Newport Sauna
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Newport Sauna operates in Middletown, immediately north of Newport proper, serving one of the most visited stretches of coastline in New England.
Newport’s relationship with water is total. The town built its identity first on colonial shipping, then on the Gilded Age summer colony whose mansions still line Bellevue Avenue, and now on sailing — it hosted the America’s Cup for over fifty years. Middletown sits alongside it with the better beaches: Second and Third Beach face Sakonnet and the Atlantic respectively.
A sauna in this setting has the cold half of the circuit provided. Rhode Island’s ocean water runs below 55°F for much of the year, warming only briefly in late summer.
The traditional Finnish practice is worth restating because so many American facilities depart from it: high dry heat, water thrown on hot stones to produce löyly, then cold immersion, then rest, repeated several times. The stone mass in the heater is what makes the difference between a room that produces proper steam and one that merely hisses.
Newport in summer is extremely busy and parking is difficult. Book ahead and allow time, particularly between June and September.