at the Rod & Gun Club, followed by a facial or massage.

Felix Andrew Salons

2322 Pine Ridge Road

Naples

434-6722

Each of its three local salons (the others are located in The Strand Plaza in Naples and on U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs near Pelican Landing) offer facial rooms. But the Pine Ridge studio takes services a step further by offering body treatments, massages and custom facials.

Healthy Complexions

20400 Trailside Drive, Estero.

992-6476

Despite the name, this day spa, which Cynthia Alvarez and Lorraine Bryner opened in 2001, offers a full menu of services. Located in a former model home, the spa includes a pool and fireplace. The interior was recently updated to better reflect the age and attitude of their clients-young and hip, say the owners. Offerings include salt glows, hot stone therapy, massage and, of course, facials (the largest menu offering). The signature treatment is an organic facial, using a hand-grown peach product that smells, Bryner proclaims in her Scottish brogue, "like something you could put on your toast."

La Bellezza Day Spa

13691 Metro Parkway,

Suite 110, Fort Myers. 561-7556 www.abeautifulbody.com

Introduced to Fort Myers by plastic surgeon Frank Campanile to provide comprehensive post-operative care to patients, La Bellezza also serves the public. The spa offers body wraps, facials, treatments for body, hands and feet, and massage (including a lunch-hour massage). Complete spa packages last a blissful two to five hours.

La Femme Perfumery

351 12th Ave. S., Naples. 434-7444

www.lafemmeperfumery.com

Marie Christine Elden's shop is the place for the most right-now make-up products and more than 700 fragrances, including some dating back a century or two, and the full-service spa and salon upstairs is one of just a few in the country to offer the famed Guerlain facial developed by the Guerlain Institut de Beauté in Paris. La Femme's fantastic menu of services also includes body polishes, masks, reflexology, massage and full-body paraffin treatments that Elden says work wonders for muscle aches, arthritis and rheumatism.

La Piel Spa

6370 Pine Ridge Road, Suite 101,

Bldg. B, Naples. 348-7362

Located within plastic surgeon Manuel M. Peña's Naples office, La Piel has evolved from serving the skincare needs of pre- and post-operative patients to a full-service day spa offering everything from facials and massages to paraffin treatments. The spa is equipped with two facial rooms, an aqua room for body wraps and scrubs, a massage room and pedicure area, and is separate from the medical facility.

Marco Beach Ocean Resort

480 S. Collier Blvd., Marco Island. 393-1400

The spa at the newly opened Marco Beach Ocean Resort provides an intimate experience for hotel guests and the public, with separate men's and women's spas, each with four treatment rooms, saunas, steam rooms and lockers with private showers. A spa menu of 19 services includes massages (deep tissue, Swedish, hot stone and reflexology), facials and body treatments, plus three packages that guarantee half and full days of bliss by the beach.

Miromar Lakes Beach Club

10160 Miromar Square Blvd.,

Miromar Lakes, Estero. 489-CLUB or

toll-free (877) 809-9444

Master-planned communities are starting to include spas for residents, but the Beach Club at Miromar Lakes Golf & Country Club is offering memberships in its on-site European spa to the public as well. An annual $2,000 membership fee not only provides access to tennis, swimming, dining and the community's boat club; it also includes the spa, which offers massages, body wraps, facials, aromatherapy and a full menu of spa services. The club has four indoor and two al fresco treatment rooms, men and women's steam and sauna facilities and a full Pilates studio.

The Registry Resort

475 Seagate Drive, Naples. 597-3232

Registry health-club manager Rob Hofstetter says some of his staff have been affiliated with The Registry "for years and years and years. People who have been to spas around the world say the massages they get here are the best they've ever had." Spa services are available to hotel guests and members of the Premier Club, who enjoy facials, body treatments and therapeutic massages, including the signature Ashiatsu Oriental bar therapy, a deep-tissue massage using bars and bare feet. Hofstetter says the portable Ashiatsu unit is often requested poolside.

Sanibel Day Spa

2075 Periwinkle Way, Unit 27,

Sanibel Island. 395-2220 or

toll-free (877) 695-1588

Wellness Center of Cape Coral

609 S.E. 13th Court, Cape Coral.

573-4800 www.sanibeldayspa.com

Mother-and-daughter Jeanne Parks and Pamella Attuso's 3,000-square-foot spa in the Periwinkle Shopping Center boasts 10 treatment rooms, a Vichy shower wet room and hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and offers 14 different categories of spa services, including wellness mud, massages, specialty facials, Shirodhara hot oil drips and the Ultimate Bindi, a body treatment that combines Ayurvedic herb-infused oil with steam therapy and Vichy shower. "Our clients travel extensively," says Pamela Attuso. "But they say our services are the best they've had." And residents of Cape Coral are now enjoying the services of Sanibel without the commute.

