‘ELE‘ELE — Nestled just off the road in the Port Allen Marina Center in ‘Ele‘ele is the South Shore’s answer to a full-service massage and body-care center by the name of Tropics Island Therapy. Formerly Tropics Day Spa, Tropics Island
‘ELE‘ELE — Nestled just off the road in the Port Allen Marina Center in ‘Ele‘ele is the South Shore’s answer to a full-service massage and body-care center by the name of Tropics Island Therapy. Formerly Tropics Day Spa, Tropics Island Therapy provides kama‘aina and visitors alike with a wide variety of comprehensive massage and body-care services.
“We want to offer a professional, effective and quality massage and body-care service at affordable prices in a comfortable setting,” said co-owner and operator Charlene Lazaro.
As you walk through the front doors, calming pale yellow walls, ample seating and the fresh smell of herbal oils greet you. The walls are lined with the clinic’s many product lines, with everything ranging from the pricier brands not sold in stores to organic and cheaper over-the-counter skin care options.
From a large selection of massage styles to the classic spa body care options like facials, wraps and body scrubs, Tropics Island Therapy does it all. Co-owner Candace Agustin also specializes in Reiki, included in their list of services.
Lazaro and her co-owner, Agustin, opened the clinic in December 2007 with the name Tropics Day Spa. Despite starting their business when the recession was in full swing, they managed to survive but not thrive as they’d hoped.
“We’re happy we’re still here,” Lazaro said.
Since she became a licensed therapist 10 years ago, Lazaro said the field of massage therapy has really changed.
“In the past, when I came out of massage school, I used to do seven, eight massages a day,” said Lazaro, “but now it’s very seasonal.”
In an effort to change this predicament and take their business to the next level, in January 2011 Tropics Day Spa decided to change their name to Tropics Island Therapy. This name change was representative of a change with their business concept as well, going from a day spa to a place of therapy.
“The reason we changed our name was because we wanted to diversify our services to include insurance clientele,” said Lazaro.
In order to do so, they first had to undergo certain credentialing requirements with American Specialty Health. ASH, a nationwide insurance provider, offers this option to businesses like Tropics Island Therapy so they can accept patients in need of their services under their health-plan benefits.
This allowed Tropics Island Therapy to go from being a spa to what Lazaro considers more of a community clinic.
“We’ve always had sports massage, if somebody came in with an injury or something, but this took it up a notch because we have a goal to work toward,” said Lazaro.
ASH requires not only the facility to go through a credentialing process, but the therapists as well. Lazaro and two other masseuses at Tropics Island Therapy are ASH certified to perform therapeutic massage on insurance clients. They currently accept workers’ compensation, auto injury and American Specialty health insurance clients.
Lazaro said becoming credentialed has changed the way in which she gives a massage because she now approaches it as if she is treating a diagnosis given by the doctor, instead of simply a day at the spa.
“Its not just for relaxation and pampering, we have to have in-depth knowledge about the different muscle groups and how it affects the movement of the body,” Lazaro said.
Taking on insurance clientele has also helped the clinic achieve more consistency in business.
The goal for Tropics Island Therapy is to stay just where they are but expand its client base. Lazaro hopes that it can truly be a community massage clinic and offer a little something for everyone: for visitors, a place to have a quiet afternoon; for insurance clients, a place to receive high-quality healing work; and for kama‘aina, a place to experience massage in complete comfort.
“A lot of kama‘aina still today have not had a full body massage,” Lazaro said, “and I think we offer, as a community massage clinic, a place where it might not be intimidating to them … a place where they don’t have to dress up and go to a hotel … they can come as they are.”
The locally owned and operated facility is open Monday through Saturday and Sunday by appointment. For more information, visit its website at www.tropicsislandtherapy.com or call 335-2790.
