A first sauna session comes down to four steps: rinse, get warm for 5 to 15 minutes, cool down, then rest until your heart rate settles, repeated two or three times. Bring swimwear, two towels and water, keep your bottoms on, and don't touch the heater. That's genuinely most of it. Everything else in this guide is detail to help you get the most out of it and feel comfortable doing it.
Key takeaways
- The ritual is: rinse, heat (5 to 15 minutes), cold plunge or cold shower, rest until your heart rate is back to normal. Repeat two to three times.
- Bring swimwear, two towels (one to sit on, one to dry with), water, sliders and, ideally, a robe.
- Etiquette is simple: sit on your towel, keep swimwear bottoms on, only pour the provided water on the rocks, don't touch the heater, and respect that community sessions are shared with strangers.
- Follow your body over the clock. If you feel dizzy, too hot or unwell, get out. Twenty minutes is the outer limit of any single round, not a target.
- If you're pregnant or have a heart condition, low blood pressure or another medical concern, check with your GP before your first session.
What actually happens when you sit in a sauna
A Finnish-style sauna runs at 70 to 100°C, hotter and drier than a steam room. Your heart rate climbs, your blood vessels near the skin widen and you start to sweat, a response your body also has during moderate exercise. It can feel intense for the first minute or two, especially if you're not used to heat, and that's normal: sit somewhere lower down the benches to start (heat rises, so it's cooler near the floor), and give yourself permission to leave whenever you want to. There's no badge for staying in the longest.
What to bring
Suitable swimwear, two towels (one for sitting on, one for drying), drinking water, flip-flops or sliders, and a robe if you have one. Bring something warm to put on afterwards too: stepping out into fresh air after a hot round can feel colder than you expect.
The ritual: rinse, hot, cold, rest
The routine is straightforward, and it's the same one we run our own community sessions on:
- Rinse. Have a shower before you go in.
- Hot. Get warm for 5 to 15 minutes. Ours run at 70 to 100°C.
- Cold. Take a cold plunge or cold shower (rinse first if you're using an ice bath).
- Rest. Sit or stand quietly until your heart rate returns to normal before you go back in.
Then repeat, typically for two or three rounds a session. Follow your body throughout, not the clock: notice your heart rate, and if a round feels like too much, cut it short. Twenty minutes is the outer limit for any single round; 5 to 15 minutes is what we'd recommend, especially for a first visit.
Sauna etiquette
Our house rules, and fairly standard ones wherever you go:
- Sessions of no longer than 20 minutes at a time (5 to 15 minutes recommended).
- Sit on a towel, not directly on the bench.
- Keep swimwear bottoms on.
- Only pour the water that's provided on the rocks. Someone else's session shouldn't be interrupted by a surprise blast of steam.
- Respect other bathers, and keep the volume down. It's a space people come to for quiet as much as heat.
- Don't touch the heater.
You might be sharing the sauna with strangers, and that's fine
Community sessions are open to everyone unless someone has booked the full capacity, so you may well be sharing a bench with people you've never met. Don't worry about it: a sauna is a genuinely good place to meet people, and most conversation is optional. If you'd rather have the space to yourselves, a private hire gives you exclusive use.
Who should check with a GP first
Sauna is safe for most healthy adults when used sensibly, but if you have a medical condition, an underlying health problem, take prescription medication, or are pregnant, speak to your GP before your first session. Hydrate before and after, skip the alcohol beforehand, and don't overstay the heat. Children aged 7 to 16 can use a sauna during private sessions only, with an adult family member present throughout; under-7s aren't permitted.
Common first-timer mistakes
A few things that catch people out: going straight for the hottest, highest bench on round one instead of easing in lower down; skipping water beforehand and feeling light-headed halfway through; rushing the cold plunge or skipping the rest afterwards, which is often where the best part of the feeling actually lands; and treating it as a competition to outlast everyone else in the room. None of that is the point. The ritual works because of the contrast and the rest, not because you gritted your teeth through the hottest round.
Curious about the health side of what's actually happening in your body? Read the science behind sauna health benefits or the fuller picture at why sauna works. Ready to try it for yourself? book a session on the Norfolk or Suffolk coast. If you're weighing up a sauna of your own, browse our builds, and if you run a gym, padel club, hotel or glamping site, see how other venues are adding sauna to their business.