Best Saunas in Canberra, Australia
Floating Sauna Lake Burley Griffin
The Canberra outpost of Tasmania's Lake Derby Floating Sauna sits on a pontoon off Yarralumla Beach East on Lake Burley Griffin. It has two independent wood-fired sauna rooms of Finnish cedar, each seating up to six, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the lake. Guests join a shared session or book a private one and cool off with a dip in the lake or a cold shower on deck. Open daily 7am to 9pm; sessions cost $55. The site is off-grid with no toilets.
Lakeside Wellness
Lakeside Wellness is a holistic health centre in Belconnen, a short walk from Westfield Belconnen and Lake Ginninderra, offering naturopathy, massage, lymphatic drainage and flotation. Its two-person far-infrared sauna is bookable on its own, with sessions from $40, and an open float tank with warm Epsom salt water sits alongside it.
Reju
Reju is a recovery clinic on Lonsdale Street in Braddon, run by rehabilitation practitioners, that offers both traditional and infrared sauna sessions in a private room with a shower, alongside massage, cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen and compression therapy. Off-peak sauna sessions run Monday to Friday 11am to 3pm for $32, or $48 with a friend, and a sauna membership covers two sessions a week.
Reverie
Reverie in Campbell bills itself as Australia's first 24/7 private wellness sanctuary: guests book online and enter a private suite by app, with no reception. Its Reverie Sauna sessions combine infrared heat with chromotherapy and red and LED light towers, and Contrast Therapy pairs the sauna with a cedar and steel ice bath. Sessions cost $59 for 45 minutes or $69 for 60 minutes, and a friend can join sauna bookings at a discount.
Sauna Float ACT
Sauna Float ACT is a small wellness studio on the Lake Ginninderra foreshore in Belconnen. It offers 45-minute private infrared sauna sessions from $50 and a 60-minute private Bathhouse with a handcrafted Finnish sauna, ice bath and magnesium salt float tank for individuals, couples or families, from $120. Red light therapy and flotation are also offered. Open Monday 12–3pm, Tuesday 6–9pm, Wednesday to Friday 12–9pm, Saturday 12–6pm and Sunday 10am–6pm.
Hale Spa
Hale Spa is the day spa within Hale Gym + Spa on Macquarie Street in Barton. Its wet area has segregated male and female traditional saunas and steam rooms, cold showers and a cave-like heated spa pool, beside a Scandi-style lounge with a fireplace. The saunas and steam rooms are open to guests who book a treatment of over 60 minutes. Open Monday to Thursday 7:15am–8pm, Friday 7:15am–6pm, Saturday 7:15am–4pm and Sunday 10:30am–3pm.
High Definition Fitness
High Definition is a women-centred gym and Pilates studio in Phillip whose wellness space has an infrared sauna and a cold plunge. A wellness booking gives 60 minutes in the space, with the sauna run in 45-minute blocks, and the sauna is shared with at most two other women. A single pass costs $35, a 5-pack $125, and a wellness and gym membership $45 a week.
Reset Strength & Sports Recovery Centre
Reset Strength & Sports Recovery is a 24/7 gym and recovery centre with sites in Fyshwick and Belconnen, combining a gym and Pilates with traditional and infrared saunas, a cold plunge, red light, compression and remedial massage. Casual visitors can book without a membership; members can book unstaffed sessions at the Belconnen site 5am to 10pm. The Fyshwick centre is staffed Monday 11am–8pm, Tuesday to Friday 6am–8pm, Saturday 8am–6pm and Sunday 8am–8pm.
The Red Shed
The Red Shed is a not-for-profit rowing club and gym on the Black Mountain Peninsula in Acton whose Recovery Hub has a Finnish sauna at 70 to 100 degrees booked together with a cold plunge, a separate infrared sauna, a zero-gravity dry float and compression boots. Casual visitors without a fob can book recovery 9am to 5pm on weekdays; members book 5am to 8pm daily. A recovery membership costs $45 a week.
