Sea Scrub Sauna Brings Cold-Water Wellness to Folkestone Harbour Arm

Sea Scrub Sauna has opened bookings for its fourth and largest Kent location, a custom-built beach spa constructed from shipping containers directly into the shingle at Folkestone Harbour Arm, with sessions starting from £17 per hour.

The facility is the most ambitious project yet from cousins Robin Bartlett and Luke Sinclair, who founded Sea Scrub after building out sites in Margate, Whitstable and Faversham. Bartlett brings a cold-water swimmer's perspective and an RNLI volunteer background to the operation; Sinclair has been based in Oslo, where the sauna revival has been hard to miss. Folkestone, according to Bartlett, was overdue. "Wild swimming and beach sauna culture are no longer niche; they're becoming a way of life," he said. "Folkestone has been one of our most requested locations by our members, so to bring our biggest and most expansive site here feels incredibly exciting. This spa allows us to fully realise the potential of what Sea Scrub can be, while staying rooted in nature, community and the sea."

The site features two wood-fired saunas: a full Scandinavian build with a panoramic window overlooking the English Channel, and a smaller shepherd's hut sauna made in Kent. Cold exposure options include plunge pools alongside direct access to the Channel for wild swimming. A hot tub with jacuzzi, fire pits, indoor and outdoor showers, traditional bucket showers and indoor changing rooms round out the core facilities. The on-site wellness café serves light lunch options inspired by Japanese cuisine, plus hot drinks and cocktails.

Beyond the daily session offering, Sea Scrub is programming an events calendar that includes guided full moon gatherings, winter and summer solstice sessions and new moon cacao ceremonies, with the full schedule to be confirmed at opening. Anyone familiar with the format at the Margate or Whitstable sites will know what those full moon ceremonies look like in practice: roughly 90 minutes of sauna intervals, essential oil steams, cold plunges, birch whisking rituals, fire pit time and a wild swim after dark. Add-ons available at existing Sea Scrub locations include organic salt scrub, oil-infused ice balls and birch whisks used to brush the skin and stimulate circulation during the heat. The dedicated event space will also host workshops and private wellness days.

Paulo Kingston-Correia, General Manager at Folkestone Harbour & Seafront Development Company, framed the arrival as a deliberate addition to the Harbour Arm's existing mix. "We're delighted to welcome the UK's largest beach spa to Folkestone Harbour Arm. It adds a completely new wellness dimension to our already vibrant mix of food, drink and free events on the Harbour Arm. We're particularly excited that, in our ongoing mission to reinvent the English seaside experience, Sea Scrub Sauna are bringing something different, rejuvenating and wholly unique to our site that is best enjoyed in the colder months."

The site was due to open in March 2026, with bookings already live. The standard entry point is from £17 for a one-hour session, making it accessible enough to test the full heat-and-plunge-and-Channel sequence without committing to a ceremony booking upfront.