A red wooden sauna cabin on a floating deck, a swimmer climbing down the steel ladder into dark water.
Stoke

A wood-fired sauna on the harbour wall, and the sea is the cold plunge

Twelve benches in a cedar cabin on a raft, a stove we light at six, and a ladder straight down into the harbour. Fifteen minutes in, two minutes in the sea, a cup of tea on the deck, and again. Open every day of the year, busiest in January.

Water

9.5 °C

Cold. Two minutes is plenty.

Sauna

82 °C

Top bench, after the second log.

High tide

14:12

The ladder is deepest either side.

Ladder

In

Chalked at 7:40 by whoever lit the stove.

"I came for the heat and stayed for the two minutes in the sea."

Every Tuesday since last November

Steam rising from dark stones in a round wooden sauna heater.

"Nobody talks about work on the deck. It's the only place I know like that."

A Friday morning regular

An empty pale wooden sauna, benches in an L along the walls lit from underneath, the stove box in the corner.
A ladle of water being poured onto hot sauna stones. A man swimming breaststroke in dark green rippling sea water.

Three kinds of session

Open bench

Ninety minutes, up to twelve people, book a bench not the room. The usual way to start.

£14

A wooden sauna with benches along the walls and a round stone stove in the middle, lit low.

First light

Six o'clock, before the harbour wakes up. Quiet, no music, and the sea is flattest.

£12

A swimmer standing chest-deep in the sea, arms out, facing a low winter sun.

The whole cabin

Two hours for a group of up to twelve: a birthday, a team, a swimming club.

£150

A group in woolly hats sitting together in a hole cut in snow and ice, seen from above.

If it's your first time

What to bring

A swimsuit, two towels, something warm for the deck, and shoes you can wade in. Nothing metal on you in the heat.

How long in the sea

Less than you think. Thirty seconds the first time is a triumph. Never go in alone; there is always one of us on the deck.

Who shouldn't

If you have a heart condition, are pregnant, or have been drinking, ask your doctor first or sit on the deck with a tea. We'd rather you came back.

When we close

Only for storms and lightning. Rain, snow and fog are the best days.

Book a bench

Ring or turn up; if there's a bench free, it's yours. Ten sessions for £120, and they don't expire.

Ring the cabin
A black bucket with a wooden ladle on a pale slatted sauna bench. A swimmer in a wetsuit doing front crawl in grey water, towing an orange float. A lone swimmer in a circle of dark open water surrounded by snow and mist.