What is Peninsula Hot Springs and can you stay there?

Peninsula Hot Springs is a large geothermal bathing complex near Rye with more than 50 pools. The Springs itself is a day-visit experience — you cannot stay inside the facility without booking the glamping — but Peninsula Hot Springs Glamping operates inside the hot springs precinct and gives overnight guests priority entry and a quieter experience of the pools in the evening and early morning.

Is there a full spa retreat on the Mornington Peninsula?

Spa by Jackalope at Jackalope Hotel (Red Hill) is the most comprehensive resort spa on the Peninsula: six treatment rooms, a thermal suite, scrub rooms, and access to the hotel's private bathing facilities. One Spa at RACV Cape Schanck Resort is a full-service spa with ocean views on the south coast. Both require property bookings or day-spa appointments.

What is the difference between Peninsula Hot Springs and Alba Thermal Springs?

Peninsula Hot Springs (Rye) is the larger public facility — geothermal water, 50+ pools, family-friendly, day-visit focused. Alba Thermal Springs (Red Hill) is the newer, more design-conscious property: a smaller, curated experience with cave pools, cold plunge, and a stronger focus on the adult wellness experience. Alba is quieter and better suited to a couple's retreat day.

Can I do a wellness weekend on the Mornington Peninsula without a car?

It is difficult. The wellness properties are spread across the Peninsula and public transport connections between them are limited. Peninsula Hot Springs runs a shuttle from Frankston station on weekends. For a car-free wellness stay, the best option is Jackalope Hotel and Spa by Jackalope — the hotel, spa, and Doot Doot Doot dining room are all on the same property and you can walk between them.

Wellness Retreats on the Mornington Peninsula

The Peninsula's wellness infrastructure is more serious than most people expect before they arrive. Peninsula Hot Springs is the largest geothermal bathing complex in the southern hemisphere. Alba Thermal Springs at Red Hill is a newer, design-led alternative with a more curated adult experience. Spa by Jackalope is a full resort spa operating at Jackalope Hotel on the wine ridge. RACV Cape Schanck's One Spa adds an ocean-view treatment experience on the south coast.

None of these feel like the hotel-spa-as-afterthought that fills most resort brochures. They're the primary reason many people come. The question is whether you want the thermal bathing experience centred (Peninsula Hot Springs, Alba), the spa-as-luxury-hotel experience (Jackalope, Cape Schanck), or something more restorative and slow (glamping adjacent to the springs, cottage with private garden).

Last fact-verified: 24 April 2026

Spa Cape Schanck

Peninsula Hot Springs

140 Springs Ln, Fingal VIC 3939 · $$$

The original Peninsula thermal springs, still the biggest, still the most complete wellness circuit for people who want the full ritual.

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Glamping Cape Schanck

Peninsula Hot Springs Glamping

140 Springs Lane, Fingal VIC 3939 · $$$

Eco lodges and glamping pods inside the Peninsula Hot Springs precinct, wake up, walk thirty seconds to the Spa Dreaming Centre, before any day guests arrive.

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Spa Merricks

Spa by Jackalope

166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926 · $$$$

The Peninsula's most design-led boutique spa, small, precise, and the natural pairing with a Jackalope stay or a Doot Doot Doot dinner.

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Spa Red Hill

Alba Thermal Springs & Spa

890 Mornington-Flinders Rd, Fingal VIC 3939 · $$$

The Peninsula's second-generation thermal springs complex, cleaner architecture, smaller crowds, better pacing than the original.

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Spa Cape Schanck

One Spa at RACV Cape Schanck Resort

Trent Jones Dr, Cape Schanck VIC 3939 · $$$

The Peninsula's best resort-style day spa, proper scale, serious treatment menu, and a cliff-edge location that nobody else on the Peninsula can match.

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Spa Mornington

Endota Spa Mornington

Main Street, Mornington VIC 3931 · $$

The Mornington town-centre day spa, reliable treatments, sensible pricing, and the sixty-minute option that fits before lunch on Main Street.

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Glamping Cape Schanck

Peninsula Hot Springs Glamping

140 Springs Lane, Fingal VIC 3939 · $$$

Eco lodges and glamping pods inside the Peninsula Hot Springs precinct, wake up, walk thirty seconds to the Spa Dreaming Centre, before any day guests arrive.

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Glamping Cape Schanck

Peninsula Hot Springs Eco Lodges

140 Springs Lane, Fingal VIC 3939 · $$$$

Fully enclosed eco lodges inside the Peninsula Hot Springs precinct, private in-room geothermal baths and the same 5am access as the glamping tents.

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Villa Cape Schanck

The Sanctuary at Alba

Fingal VIC 3939 · $$$$

Five standalone villas on the Alba Thermal Springs estate, the Peninsula's first overnight stay with all-day thermal access built in.

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Hotel Red Hill

Jackalope Hotel

166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926 · $$$$

A dramatic art-led design hotel set inside a working vineyard, with Doot Doot Doot's eight-metre chandelier overhead.

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Hotel Red Hill

Lindenderry at Red Hill

142 Arthurs Seat Rd, Red Hill VIC 3937 · $$$

40 acres of English-style gardens, a small estate vineyard, and the kind of country-house feel the Peninsula doesn't offer anywhere else.

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Frequently asked questions

Can you stay at Peninsula Hot Springs?

The Springs itself is a day-visit facility for most guests. Peninsula Hot Springs Glamping sits inside the hot springs precinct and gives overnight guests priority entry and access to the Spa Dreaming Centre in quieter windows. It is not adjacent — it is inside.

Peninsula Hot Springs vs Alba Thermal Springs?

Peninsula Hot Springs (Rye): larger, more varied, family-friendly, geothermal water. Alba Thermal Springs (Red Hill): smaller, design-conscious, adult-focused, cave pools and cold plunge. Alba suits couples better. Peninsula Hot Springs is better for a first visit or a group.

Where's the best full resort spa?

Spa by Jackalope (Red Hill) — six treatment rooms, thermal suite, and the whole Jackalope Hotel experience around it. One Spa at RACV Cape Schanck offers a full-service spa with ocean views on the south coast.

Is a car needed for a wellness weekend?

Almost always. Peninsula Hot Springs runs a weekend shuttle from Frankston station. Jackalope Hotel and Spa by Jackalope are co-located so you can walk between them — the only car-free wellness stay option on the Peninsula.

Wellness Retreats on the Mornington Peninsula

6 wellness properties on the Peninsula

Accommodation that pairs well with a wellness day

Frequently asked questions

Can you stay at Peninsula Hot Springs?

Peninsula Hot Springs vs Alba Thermal Springs?

Where's the best full resort spa?

Is a car needed for a wellness weekend?

Plan the wellness weekend

Peninsula This Weekend

Autumn closes and winter opens on the same patch of Main Ridge on Saturday: the Peninsula marking its own calendar.