Finnish saunas in Auckland, New Zealand
Cora Studio
Cora is a wellness space for women on Kingsley Street in Grey Lynn, where reformer pilates sits alongside contrast therapy. Members alternate between a Finnish sauna and ice baths in 50-minute sessions capped at six people, then decamp to the Cora Gallery, an art-filled lounge run with Foenander Gallery, for coffee and a shower. A drop-in is $40 and the intro offer gives ten flexible pilates or contrast credits for $99.
Genki Vitality
Genki Vitality hides up a stair on Level 2 above Surrey Crescent in Grey Lynn, where an industrial stairwell opens onto a Bali-styled studio with a Zen garden. It pairs a traditional Nordic-style dry heat sauna and a red light sauna with ice baths, and guests build their own rotation of heat, cold and red light. Sessions run 25, 55 or 85 minutes from $19. Bring swimwear; sauna hats are sold at the desk.
Hana Parnell
Hana takes its name from the te reo Maori word for 'to glow', and its Parnell rooms are the only ones in the group with a traditional sauna, heated to around 85C, alongside the full-spectrum infrared cabins. Each private contrast room pairs a sauna with an ice bath set around 6C and filtered with hydrogen peroxide and ozone. Sessions run 60 minutes at $110, and a second person can join for $40.
O-Studio Remuera
On level one of the Health Hub on Remuera Road, O-Studio offers three ways to sweat: a communal traditional sauna at 80-85C, a private infrared room at 50-70C and a communal aromatherapy sauna at 55-60C. Traditional and infrared sessions come with an ice bath, the aromatherapy room with a shower. Drop-ins are $45 communal or $95 private infrared. A swimsuit is needed for the communal sessions.
O-Studio Takapuna
O-Studio Takapuna sits a step off the beach end of Hurstmere Road and runs both a communal traditional sauna at 80-90C and private infrared rooms at 50-70C, each paired with an ice bath. A communal drop-in is $45 and a private infrared session $90, with five- and three-packs cheaper. Doors open at 6:15am on Mondays and Fridays. For communal sessions a swimsuit is the minimum attire required.
Sauna Collective
Sauna Collective runs Auckland's beachfront wood-fired sauna stations, and its Takapuna site now has a permanent Sunday spot at the Takapuna Beach Holiday Park, looking out to Rangitoto. Choose the Silent Sauna for introspection or the sociable room, or book the whole thing privately; the station holds 14 to 16 people. Sessions are 45, 75 or 100 minutes, and cooling is a dip in the ocean or a cold shower.
The Sauna Project Auckland
The Sauna Project tows a traditional wood-fired sauna onto the sand at Bucklands Beach for weekly guided communal sessions, part of a network of nearly thirty beachside and riverside saunas across Aotearoa. Sessions are booked as a single ticket or from a concession pass, and the point is as much the company as the heat: come alone and you will leave having met the regulars.
Waiheke Sauna
A single Finnish sauna set under a pohutukawa on Kiwi Street in Oneroa, ten minutes' walk from the village, with a window looking out over Huruhi Bay. The cabin sits at 80-85C and the cold end is a natural freshwater plunge pool treated with silver and copper rather than chlorine, with bean bags around it and a hot-cold shower by the door. One hour costs $120 for up to two people, booked privately.
Takapuna Pool and Leisure Centre
Auckland Council's Takapuna centre on Killarney Street sits a block from the beach and keeps its spa, sauna and steam room together as a Swim Plus Zone for over-17s only: a 38C spa pool, a sauna at 70-90C and a 44C steam room, reached with a wristband from reception. The rest of the building holds a 33.3m six-lane pool and a 32C learners' pool. Adult Swim Plus is $10.50 and children under 16 swim free.
Tepid Baths
Built in 1914 as saltwater baths and refurbished in 2012, the Tepid Baths on Customs Street West are a Category 2 Historic Place still in daily use. Behind the brick facade sit a 25m lane pool, a 15m learners' pool, a 39C spa, a sauna at 70-90C and a 45C steam room, all wheelchair accessible. An Adult Swim Plus ticket at $11.50 covers the spa, sauna and steam; swimming alone is $9.50 and under-16s are free.
The Olympic
The Olympic on Broadway is Newmarket's pool complex and the closest thing central Auckland has to a public bathhouse: spa pools, a sauna and a steam room are all included with entry rather than charged as an extra. It opens at 5:30am on weekdays and 7am at weekends, which makes it the usual before-work stop for Newmarket swimmers who finish a session in the hot water rather than the changing room.
