Relax, sweat, and socialize: North Avenue Beach's private saunas
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Carrie inside the sauna and Fire and Ice's Matt Obal keeping the area nice and neat. Photo: Courtesy of Matt Planer.
I recently planned a beach date in the middle of winter. Fun!
Yes, but: It was to relax and warm up in portable saunas at North Avenue Beach, which are part of the Fire and Ice Sauna Experience.
The big picture: Communal saunas provide more than health benefits. They're becoming the hot (wink, wink) spots to meet up with friends and socialize.
Why it matters: Some studies have shown that saunas reduce the risk of vascular diseases like high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
- They are also helpful for de-stressing and sweating out toxins.
How it works: You can book a 25 - or 55-minute session in the small sauna for 1-4 people ($25-45). The larger sauna can hold up to six people.
- We did the smaller one which got up to about 170 degrees.
- There's an area to change and also buckets of water you can dump on yourself to cool off.
Plus: Lake Michigan is just steps away if you really want to cool off.
Zoom in: Matthew Obal builds and sells the portable, pre-fabricated saunas and says they cost about $3,000–$4,000.
- Before Obal created saunas, he was building and selling geodesic domes — the igloos that took off at restaurants during the pandemic and still are used during the winter.
The verdict: Lovely! It was one of those warm, sunny days so moving from hot to cold in our swimsuits wasn't unbearable. We definitely felt relaxed.
If you go: The saunas will be available to rent at North Avenue Beach through April.