Why is everyone suddenly going sauna mad in the Isle of Man?

Port Erin’s popular beach sauna could become a permanent fixture as the island’s wellness boom gathers pace.

There was a time when the idea of paying to sit in a tiny wooden box, sweat profusely and then voluntarily plunge into the Irish Sea might have seemed rather niche.

On the Isle of Man, however, the sauna experience appears to have well and truly arrived.

From the beach in Port Erin to a proposed new wellness retreat in the heart of Douglas, the island is embracing a trend which has exploded across the UK in recent years.

And now the business behind one of the island’s best-known sauna experiences wants to make it bigger, more accessible and more permanent.

Kishtey Cheh, which has operated from Port Erin beach for more than three years, could be upgraded under a new planning application submitted by Port Erin Commissioners.

The proposals would replace its current more temporary arrangement with a larger and more fully equipped facility, including additional changing space, private changing rooms, ice baths, hot showers and a unisex toilet.

It would also provide level access and reduce the risk of flooding.

The plans come after the existing sauna has become, according to the Commissioners, an ‘integral part of the hospitality offering in Port Erin’.

Kishtey Cheh, operated by LJW Enterprises, currently consists of two saunas on trailers sitting on a timber deck beside the beach.

The new plans would retain much of the existing timber structure, but raise the deck to the same level as the adjacent parking area.

One section of the existing metal railing would be removed to create level access for users.

The saunas themselves would be fixed in position and lowered so their entrances sit level with the deck, removing the need for the trailers and giving the facility a less cluttered appearance.

The existing hot tub, cold showers, ice baths and changing areas would remain, while additional facilities would be introduced.

The application says the extra changing and storage areas would help reduce congestion during busy periods, while a larger arrival area would give customers somewhere to wait before their pre-booked session.

It says the intention is to create ‘a wider range of facilities and greater levels of space’ to provide an ‘even better and more relaxing overall experience’.

Port Erin Commissioners says the sauna has made a ‘significant contribution to the viability’ of the village's hospitality sector, complementing businesses around the Cosy Nook.

The planning statement says the area attracts large numbers of visitors and that Kishtey Cheh has helped contribute to what it describes as an ‘extremely vibrant’ part of Port Erin.

There is also a practical reason for raising the facility.

The application says the increased height will reduce the risk of flooding in extreme conditions, with a Flood Risk Statement and Operational Flood Management Plan submitted alongside the plans.

But while the proposals are significant for Port Erin, they are also part of something much bigger happening across the island.

The answer may partly lie in the fact that the Isle of Man is almost perfectly suited to the modern outdoor sauna experience.

You have the sea.

You have relatively dark skies.

You have plenty of places to get outside.

And, perhaps most importantly, you have an island population increasingly interested in wellness experiences which combine exercise, socialising and simply switching off.

That trend was highlighted in September when the Isle of Man was named the seventh-best destination in the UK for sauna stargazing.

The ranking came from Finnmark Sauna's UK Sauna Stargazing Index, which assessed 70 destinations using three factors: dark skies, annual sunshine hours and the availability of public outdoor saunas.

The Isle of Man scored 69 out of 100.

Its position was helped by its relatively dark skies, with the island recording a Bortle rating of 2.5.

The Bortle Scale runs from one to nine and measures light pollution, with lower scores representing darker skies and better conditions for stargazing.

The island was also recorded as having 7.5 public saunas for every 100,000 adults.

That is a particularly notable figure given the island's relatively small population.

Among the facilities contributing to that sauna offering is Kishtey Cheh in Port Erin, alongside Riversea Sauna at Ramsey South Bay, another Riversea facility at Laxey Promenade and Rhen Wild in Glen Helen.

The research also reflects a much wider UK trend.

The number of public sauna sites across the UK has reportedly risen from around 45 in early 2023 to nearly 900 now.

Finnmark Sauna chief executive Jake Newport, who is also a member of the British Sauna Society, said autumn was particularly well suited to the experience.

He said: ‘The evenings are becoming darker, the temperature outside is beginning to drop, but we’re not yet in the depths of winter.

‘It creates a really enjoyable contrast with the heat of the sauna.’

He said the earlier sunsets also made sauna stargazing easier to fit around everyday life.

In summer, he said, people could have to wait until very late for properly dark skies, whereas autumn allowed people to finish work and head to a sauna without staying out until the early hours.

And the Isle of Man appears to be increasingly keen to take advantage of that combination of wellness, the outdoors and the island's natural environment.

The clearest sign that sauna culture is moving beyond a niche beach attraction is perhaps in Douglas.

A new wellness retreat called The Steam Yard has already received planning approval for the former Snake Pit site between Lord Street and Fort Street.

The project is being developed by LJW Enterprise, the same company behind Kishtey Cheh, in partnership with Tom Rowe.

The facility is intended to include several saunas and ice baths, as well as showers, changing facilities, a reception and a hot drink and food station.

The idea is to bring the sauna experience into the middle of the Island's capital rather than keeping it confined to beaches and outdoor locations.

Following the approval, Mr Wiltshire said he was delighted that the plans had been given the go-ahead.

He described it as a ‘brand new concept for the island’, inspired by sauna facilities he had seen in cities including Dublin, London and Cardiff.

The intention, he said, is to turn an underused urban space into somewhere people can ‘escape, get together and improve their mental and physical wellbeing’.

The plans are aimed not only at committed sauna-goers, but at office workers looking for a morning, lunchtime or post-work session, residents, visitors and people curious about sauna and cold-water therapy.

And there could even be a distinctly Manx twist to the concept, with Mr Wiltshire previously suggesting the possibility of the island's first ‘sauna rave’.

The planning statement for the Douglas development described the Snake Pit as an underused space which had not benefited from substantial investment for several years.

It said the project represented an opportunity to give the site a new purpose while bringing additional footfall to the surrounding area.