West Wave Pool and Leisure Centre
West Wave in Henderson is the biggest of Auckland Council's aquatic centres: a 16-lane pool, a wave pool, a dive pool with boards, a 34C hydrotherapy pool and two spas at 36C and 39C. Its Swim Plus Zone holds a sauna at 75-85C and a steam room limited to over-17s, closing early on Thursday and Sunday evenings for cleaning. Adult Swim Plus costs $10.50, concession Swim Plus $6.30, and under-16s are free.
Chuan Spa at Cordis Auckland
Chuan Spa occupies level two of the Cordis on Symonds Street and builds its ritual around tri-bathing: a sauna, a herbal steam room, a snail shower and an ice experience, with a heated rooftop pool alongside. A day pass costs NZD80 per person and is sold Monday to Friday only, which makes it one of the few Auckland hotel spas the public can walk into. The spa runs 8:30am to 8:30pm daily.
Luxe Spa at Pullman Auckland
Luxe Spa runs the wellness floor of the Pullman on the corner of Princes Street and Waterloo Quadrant, refurbished in 2022 along with its six treatment rooms. The facilities are a 25-metre heated indoor pool, a sauna, a steam room, a jacuzzi and a gym. Wellness facilities open 6am to 10pm with last entry at 9:30pm, while treatments run 9am to 7pm.
SO/ Spa Auckland
SO/ Spa sits two floors below Customs Street East in the base of the SO/ Auckland hotel, where a heated 25-metre indoor lap pool and a mixed sauna are open to anyone who buys a wellness day pass. Passes are $50 per adult and $30 for children aged five to sixteen, sold daily from 8am with last access at 6pm. The spa itself runs 10am to 7pm every day and stays open on New Zealand public holidays.
ONE FIVE ONE Health Club
ONE FIVE ONE is a boutique members' club on level eight of the SAP Tower, at the corner of Queen and Wyndham Streets. Behind the gym floor are a 25-metre indoor pool under a glass roof, a full-size tennis court, a hot dry sauna, a steam room and a spa with a cold plunge pool, plus towels, toiletries and a laundry service. Access is by membership rather than a casual ticket.
Cora Studio
Cora is a wellness space for women on Kingsley Street in Grey Lynn, where reformer pilates sits alongside contrast therapy. Members alternate between a Finnish sauna and ice baths in 50-minute sessions capped at six people, then decamp to the Cora Gallery, an art-filled lounge run with Foenander Gallery, for coffee and a shower. A drop-in is $40 and the intro offer gives ten flexible pilates or contrast credits for $99.
Genki Vitality
Genki Vitality hides up a stair on Level 2 above Surrey Crescent in Grey Lynn, where an industrial stairwell opens onto a Bali-styled studio with a Zen garden. It pairs a traditional Nordic-style dry heat sauna and a red light sauna with ice baths, and guests build their own rotation of heat, cold and red light. Sessions run 25, 55 or 85 minutes from $19. Bring swimwear; sauna hats are sold at the desk.
Hana Parnell
Hana takes its name from the te reo Maori word for 'to glow', and its Parnell rooms are the only ones in the group with a traditional sauna, heated to around 85C, alongside the full-spectrum infrared cabins. Each private contrast room pairs a sauna with an ice bath set around 6C and filtered with hydrogen peroxide and ozone. Sessions run 60 minutes at $110, and a second person can join for $40.
O-Studio Remuera
On level one of the Health Hub on Remuera Road, O-Studio offers three ways to sweat: a communal traditional sauna at 80-85C, a private infrared room at 50-70C and a communal aromatherapy sauna at 55-60C. Traditional and infrared sessions come with an ice bath, the aromatherapy room with a shower. Drop-ins are $45 communal or $95 private infrared. A swimsuit is needed for the communal sessions.
O-Studio Takapuna
O-Studio Takapuna sits a step off the beach end of Hurstmere Road and runs both a communal traditional sauna at 80-90C and private infrared rooms at 50-70C, each paired with an ice bath. A communal drop-in is $45 and a private infrared session $90, with five- and three-packs cheaper. Doors open at 6:15am on Mondays and Fridays. For communal sessions a swimsuit is the minimum attire required.
