Soaking in a Fresh Seaweed Bath

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By Veronica Matheson

SHAMROCKS may bring good luck to the Irish, but seaweed is preferred by trendy spa-goers across Ireland.

And we’re not talking powdered seaweed, we’re talking freshly harvested organic seaweed that is gathered from the seashore at low tide, and dropped into a bath of piping hot seawater.

Naturally the seawater and the seaweed are treated for impurities before spa-goers sink into this unusual mix. And relax they do, big-time.

Ironically this new bathing trend is really centuries old, particularly in the west of Ireland where seaweed baths have always been considered a top way to ease rheumatic and arthritic pain and a great way to calm dry skin conditions.

In Newcastle, where The Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea (as in Percy French’s song), Dermot Devine and his partner Claire Dickinson, are making waves with seaweed.

Their Soak Day Spa is a star on County Down’s pampering scene and a winner of a Northern Ireland innovative tourism award just two years after opening.

“We soaked in seaweed baths on holidays over on the West of Ireland, and knew these natural baths had to be a success on the east coast where spa-goers are always on the hunt for something really new. And our hunch proved right,” says Dermot.

Soak Seaweed Baths sits in an elegant three storey Victorian terrace facing the sandy beach in Newcastle, one of Northern Ireland’s top holiday spots. The building has been remodeled inside to create private treatment rooms as well as relaxation areas and a café.

When I visit one regular customer is raving about the benefits of seaweed baths.

“Ok, it may feel a little slimy when you first get into the bath, but that is just the nutrients and oils escaping from the seaweed and mixing with the hot seawater in the bath. In no time the water is turning a soft green, and feeling so soft and velvety, and my skin is feeling the same way.

After a 40-minute soak I feel like a new woman. My hair also benefits as seaweed is an amazing hair conditioner. I’d swear the seaweed has anti-wrinkle benefits, too, but that’s for others to judge.”

I saw this woman head off for her indulgent soak, and when I saw her after the treatment, I barely recognized her. Truly, she looked so relaxed, even younger.

Dermot, one of the partners in Soak, has a license to hand-harvest seaweed and seawater from the seashore for a 60 mile stretch along Newcastle’s coastline. He stores the daily harvest in tanks for up to 24 hours, saying the fresher the ingredients, the better the results on clients.

Soak clients spend 10 minutes in an individual wooden steam cabinet before stepping into a seaweed bath so that the minerals, vitamins and natural oils from the seaweed is rapidly absorbed into their skin.

Local farmers also benefit from the soakers as the used seaweed – every individual bath has freshly harvested seaweed – is taken off to fertilize local crops.

Newcastle has long been a pampering destination with the Slieve Donard Hotel and Spa, a grand railway hotel of yesteryear, having had a multi-million pound refit in recent years. Right next door to one of Ireland’s most famous golf courses, The Royal County Down, Slieve Donard's celebrity guests have included Charlie Chaplin, Archbishop Tutu, Michael Jordan, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Slieve Donard’s spa complex has large indoor pools and exercise rooms looking out to the mountains of Mourne _ currently snow capped, so that the stunning vista could be mistaken for somewhere in the Austrian Alps.

Women heading for spa treatments cross a covered glass bridge to a warm golden candlelit area, while male spa-goers also have a large designated area with a specially designed treatment menu.

Spa Files

Getting there: Etihad flies from Australia to Dublin via Abu Dhabi, with connections across Ireland by air, rail or hire car.

Etiquette: Those taking a seaweed soak are asked to place “used” seaweed in a bucket provided in their private bathroom before removing the bath plug.

More: www.soakgroup.co.ie
www.slievedonardhotel.co.ie
www.discoverireland.com.au