Winter Warmer: Cedar & Salt on Sydney’s Northern Beaches Is Here To Stay (Until Spring)

Freshwater local Rob Dempster-Smith set up a timber hut at Q Station as a pop-up. It is sticking around all season for a Finnish sauna experience by the beach.

Inspired by Nordic sauna culture, Rob Dempster-Smith set up a woodfire sauna a short walk from Quarantine Beach in Manly. He says 500 people booked into the 45-minute sessions for a steam, swim, repeat experience in April, and now he is extending the opportunity until spring.

“It has been so successful that Q Station has decided to offer the sauna by the sea throughout winter to complement winter swimming,” he tells Broadsheet.

Bringing wild sauna culture to Sydney's Northern Beaches

Pop-up hot boxes by the ocean are a growing trend in the UK, especially for wild swimming in the cooler months. Dempster-Smith says he came up with the concept for Australia's east coast when he was travelling through Europe in 2020.

“I was so inspired by the culture in Scandinavia, especially Norway, that I wanted to bring this culture back home,” he says. “Our ethos is all about keeping sauna wild … We got so sick of the sauna options in Sydney. All of them are membership-only and are found in the back of a gym's changing room and overcrowded… Our goal is to create a winter swimming culture, so sauna bathers can get their deliberate cold exposure and contrast therapy by the ocean.”

Our goal is to create a winter swimming culture, so sauna bathers can get their deliberate cold exposure and contrast therapy by the ocean.

Redwood, cedar and salt

The timber sauna at Cedar & Salt was made in New Zealand from redwood, with a rain screen made from Japanese cedar battens. Its name, Cedar & Salt, comes from the materials needed for a sauna.

It fits up to 10 people and the 45-minute sessions are communal, priced at $35 per person. You can also book the beachside sauna privately for $300. There are sunrise and sunset sessions, as well as a sound-healing experience.

How to do a Cedar & Salt session

Dempster-Smith's tip is to start each session with a cold ocean dip, followed by 15 minutes in the heat of the sauna. “Take a rest then have another swim in the sea,” he says, repeating as you like. “Finish off with a final cold dip. Then allow your body to warm up on its own.”

Find the Cedar & Salt beachside sauna at Q Station near Quarantine Beach, Manly, on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Bookings and session times are at cedarandsalt.au, and you can follow along on Instagram at @cedar.and.salt.saunas.