Manual Therapy Retreat 2025 Greek Islands
This year we held our Greek Islands Manual Therapy Retreat 2025 on the Instagram worthy island of Santorini from Saturday 3rd to Saturday 10th May, and what an incredible week it was.
To give you a better understanding of what ACE Retreats entail, we thought it is best to give you a run through of each day.
Saturday 3rd May
Our 32 attendees (some with their partner, a friend or family) arrived into Santorini via the airport or ferry terminal and were greeted by a pre-booked private transfer ready to take them to the gorgeous El Greco Resort.
They were then greeted in reception by a member of the ACE team to welcome them to the Retreat and ensure their check in went smoothly.
Everyone arrived safely, although we did have one attendee who accidentally got off the ferry on the wrong island… But nothing a local fishing boat, a couple of extra hours, a few extra Euro, and a selection of cocktails couldn’t fix!
The 2025 retreat un-officially kicked off at our Welcome cocktail party at Ampelos Bar in the early evening, where attendees and their guests had access to an open bar and a spread of delicious canapés, while they began to meet and greet one another. I am fairly certain most attendees managed to work their way through the whole cocktail list during this time (some perhaps even twice!), so as you can imagine, there were a few sore heads the following day but an amazing night was had by all.
Sunday 4th May
After the group enjoyed the buffet breakfast, the ACE team greeted attendees at the conference room with a goodie bag containing their limited-edition Retreat t-shirt, an ACE pen and notebook, and a range of freebies from our Greek Islands Manual Therapy Retreat 2025 sponsors: APE Medical and MWax.
Once attendees were settled into their seats, Shaun officially kicked off the retreat with orientation. This is the first year we have had a “retreat orientation day” with its purpose to provide a quick overview of the week ahead. Mainly, and most importantly, the retreat orientation has been introduced this year for fun social activities like ACE Speed Dating and Human Bingo to help attendees “break the ice”, better get to know each other and assist with networking.
After orientation was finished, we launched straight into the much-anticipated ACE RACE, and for those of you who have attended an ACE Retreat in the past, you know our ACE Race can bring even the most introverted out of their shells. It is a test of teamwork, logic, creativity, interpretation and innovation, while racing against the clock… and of course, the other teams!
Sunday afternoon saw the group return for our Clinical / Anatomy Trivia, by which stage it was clear that the combination of jetlag, minor hangovers and a high energy day of social activity left many with not much in the tank. It also became clear to the rest of the ACE team that Shaun and Dalton are much better educators than they are comedians.. 😊
Monday 5th May
Monday was our first big day of workshops and began bright and early with Shaun’s running workshop at 7am at a nearby soccer field. After a break to raid the buffet breakfast, it was back to the conference room where Shaun and Bo deconstructed some manual therapy myths in Workshop #2, with Bo finishing the day off running the group through rehabilitation strategies for acute ankle injuries in Workshop #3.
Monday afternoon allowed for a lot of free time before the ACE team put out an open invitation to the group to meet up for a few drinks at Nektar Lounge in Fira while watching the sunset. We can confirm that the views were stunning!
Tuesday 6th May
I started Tuesday with Workshop #4 by guiding the group through mindfulness practices and strategies that could be used in clinical practice, while highlighting the benefits to both ourselves as practitioners and our patients. After breakfast, Shaun instructed the group through 17 special tests that can be used in the assessment of acute knee injuries for Workshop #5, and once again, Bo wrapped up the workshops for the day with Workshop #6 where he educated the group in mobilisation techniques for the stiff and painful shoulder.
After breaking for the afternoon, the group returned to the conference room for a Q&A Panel of Shaun, Bo, Dalton and Amanda addressing any and all questions relating to clinical presentations, the manual therapy industry or business. This also provided opportunities for open discussions within the group and encouraged the sharing of ideas, experiences and perspectives.
Wednesday 7th May
Wednesday was a “free day” for attendees to spend as they wish with many signing up to the pre-arranged Santorini Highlights Tour. We were met at reception by our incredibly knowledgeable tour guide, Alex, along with an incredibly skilled bus driver (if you see how narrow some of the roads in Santorini are, you’ll understand why).
The tour started at the village of Pyrgos where we strolled through the winding maze of Grecian buildings to find the beautiful interior of the Church of the Holy Trinity, after which we visited Moni Profitou Iliou which is the monastery perched atop of Mount Profitis Ilias. A quick stop in Emporio to wander through (and get lost in) the remnants of the 15thcentury fortress, and it wasn’t long before everyone was ready for lunch overlooking the black sand beach of Perissa. We savoured 3 local wines during a wine tasting next to Kamari beach before we finished the day off to watch the sunset in Oia.