Floating Sauna Lake Burley Griffin
The Canberra outpost of Tasmania's Lake Derby Floating Sauna sits on a pontoon off Yarralumla Beach East on Lake Burley Griffin. It has two independent wood-fired sauna rooms of Finnish cedar, each seating up to six, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the lake. Guests join a shared session or book a private one and cool off with a dip in the lake or a cold shower on deck. Open daily 7am to 9pm; sessions cost $55. The site is off-grid with no toilets.
Lakeside Wellness
Lakeside Wellness is a holistic health centre in Belconnen, a short walk from Westfield Belconnen and Lake Ginninderra, offering naturopathy, massage, lymphatic drainage and flotation. Its two-person far-infrared sauna is bookable on its own, with sessions from $40, and an open float tank with warm Epsom salt water sits alongside it.
Reju
Reju is a recovery clinic on Lonsdale Street in Braddon, run by rehabilitation practitioners, that offers both traditional and infrared sauna sessions in a private room with a shower, alongside massage, cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen and compression therapy. Off-peak sauna sessions run Monday to Friday 11am to 3pm for $32, or $48 with a friend, and a sauna membership covers two sessions a week.
Reverie
Reverie in Campbell bills itself as Australia's first 24/7 private wellness sanctuary: guests book online and enter a private suite by app, with no reception. Its Reverie Sauna sessions combine infrared heat with chromotherapy and red and LED light towers, and Contrast Therapy pairs the sauna with a cedar and steel ice bath. Sessions cost $59 for 45 minutes or $69 for 60 minutes, and a friend can join sauna bookings at a discount.
Sauna Float ACT
Sauna Float ACT is a small wellness studio on the Lake Ginninderra foreshore in Belconnen. It offers 45-minute private infrared sauna sessions from $50 and a 60-minute private Bathhouse with a handcrafted Finnish sauna, ice bath and magnesium salt float tank for individuals, couples or families, from $120. Red light therapy and flotation are also offered. Open Monday 12–3pm, Tuesday 6–9pm, Wednesday to Friday 12–9pm, Saturday 12–6pm and Sunday 10am–6pm.
Hale Spa
Hale Spa is the day spa within Hale Gym + Spa on Macquarie Street in Barton. Its wet area has segregated male and female traditional saunas and steam rooms, cold showers and a cave-like heated spa pool, beside a Scandi-style lounge with a fireplace. The saunas and steam rooms are open to guests who book a treatment of over 60 minutes. Open Monday to Thursday 7:15am–8pm, Friday 7:15am–6pm, Saturday 7:15am–4pm and Sunday 10:30am–3pm.
High Definition Fitness
High Definition is a women-centred gym and Pilates studio in Phillip whose wellness space has an infrared sauna and a cold plunge. A wellness booking gives 60 minutes in the space, with the sauna run in 45-minute blocks, and the sauna is shared with at most two other women. A single pass costs $35, a 5-pack $125, and a wellness and gym membership $45 a week.
Reset Strength & Sports Recovery Centre
Reset Strength & Sports Recovery is a 24/7 gym and recovery centre with sites in Fyshwick and Belconnen, combining a gym and Pilates with traditional and infrared saunas, a cold plunge, red light, compression and remedial massage. Casual visitors can book without a membership; members can book unstaffed sessions at the Belconnen site 5am to 10pm. The Fyshwick centre is staffed Monday 11am–8pm, Tuesday to Friday 6am–8pm, Saturday 8am–6pm and Sunday 8am–8pm.
The Red Shed
The Red Shed is a not-for-profit rowing club and gym on the Black Mountain Peninsula in Acton whose Recovery Hub has a Finnish sauna at 70 to 100 degrees booked together with a cold plunge, a separate infrared sauna, a zero-gravity dry float and compression boots. Casual visitors without a fob can book recovery 9am to 5pm on weekdays; members book 5am to 8pm daily. A recovery membership costs $45 a week.