Sauna Collective
Sauna Collective runs Auckland's beachfront wood-fired sauna stations, and its Takapuna site now has a permanent Sunday spot at the Takapuna Beach Holiday Park, looking out to Rangitoto. Choose the Silent Sauna for introspection or the sociable room, or book the whole thing privately; the station holds 14 to 16 people. Sessions are 45, 75 or 100 minutes, and cooling is a dip in the ocean or a cold shower.
The Sauna Project Auckland
The Sauna Project tows a traditional wood-fired sauna onto the sand at Bucklands Beach for weekly guided communal sessions, part of a network of nearly thirty beachside and riverside saunas across Aotearoa. Sessions are booked as a single ticket or from a concession pass, and the point is as much the company as the heat: come alone and you will leave having met the regulars.
Waiheke Sauna
A single Finnish sauna set under a pohutukawa on Kiwi Street in Oneroa, ten minutes' walk from the village, with a window looking out over Huruhi Bay. The cabin sits at 80-85C and the cold end is a natural freshwater plunge pool treated with silver and copper rather than chlorine, with bean bags around it and a hot-cold shower by the door. One hour costs $120 for up to two people, booked privately.
Takapuna Pool and Leisure Centre
Auckland Council's Takapuna centre on Killarney Street sits a block from the beach and keeps its spa, sauna and steam room together as a Swim Plus Zone for over-17s only: a 38C spa pool, a sauna at 70-90C and a 44C steam room, reached with a wristband from reception. The rest of the building holds a 33.3m six-lane pool and a 32C learners' pool. Adult Swim Plus is $10.50 and children under 16 swim free.
Tepid Baths
Built in 1914 as saltwater baths and refurbished in 2012, the Tepid Baths on Customs Street West are a Category 2 Historic Place still in daily use. Behind the brick facade sit a 25m lane pool, a 15m learners' pool, a 39C spa, a sauna at 70-90C and a 45C steam room, all wheelchair accessible. An Adult Swim Plus ticket at $11.50 covers the spa, sauna and steam; swimming alone is $9.50 and under-16s are free.
The Olympic
The Olympic on Broadway is Newmarket's pool complex and the closest thing central Auckland has to a public bathhouse: spa pools, a sauna and a steam room are all included with entry rather than charged as an extra. It opens at 5:30am on weekdays and 7am at weekends, which makes it the usual before-work stop for Newmarket swimmers who finish a session in the hot water rather than the changing room.
West Wave Pool and Leisure Centre
West Wave in Henderson is the biggest of Auckland Council's aquatic centres: a 16-lane pool, a wave pool, a dive pool with boards, a 34C hydrotherapy pool and two spas at 36C and 39C. Its Swim Plus Zone holds a sauna at 75-85C and a steam room limited to over-17s, closing early on Thursday and Sunday evenings for cleaning. Adult Swim Plus costs $10.50, concession Swim Plus $6.30, and under-16s are free.
Chuan Spa at Cordis Auckland
Chuan Spa occupies level two of the Cordis on Symonds Street and builds its ritual around tri-bathing: a sauna, a herbal steam room, a snail shower and an ice experience, with a heated rooftop pool alongside. A day pass costs NZD80 per person and is sold Monday to Friday only, which makes it one of the few Auckland hotel spas the public can walk into. The spa runs 8:30am to 8:30pm daily.
Luxe Spa at Pullman Auckland
Luxe Spa runs the wellness floor of the Pullman on the corner of Princes Street and Waterloo Quadrant, refurbished in 2022 along with its six treatment rooms. The facilities are a 25-metre heated indoor pool, a sauna, a steam room, a jacuzzi and a gym. Wellness facilities open 6am to 10pm with last entry at 9:30pm, while treatments run 9am to 7pm.
SO/ Spa Auckland
SO/ Spa sits two floors below Customs Street East in the base of the SO/ Auckland hotel, where a heated 25-metre indoor lap pool and a mixed sauna are open to anyone who buys a wellness day pass. Passes are $50 per adult and $30 for children aged five to sixteen, sold daily from 8am with last access at 6pm. The spa itself runs 10am to 7pm every day and stays open on New Zealand public holidays.
ONE FIVE ONE Health Club
ONE FIVE ONE is a boutique members' club on level eight of the SAP Tower, at the corner of Queen and Wyndham Streets. Behind the gym floor are a 25-metre indoor pool under a glass roof, a full-size tennis court, a hot dry sauna, a steam room and a spa with a cold plunge pool, plus towels, toiletries and a laundry service. Access is by membership rather than a casual ticket.