In the era of the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, many employers are looking for ways to build rapport with their team and retain employees. One way you can do that is by recognizing that there’s so much more to being a team than just deliverables and deadlines.

If you’re looking for a place to escape away from it all and treat your team to a peaceful creative getaway, creative getaway, look no further than Asilomar. Known as the “Refuge by the Sea,” Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds are located on the Monterey Peninsula in California. Not far from the town of Pacific Grove, you’ll find 107 acres of ecologically diverse oceanfront sand and dunes.

Whether you’re planning an educational conference or just a fun getaway, Asilomar has the space, catering, and activities to serve your needs. The conference grounds include 65,000 square feet of event spaces, which can be broken down into 30 different event spaces with 30 different areas and 27 breakout spaces, with a maximum capacity of 650 people.

Create Team Cohesion Through Teambuilding

If you’re considering a trip to Asilomar for your team, you can start by thinking about all of the creative teambuilding activities you can complete with your team. From traditional building rapport challenges such as the Minute to Win It activity, to beach scavenger hunts, to custom experiences, Asilomar has it all.

• Adventures by the Sea – One of Asilomar’s many partners, Adventures by the Sea, provides visitors with interactive, local adventures for teambuilding and fun. Choose from beach olympics, scenic scavenger hunts, kayak races and much more.
• Save Our Shores – What better way is there to get to know your team than to give back to a local community? With Save Our Shores, your team can go out for a fun, teambuilding, and educational beach cleanup. All supplies are provided, and winners receive an award.
• Point Lobos Foundation – Instead of focusing on work or a specific team-building exercise, simply send your team outside to enjoy nature. Point Lobos State Natural Reserve offers docent-guided tours for groups of 8 to 10 people.
• Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History – At just the right time of year, one of the best places to view the monarch butterfly migration is the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. Along a guided tour, you might also see local birds, native plants, and taxidermy.
• Elkhorn Slough Foundation – Depending on the season in which your team is visiting, they can spend time doing hands-on land stewardship with the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. Spending time in nature can provide healing and a space that feels very far away from work.
• Exodus Escape Room – While not everyone is up for the most intense of adventures, you can still get your team’s blood pumping and encourage some out-of-the-box thinking by signing up for an escape room adventure with Exodus Escape Room.
• Progress Not Perfection Painting – One of the many refrains of work culture is “it doesn’t have to be perfect.” Join Progress Not Perfection Painting for a painting event where all supplies are provided.

Lodging at Asilomar

Not only does Asilomar offer the perfect space for your teambuilding exercises and an escape into nature, you, and your entire team, can stay onsite. Asilomar is a historic building with 313 guestrooms and a variety of accommodations to fit the needs of any guests. Onsite amenities include a heated pool, ocean-view rooms, gift shop, beach access, walking trails, and social spaces.

Asilomar Dining

During your stay at Asilomar, you can choose from a number of different onsite dining options, in addition to local restaurants in the nearby town of Pacific Grove. Onsite, you’ll find Crocker Dining Hall, which serves up a rotating daily menu of freshly made, seasonal foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Crocker Dining Hall can accommodate up to 750 people and has 20 special event rooms, where you can customize a special menu. The other onsite dining experience at Asilomar is Phoebe’s Cafe. Stop in for an Asilomar Cookie, light bites, or a glass of beer or wine.

For your company retreat, you can also have your meetings catered. Asilomar can accommodate everything from a simple coffee service all the way up to an elegant banquet. The catering menus are built from fresh, local ingredients and prepared with delicate seasoning, to ensure a fantastic meal for your team.

The next time you’re trying to figure out something fun to do with your team, consider Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. With the gentle whoosh of the waves, protected sand dunes to explore, and a variety of options for fun teambuilding activities, it’s the perfect place for you and your team to getaway.