VOYA Seaweed Baths

Seaweed bathing has been part of life on the Sligo coast since the 19th century, when people would gather the great brown kelp thrown up by Atlantic storms and steep themselves in its mineral-rich water. VOYA (whose name plays on the word "voyage") has formalised this tradition into one of Ireland's most distinctive wellness experiences, operating from a purpose-built bathhouse on Strandhill beach with views of the breaking surf from the bath itself.

Each session is a private room with a cast-iron bath filled with very hot seawater and a full load of freshly harvested bladderwrack seaweed. The seaweed releases natural oils and minerals as it steeps. A steam cabinet is also available in each room. Sessions run for 45 minutes and the effect — particularly after a cold, windy Sligo afternoon — is genuinely restorative. The combination of heat, iodine and the sound of the Atlantic outside is hard to replicate anywhere else.

Strandhill is one of Ireland's best surf beaches and the village (café, restaurants, pubs within walking distance of the bathhouse) is worth spending time in. Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery is 5 km away and Knocknarea (with Queen Maeve's Cairn at the summit) overlooks the beach from the south. VOYA seaweed products — oils, scrubs, bath soaks — are also sold in the bathhouse shop.