Surge Bath House: The Northern Beaches Has a New Way to Unwind

There are gyms on practically every corner, Pilates studios multiplying by the minute and more ways to exercise than most of us have time for. But what about somewhere designed specifically to do… not much at all? YOU Magazine spent a rainy Saturday afternoon at Dee Why’s newly opened Surge Bath House to see what all the fuss is about.

There is something particularly delicious about sinking into a warm pool when it’s cold and raining outside.

So when we arrived at Surge Bath House on The Strand at Dee Why for a 90-minute session on a fairly miserable Saturday afternoon, and somehow managed to score a rock-star park almost directly outside, things were already looking promising.

A few minutes later, we were submerged in a 38-degree magnesium mineral pool, warm as toast, with a glimpse of the grey, rainy beach outside, and wondering why on earth we have a gym on every second street but hardly anywhere dedicated purely to slowing down.

YOU Northern Beaches contributor Kate Heussler @KateHeussler

Maybe bathhouses need to make a comeback.

Except, as it turns out, they’ve been here before.

Bathing as a communal ritual goes back thousands of years, from the Roman thermae to Japanese onsen, Turkish hammams and Finnish sauna culture. They weren't simply places to get clean. They were places to gather, talk, recover and, importantly, stop.

Australia has its own bathing history too. Sydney had public baths as far back as the 1800s, and our enduring obsession with ocean baths grew during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Wylie's Baths at Coogee, for example, opened in 1907 and remains one of Australia's oldest surviving communal sea baths.

Somewhere along the way, however, the indoor communal bathhouse largely disappeared from everyday Australian life.

Now it's creeping back - although these days you're more likely to hear words like "wellness", "recovery" and "contrast therapy" attached to it.

And frankly, we're here for it.

Enter Surge

Surge Bath House has only just opened at 16 The Strand, Dee Why, metres from the beach, and it's the creation of Northern Beaches local Jesse Minchio.

Minchio comes from a construction background and was apparently very hands-on with the project, helping build the bathhouse himself. His inspiration came from his own interest in wellness and contrast therapy - the practice of moving between hot and cold environments - and the feeling that the Northern Beaches, despite our slightly obsessive relationship with water, didn't actually have a dedicated bathhouse of its own.

He's got a point.

YOU Northern Beaches contributor Kate Heussler @KateHeussler

The result is a beautifully designed, intimate space containing a traditional Finnish cedar sauna, infrared saunas, hot magnesium mineral pool and spa, cold mineral plunge, experiential shower and relaxation area.

It's moody without being dark, luxurious without being intimidating and effortlessly cool. Even the soundtrack is spot on - less old-school Spotify rainforest relaxation playlist and more New York house lounge, which somehow fits the space perfectly.

There are plants, timber, soft lighting and that lovely warm cedar smell from the Finnish sauna. Everything feels deliberately pared back.

This isn't a day spa where you're shuffled from a facial to a massage before being presented with a $300 skincare range on the way out.

The idea is much simpler: get warm, get hot, get cold, recover, repeat.

Or, if you're anything like us, spend an inordinate amount of time happily floating around in the warm mineral pool while contemplating whether the cold plunge is really that necessary.

There is some science behind the renewed obsession with heat and cold, although it's worth separating genuine research from some of the more enthusiastic wellness claims floating around social media.

YOU Northern Beaches contributor Kate Heussler @KateHeussler

Sauna bathing has been studied for its potential cardiovascular and relaxation benefits, while cold-water immersion is commonly used for exercise recovery and may help with muscle soreness and recovery in some circumstances. Research around contrast therapy continues to evolve, and not every claim you hear about cold plunges is backed by equally strong evidence.

And as for magnesium pools? They're glorious to soak in, but claims that we absorb significant amounts of magnesium through intact skin aren't strongly supported by current research.

But here's the thing: not every relaxing experience needs to cure something.

There is therapeutic value in simply being forced to stop.

For 90 minutes, you're not at your desk, doing the washing, scrolling Instagram while simultaneously answering emails or half-watching Netflix; you're simply sitting in warm water, breathing, talking quietly and staring out towards a rainy Dee Why Beach.

That alone felt pretty darn good.

There was only one small criticism. Surge is heavily app-based, with everything from checking in to finishing your session managed digitally.

As invited guests, we simply arrived ready to experience the bathhouse and hadn't quite appreciated that the end of your 90-minute session means being showered, changed, checked out and essentially ready to leave, rather than simply getting out of the pool.

There was something slightly contradictory about being encouraged to completely switch off while also needing to keep an eye on your phone and the clock to avoid an overstay charge.

Ahhh... the serenity.

It’s a small point in what was otherwise a genuinely lovely experience. Technology is fantastic for bookings, memberships, reminders and managing busy venues, but hospitality, particularly premium wellness hospitality, still needs humans.

The staff were otherwise lovely, but the app-based interaction didn’t quite marry with the warm, premium and deeply relaxing experience Surge has worked so hard to create.

Would we go back?

Absolutely.

Because the actual bathhouse is beautiful.

Surge feels like something genuinely different for the Northern Beaches and something I suspect we're going to see a lot more of across Australia.

We've become very good at creating places where people can push themselves harder with gyms, boot camps, spin classes, HIIT studios, but perhaps we're finally remembering that recovery is part of looking after ourselves too.

And there is something rather lovely about the communal aspect of a bathhouse. You can go with your partner, your mum, your daughter or a friend. Instead of meeting for another coffee or glass of wine, you spend an hour or two actually switching off together.

On a wet winter Saturday, sitting neck-deep in warm water while the rain fell over Dee Why Beach outside, we completely understood the appeal.

Surge has nailed the atmosphere, the location and the experience itself.

All in all, it's a beautiful addition to Dee Why and a welcome alternative to the usual gym-and-coffee wellness routine. Go for the mineral pool, brave the cold plunge, definitely try the Finnish sauna - and make sure you keep one eye out on the clock.

Surge Bath House is located at 16 The Strand, Dee Why and offers 90-minute communal bathhouse sessions, 45-minute visits and memberships available.

@kateheussler @surgebathhouse

About the contributor: Kate Heussler is a Northern Beaches local, model coach, brand strategist and entrepreneur. Passionate about fashion, food, travel and the people behind local businesses, she'll be sharing regular features showcasing the very best of the Northern Beaches community, and beyond.

Follow Kate on Instagram: @kateheussler or visit her website at www.kateheussler.com