Tucked away in the relative calm of the Old Quay of Dún Laoghaire harbour, and sheltered by the West Pier, is Ireland’s first ever floating sauna, where users plunge directly into the seawater.
Helios Sauna is located at the end of a newly-added floating pontoon perpendicular to the quay. It’s a compact brass and wood structure, and from inside on a sunny day the views out to the surrounding harbour are picture postcard. An additional attraction is the sensation of movement as the water swells under the floating wood-fired sauna.
When it all gets too hot to handle the plunge pool alongside – housed in a 1.2m steel cage – allows users to refresh themselves in the cold seawater of the harbour.
The new facility will open seven days a week from 8am to 10pm, and a 45-minute session is priced at €24.95 per person. Alternatively it can be booked privately for up to 12 people for €260.
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Freshwater showers and drinking water are available on the Old Quay, along with changing facilities. Complimentary dry robes are on offer for the walk from the changing rooms down to the sauna on the water’s edge.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council put out a tender for an operator of a floating sauna in January 2026, and received 30 applications. Matthew Burke and Miko Piotrowski, friends since their time studying engineering in college together, won the contract with their business Helios Sauna.
“Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had their finger on the pulse. They knew what the people in their constituency wanted. They are trying to push a lot of water sports down here,” says Matthew Burke.
The sauna is the latest addition to a suite of businesses operating along the Old Quay, including a kayaking service, a stand-up paddle board rental service and a boat tour agency.
Burke says: “Not many towns in Ireland have these amenities. It’s not a working harbour, it’s more of a leisure harbour, so it should be used.
“We are really grateful to the council to actually push it out there.”
Set up in 2023, Helios Sauna has four other locations: two in Bray, Co Wicklow, one in Wexford on Rosslare Strand and one in Dundrum, Co Dublin.
The design was inspired by Scandinavian-style floating saunas after the duo visited Oslo in December 2025, says Piotrowski.
“There were about 40 of them there and I thought it was phenomenal. People would be jumping into the fjords of the Oslo waterfront. It was part of the tourist attraction there.”
The pair say that there has been a lot of local interest in the new opening.
“People have been coming down here and having a nosy, you can’t keep them away. They are so intrigued,” says Piotrowski.
“We’re doing a big launch party on Friday afternoon with the council. We’re going to smash a bottle of champagne, it’s going to be very traditional like a boat launch, and then we are going to open officially on Saturday at 10am.”
Booking at heliossauna.ie