Sbarra Day Spa

11508 Andy Rosse Lane, Captiva Island. 472-5337 www.sbarraspa.com

Located in an island cottage built in the 1940s and furnished with period furniture, Amy Sbarra Michelland's day spa reflects her love for the '40s. Even the package names fit that era-the Benny Goodman and the Little Rascals, for example. Sbarra offers special half- or full-day packages that combine such services as aromatherapy massage, European facials, paraffin manicures and pedicures, and reflexology. A New York City it girl, Michelland left the bright lights to pursue furniture making and pottery. While she's barely had time for those, she has steadily built her spa business and recently opened a spa room at Tween Waters Inn.

Seaside Day Spa

651 S. Collier Blvd., Marco Island.

393-2288 toll-free (888) 393-4SPA or

www.seasidedayspa.com

Since 1991, Seaside Day Spa has been primping and pampering local residents and guests of the Radisson Hotel that's across the street. Favorite services include specialty masques, Shirodhara and Ayurvedic treatments, massages, body wraps and polishes, and there's a special menu for teen-agers and college students. Specialty services include the Echo2 oxygen treatment using 87 vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes and an aromatherapy slimming-cellulite wrap.

Serenity Day Spa

300 Goodlette Road South,

Naples. 436-6713

It makes sense for a day spa to find its way into a hospital setting. Located in the Wellness Center of Naples Community Hospital, Serenity Day Spa performs facials, massages, body treatments, manicures and pedicures, and even takes its show on the road, offering massage, hair washing and other services to patients and the public in the hospital's Gulf View suite downtown.

Serenity Spa of Fort Myers

16387 S. Tamiami Trail

Fort Myers

437-0122

www.serenityspaoffortmyers.com

South Fort Myers residents of The Forest and Vines communities swear by the Thai massage-a combination of Shiatsu and deep stretching. So do many of the professional ball players who have been known to stop in for an after-game rubdown. Offering four treatment rooms and a hydrotub perfect for mudbaths, owner Denise Vega has expanded the facility's massage-only services since purchasing the business three years ago. Services include body scrubs and wraps, facials and other spa treatments.

Spa 41

4910 N. Tamiami Trail, Suite 200,

Naples. 263-1664

New owners had just purchased the business at press time, but planned to continue the same services-massages, body treatments, facials, salt scrubs and so on. A complete day spa, Spa 41 has five massage rooms, two facial rooms, a wet room and four tanning booths.

The Spa at Naples Beach Hotel

& Golf Club

851 Gulf Shore Blvd. N., Naples.

659-4304 www.naplesbeachhotel.com

Added in a renovation at the historic Naples Beach Hotel three years ago, the spa has nine treatment rooms ready to indulge the willing in a range of light to advanced massage including warm beach stone therapy, body treatments, mud wraps, facials and total hand and foot rejuvenation. Specialties include reiki and hydrotherapy. Fitting for its beach location is an aloe wrap that soothes sunburn, and a pain-relieving seaweed wrap.

The Spa at The Ritz-Carlton

280 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples.

514-6100

The 51,000-square-foot spa and fitness facility at The Ritz-Carlton is only two years old, but its 30 treatment rooms have already hosted some major politicians and Hollywood celebs. You have to check into the hotel to use this facility, unless you're one of the 200 members who've paid the $35,000 lifetime membership fee and annual dues. (Twenty memberships are still available.) Delicious services include massages, facials, exfoliation wraps and citrus-and-honey body smoothing with a warm drizzle of oil-it "makes people go wild," says spa director Bob Schrader. Also new: airbrush bronzing that gives the glow of a tan without the threat of a sunburn.

Studio B

16050 S. Tamiami Trail

Fort Myers

454-4772

Tucked away in Horizon Plaza just north of Island Park Road, Studio B, formerly Vichy, is a full-service spa offering custom facials, detox and body wraps, body polishes, massage and "ear candling," an ancient home remedy that purportedly removes impurities and excess wax from the ear canal, and yes, does involve a lighted candle inserted in the ear.

Therapeutic Skin-Care Studio

12951 Metro Parkway

Fort Myers

561-8718

Owner Shirley Horner has been taking care of Fort Myers' skin care needs for more than 20 years, offering spa services long before they became en vogue. "I knew it was coming," she says of the day spa boom. "People from bigger cities travel here and want the same services." Horner's studio does it all-massage, body polishes and wraps. "Everybody's into skin care," says Horner, whose clientele includes adolescents (among them, a few teen-age boys). "It's important to take care of your skin at a young age."

WOMB WITH A VIEW

What's a watsu? I wondered as I wandered into the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point's Stillwater Spa in Bonita Springs. People had told me that this form of hydrotherapy, also called Zen Water Shiatsu, reminded them of being back in the womb, or of flying. But I can't remember my days in the womb-though I recall my mother saying I kicked a lot-and try as I might, I've never flown without mechanical assistance.

After Karen Phillips, spa director, gave me a tour of the Stillwater-lots of treatment and sauna rooms, muted colors and lighting, all Zenfully presented in a less-is-more kind of way-I suited up and met Iris Casteen, a serene-looking woman with friendly brown eyes who introduced herself as my therapist.

"We call Watsu assisted yoga," she explained as we entered the Watsu room. A large skylight capped it, and tall windows looked out toward Estero Bay.

