SaunaBoat – Popular Summer Activity in Finland
What is saunaBoat like?
Finland is known as a birthplace of sauna. It is said that the history of sauna can even be traced back to 10,000 years ago.
Most people who visit Finland would try sauna while staying in the country, but not many of them get the experience of taking SaunaBoat.
Not like sauna which can be enjoyed throughout a year, you can only get on SaunaBoat during summer time, when the lake and river are not frozen and the temperature is warm enough.
SaunaBoat consists of wooden sauna, deck, BBQ space, and sometimes hot tub (It depends on the kind of the boat). In many cases it has wooden sauna (puusauna in Finnish).
How you can enjoy?
The function and procedure are quite simple!
You change your cloth to swim suits (Some local people don’t wear anything) and warm up yourself in sauna.
The saunaBoat I took had a small changing space in front of sauna. Sauna itself was warmed up by the owner of the SaunaBoat and sauna room has glass walls from which you can see the outside view.
The room temperature was was around 70 degrees and thus, I was able to stay over 10 mins.
So another best part of SaunaBoat starts after sauna.
After you get sweaty and feel warm enough, jump into the lake or river from the boat to cool down yourself. It feels amazing to swim in the nature after you warm up yourself in sauna.
You can repeat this process several times, or in between that you can also relax in the hot tub or enjoy BBQ with drink.
If you have a high tolerance for alcohol, you can bring some in sauna!
Another way of enjoying SaunaBoat
Another way to arrange this experience would be fishing from the boat since it goes around the lake or goes down the river where a variety of fish live.
If you book a SaunaBoat tour from local travel agencies in Finland, some of them would prepare all the necessities including bath towels, fishing tools, and some snacks or food.
Imagine you go down the river surrounded in the Arctic forests with SaunaBoat. You get to relax in sauna or meditate sitting on the deck with the view of green trees and clear sky.
You will forget daily stuff such as study and work and get healed both physically and mentally.
For me personally, SaunaBoat is one of the most exciting summer activities in Finland and it is a great way to experience Finnish nature and culture firsthand.
Usually you are supposed to pay for one boat as a group(Maximum number would be 10-15 people depending on the boat), so if you come as a group the individual spending will be cheaper.
I guess not many tourists try taking SaunaBoat while they are in Finland. Therefore, SaunaBoat will bring you a bit different and unique Finnish experience.
Reasons to recommend SaunaBoat
To sum up, I could summarise the reasons why I recommend SaunaBoat.
- Private sauna & (almost) private swimming area
- You can enjoy great natural view
- Functional and well-equipped (sauna, bathtub, deck, grilling place, etc)
- The more people you have, the price for one person gets cheaper
- Feels amazing!
Hope you can someday try SaunaBoat!