Thursday 8th May
Thursday morning started extra early with Bo running 2 separate sessions of Workshop #7 to instruct the group through Deconstructing the Deadlift.
We returned to the conference room after breakfast where Amanda lead the group through a hands-on Workshop #8, challenging some of the outdated beliefs surrounding manual interventions for the lymphatic system, before Dalton finished the week of workshops off with Workshop #9; wowing everyone with his impressive ability to recall cervical spine anatomy in the process.
Friday 9th May
Physical ability, endurance and stamina were put to the test on Friday morning by Nick (ACE’s resident sadist, and Amanda’s husband) as he got attendees to work in their teams to complete a series of exercise challenges to earn points… and get a hell of a workout in the process. There was sweat, there were tears, there was swearing and there was even blood, but all in all, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
After another refuel at the buffet breakfast, we welcomed attendees (and their extras) back into the conference room one last time to present the results of the ACE RACE and FINALLY reveal the location of our 2026 Manual Therapy Retreat… JAPAN!
We then launched straight into our first contest of the ACE Olympics titled “You, Me and TP” (the photo example given should explain why) before relocating to one of the 5 pools in the resort to see some extraordinary (and not so extraordinary) swimming ability with a dive stick retrieval, an impressive display of interpretive belly flopping, and finishing off with multiple chaotic heats of “Ride the Banana”.
Before we knew it, it was time for our Farewell Dinner, and I can say hand on heart, all of the retreats I have organised, this farewell dinner has by far been the best. The Good Heart hosted our group of 60 people, and is a small, family run, traditional Greek tavern in Akrotiri.
When they say family run, they mean family run. The father manages and works out in the farm which produces all, yes ALL of the food that is then cooked in the tavern by the mother; that food is then brought out in dishes to the tables by their sons, who are the waiters. Even the wine is home-made from the grapes harvested from their vines!
The food and drink came out like a production line to the point where everyone would display a wide-eyed look of concern at the sight of another waiter walking towards their table with another tray of delicious dishes. The concern of consuming too many calories all but vanished once the waiters began bringing out bottles of Raki and shot glasses to pass around to the group; the Greek music was blasted through the speakers and tables and chairs were hurriedly pushed to the sides to make room for a dance floor… also known as the floor to smash plates on.
Next thing we know one of the waiters is seen wandering around outside in the darkness setting up “a surprise for the group”. Our Greek Islands Manual Therapy Retreat 2025 group was treated to a spectacular (and scarily close) fireworks display from the vineyard right next to the restaurant. Our final night in Santorini finished off with a bang! (quite literally)
I would like to finish this newsletter with a few thank you’s, first to our 2025 retreat sponsors, who donated items to contribute to the retreat attendee goodie bags:
Thank you to APE Medical!
Owned and operated by Sports Physios with over 25 years of clinical experience APE Medical is the rehab products supplier run by clinicians for the clinician.
Thank you to MWax!
MWax is ACE’s favourite massage medium. Also created by therapists, for therapists, MWax is 100% Australian-owned and manufactured right here, on Aussie soil. They use only the highest-quality, natural ingredients in their products, making them perfect for professional and personal use.
THANK YOU TO OUR TEAM
Every year, our Manual Therapy Retreats get bigger and better, which essentially means they get more complex.
This would not be possible without the support, dedication, hard work and energy of the incredible team we have at ACE and their partners;
Bo, Elisa, Dalton, Amanda, Nick and Charlotte… THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping ACE make this possible.
A special mention and a big thank you also needs to be given to Jess Chambers our Travel Manager. Although Jess is not an official part of the ACE team, she has been integral part of the retreat process and is always ready to offer support to us or attendees when travel plans don’t quite go as expected. Thank you, Jess!
And finally, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to all of our Greek Islands Manual Therapy Retreat 2025 attendees!
Shaun and I feel honoured that you have all invested a large amount of time and money to travel all that way. The trust that you put in ACE that we will deliver for you an experience that will be worth that investment and more, is not something we take lightly. We are hugely humbled by this, and we know that our whole team feel the same. Thank you for giving us that trust, and we sincerely hope that you are glad you came along.
If this newsletter has you foaming at the mouth to attend the next ACE Retreat, you’re in luck!
The wheels are already in motion for our 2026 Manual Therapy Retreat in Japan and we at ACE are working endlessly behind the scenes to lock in the details so we can release the tickets AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
If you haven’t already, make sure you Register Your Interest via the link below so you don’t miss any details or the opening date of ticket sales.
Stay tuned!
