Wirral’s first beachside sauna opens at Leasowe Bay

Detox Wirral welcomed its first customers to Leasowe Bay on Saturday, June 1.

Owner Sam Black, 29, from Claughton Village said he hopes the sauna will help to “promote wellness” in Wirral.

Sam Black, owner of Detox Wirral (Image: Sam Black)

Sam told the Globe: “I used to live and surf in Tynemouth up on the North East.

“I was surfing one day and when I got out of the water and spotted this little tent on the beach and decided to go and have a look.

“When I saw that it was a sauna I straight away thought 'wow this is perfect for when I finish a surf session'.”

Detox Wirral saunas on Leasowe Bay (Image: Sam Black)

Sam began combining his surfing sessions with a hot sauna until he started using them when he wasn’t surfing.

He said: “I felt like it really improved not only my mental health but my physical health. I felt amazing afterwards.

“I started really getting into it and noticed the benefits of hot and cold therapy.”

Detox Wirral based on Leasowe Bay (Image: Sam Black)

Sam then decided he wanted to bring the beachside sauna experience to Wirral.

He said: “There’s a huge cold water swimming community in Wirral and down on Leasowe Bay there’s lots of kayaks, suffers and paddle boarders so I decided to bring the business back with me and start something similar on the Wirral.

“When I started researching I discovered that there’s nothing like this on Merseyside so I wanted to provide this service to the people of the Wirral because I personally knew the benefits and how much people would love them.

“I wanted to do something that would physically and mentally benefit people in Wirral and promote wellness.”

Members of the local community enjoying Detox Wirral saunas (Image: Sam Black)

Sam contacted Wirral Council in February this year where he gained permission to start his sauna business on Leasowe Bay which opened at the start of June.

He said: “I had more than 50 customers on our opening weekend and every single one said they’d come back.

“People were fascinated by the idea and were stopping for a chat or to pop their head in and take pictures.”

Detox Wirral is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday with availability from 8am until 7pm. Sessions last 45 minutes and cost £10.

Sam said: “It’s more of an experience than a session. There’s changing room facilities so you can bring your swimming costume and get changed, if the tides in and you want to dip in the sea you can it's completely optional, but you also don’t have to if you just want to sauna.

“We’ve also got cold buckets if you want to pour over yourself instead.

“There’s homemade natural sea salt scrubs that you can rub into your skin to open up your pores and help your skin glow and feel amazing and we’ve also got essential oils you can pour over the sauna stones so it’s a really nice experience.

“Once you’re out you genuinely feel like you’ve had the best makeover of your life. Your skin feels amazing, your pores have opened up and you’ve been breathing properly. It also really helps with mental clarity.”

To find out more about Detox Wirral click here.