Wildwood Sauna is a mobile, wood-fired sauna set up on the lakeside at Steamers Beach, Te Anau, on the edge of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland. Sessions are 60 minutes long and include three 15-minute rounds, each starting with a gentle aufguss, a steam ritual. Guests can choose a social session with up to 12 people, a women's session, or a private session for the whole sauna. Five-session and ten-session passes are available. The website asks guests to bring two towels, water and footwear, and to avoid heavy meals for at least two hours before. Metal jewellery should be removed. There are no changing rooms nearby, so guests arrive in their togs, and the nearest toilets are a few hundred metres away at Ivon Wilson Park. Scented oils and soft music may be used, with consent. The sauna is open to all, including first-timers.
Customers describe a wonderful first visit, with the host putting them at ease and talking them through each stage. One said the Fiordland backdrop was perfect in both fog and sun, and another enjoyed the sauna twice. Others praise the lake dips and the sustainably built sauna as a fine addition to the town. Our pick in Te Anau for a lakeside sauna with a steam ritual, whatever the weather.