We stepped into the pool-bigger than a hot tub but smaller than an average swimming pool. Casteen strapped floats on my legs for buoyancy, then floated me horizontally, cradling my neck and legs in her hands and arms. Watsu is an art, she said, and I thought of us-large man borne in thin woman's arms-briefly there as a kind of living statue: working title, White Woman's Burden, perhaps.

For 50 minutes, she whirled me in lazy circles through the 98-degree-Fahrenheit water, as if I were some kind of robotic pool vacuum. All the while she massaged my back, arms, scalp, legs, yea unto the soles of my feet.

Pleasantly relaxing and dreamlike, the treatment had a mildly hypnotic, faintly narcotic feel. A weak storm had blown in from the north, and when I did open my eyes, I saw clouds scudding by and palm fronds waving outside. Gently caressed, I enjoyed it, for the moment.

-Daniel Lindley

A SPOONFUL OF CHOCOLATE

Just the mere mention of chocolate awakens a craving in me. So when I heard that Blue Skies Bodyworks on Sanibel offers a chocolate aromatherapy massage, I couldn't resist. Another treatment, the silver- spoon facial, also intrigued me. Both are new to the world of pampering, so owner Bonnie Clancy offered to combine them in one session.

With soft piano tunes and a trickling table fountain lulling me into mellowness, Clancy began the facial with a mask of glacial mud and seaweed. The mud, excavated from the depths of upstate New York, is packed with minerals that extract impurities. Once the mud was removed, I could hear the clinking of spoons behind me. As the curve of the first spoon slid across my cheek, its warmth penetrated. Just as quickly, another spoon, this one chilled, ran across my forehead. Spoon after spoon, some hot, some cold, others lukewarm, glided across my skin. Why use spoons? "They retain and conduct temperature," Clancy said.

Clancy's expert hands moved slowly from my face to my neck and shoulders to begin the massage. I expected the chocolate to be an oil. Surprisingly, it's a cream, one that resembles pudding. "It's like chocolate mousse for the skin," she told me.

After every part of my body had been stretched, pulled and rubbed, Clancy finished with hot oil along my spine, to melt the chocolate.

Once I came to and faced the bright sun of the day again, I realized the experience had only increased my craving for chocolate. Clancy thoughtfully sent me on my way with a half-pound of fudge from Bailey's General Store. Now that's what I call truly indulgent.

-Alysia Shivers

OIL AND WATER

Wanting to be pampered, quite literally, from head to foot, I chose a combination Royal Taj Scalp Treatment and Hydrotherapy Tub at Danielle Spa for Beauty and Wellness in Bonita Springs. It felt like regressing to comfortable babyhood. I shed my awkward layers of clothes, and donned a loose paper bikini, soft and practical. My attendant, Erik, then led me down a hushed hallway to a softly lit room and into a swirling tub.

This souped-up Jacuzzi has 122 jets of warm water, and I enjoyed every one of them as they pulsed in rotation onto my back, hips, legs and feet. Erik told me there were several different substances he could add, but the one he recommended was Austrian Moor Mud. I had to ask, Why bring mud all the way from Austria? "It's full of minerals," he said, "to detoxify the body." It also had a fresh piney scent, which made me feel as if I were floating down a river in a European forest.

Meanwhile, Erik was slowly rubbing an aromatic Indian oil onto my hair and scalp. He then combed it through and gave me a head and neck massage. The Royal Taj oil, scented with sweet almond, sunflower, jasmine and lavender, moisturizes the scalp, conditions the hair, and in the right hands adds to that lazy, floating feeling.

Rinsing off, I was convinced that even the tap water smelled of jasmine. That's when I noticed the scented candle on the end of the tub. Danielle's is all about understated style, from the sounds of Vivaldi filling the changing rooms to the tasteful white baseball cap I was given to cover my wet hair as I glided off to my next appointment in the hair salon downstairs.

-Tessa Tilden-Smith

TOTALLY FLOORED

There's no way this is going to work, I thought as I lay down and waited for my Shiatsu floor massage-an ancient treatment that The Ritz-Carlton is adding to its spa services this fall. I can never relax no matter how hard I try. I have a million things I should be doing and ...

"Relax," my massage therapist, Kregg, instructed as if reading my mind. "If a thought comes to you, let it go. Picture it as a bird flying away." An hour later, I lay motionless, unwilling to move any of my relaxed muscles. Do I really have to leave? Can't I just lie here and savor the moment?

"Take your time getting up. I'll be waiting outside."

Darn, he read my mind again.

In the hallway Kregg handed me a cup of ice water and instructed me to take it easy, as I might feel "spacey" in 30 minutes. Shiatsu floor massage, he explained, focuses on the meridians of the body, healing and harmonizing with pressure and stretching-creating a sense of balance my body's not used to. Using the feet intensifies the experience, says Kregg, a former paramedic and intensive care clinician.

As a willing guinea pig who got to preview this new Ritz service, I can attest to its healing powers. I was pretty much mush the rest of the day, aromatic from the warm citrus oil wrap, citrus honey and cream body smoothing treatment and Shea butter scalp massage before my Shiatsu.

-Nanci Theoret