There's just something about a sauna. Donning a robe, cozying up in a heated room, closing your eyes and letting the sweat drip — removing yourself from the rest of the world in a way that’s not scary, but peaceful. Tranquil. You might think: “How can it get better than this?”

Some Seattle businesses dared to answer that question: By putting the saunas on water. 

It’s not a new concept. Saunas themselves date back to over 10,000 years ago with origins in Scandinavia, and floating saunas started popping up around the region too. David Jones, founder of Von Sauna in Kirkland, Washington — the state’s first floating sauna — said he took inspiration for his business from Oslo, Norway. His choice to launch the business here in the Pacific Northwest was intentional.

“Seattle shares a lot of similarities to Oslo,” Jones said. “We have the same kind of dark, cold, damp, dreary winters and seasonal depression and loneliness scores as they do. It feels like we don't know how to ‘winter’ as well as Norwegians and I feel like this is a great antidote and activity to bring people together and connect them with our natural waterways.”

Saunas on their own offer mental and physical benefits, and the connection to blue spaces — bodies of water — only enhances them. Studies have found that exposure to blue spaces is linked to overall psychological well being, including minimal stress, anxiety and depression. 

Von Sauna launched in January 2024 on Lake Washington. It’s not a boat, but two stationary vessels moored on a public dock. They fit 12 people, and the L-shape design includes two tiers. The design process took a few years, Jones said, because he wanted the saunas to be “legally trailerable” — meaning they can be transported via a trailer. To heat the sauna, a wood-fired stove is used to heat rocks which emanate throughout the room.

Another type of sauna floated onto Lake Union this January, joining the hot tub boats. The new business Wild Haus has two sauna boats that drive around the lake, surrounded by the Seattle cityscape, while visitors sweat in the sauna or relax on the roof deck. The boats were constructed locally in Ballard’s Canal Boatyard and are powered by outboard motors. Like Von Sauna, the sauna boats are also wood fired. 

Both businesses encourage their visitors to cool off by taking a plunge in the natural lakes — no matter the weather, and oftentimes in spite of it. Wild Haus co-founder Emma Griffith said she was impressed by how many people did it in the winter. 

“We kept saying we’re warming up the Seattle freeze,” Griffith said. 

Warming it up in more ways than one. In addition to the many health benefits the saunas bring — mitigating anxiety and stress, boosting cardiovascular health and soothing sore muscles to name a few — the floating saunas also offer unexpected opportunities for Seattleites to meet and befriend new people during the gloomiest times of year. 

Both businesses offer private and communal options, so visitors can choose when booking if they’d like to bring their own private group or if they want to reserve a single spot for themselves in a more social setting. Griffith said after the communal sessions — which she’s found to be a popular option — she’ll find people exchanging numbers or making plans to meet again. 

“Meeting other people, being able to socialize, floating over the water, having a pretty intense, invigorating experience of jumping into a cold lake that you wouldn't otherwise do in the wintertime with other people is a great way to forge relationships … rather than putting people in a dark, windowless room,” Jones said. 

Von Sauna closed for the season May 1, and will be reopening in October. Wild Haus is open for business year round and will be continuing its operations over the summer. 

Despite the relative newness of floating saunas in the United States and locally in Washington, they have grown in popularity. Both businesses reported having returning visitors. Von Sauna has a membership program underway and Wild Haus is launching one soon.

They've also struck a chord online. Both businesses share their Scandinavian aesthetic, blue space scenery, and thrilling cold plunges with thousands of Instagram followers.

Jones said he’s had hundreds of people reach out to him asking about how to start a floating sauna business, so there’s interest out there. 

“We just believe that it's so much more than a trend and it's here to stay,” Griffith said. “I truly think there's just no better way to build community and also encourage people to unplug and get offline and meet new friends than doing this on the water.”