Cold water therapy involves immersing the body in cold water for physical and mental health benefits. It aims to reduce muscle inflammation, improve circulation, boost mood, and enhance mental resilience by triggering the body's natural healing responses. Some do this by taking a cold shower or an ice bath, while others do natural cold water swims.

Online searches for cold water therapy have doubled this year, indicating a massive interest in this wellness trend in 2024. Park Holidays delved into the data to find out which people in the UK are most interested in the chilly trend, analysing demand across 30 of the UK’s most populated cities.

We also spoke to Counsellor and Psychotherapist Georgina Sturmer MBACP about the mental health and wellness benefits of going for an outdoor cold-water swim, as well as suggesting locations in the UK where people can get out of the city and enjoy a fresh cold-water swim surrounded by nature.

Plymouth residents are most interested in cold water therapy, with the highest monthly searches per capita.

People in Plymouth are showing keen interest in the cold-water therapy trend that has seen a huge increase in popularity over the last couple of years. Residents in Plymouth are searching for terms around cold-water therapy around 140 times a month (around 1,700 times a year). With Plymouth being on the coast, people who live close by have easy access to beaches, allowing them to enjoy a cold-water swim close to home.

However, if they want a weekend away to take up this wellness activity, Golden Sands Holiday Park in Devon is just a 5-minute drive/35-minute walk from Dawlish Beach, an excellent spot for wild swimming.

Edinburgh ranks second in the study for UK cities taking an interest in cold-water therapy, while Glasgow ranks third

People in the Scottish capital have also been interested in the growing wellness trend, with over 240 people in Edinburgh searching for terms around cold-water therapy every month. Scotland's residents, in general, have some of the highest search demand for cold-water therapy in the UK, as Glasgow ranks in third place with 3,000 searches per year.

For those in Scotland looking to find a weekend away to try out cold-water immersion, Ayrshire has some great beaches. Ayrshire is also home to its own women's cold-water immersion group, Wild Sea Women Ayrshire. If you want to visit and try dipping your toe in, you can stay at Park's resort in Turnberry, just a 2-hour drive from Edinburgh and a 1 hour 15-minute drive from Glasgow.

Counsellor and Psychotherapist Georgina Sturmer MBACP, tells the Park Holiday team; "Exercise generally has a positive impact on our wellbeing. There are all the well-documented physical benefits of moving our muscles, raising our heart rate and working up a sweat.

But we can also reap benefits for our mental health when we increase our activity levels. Being more active encourages us to tune into our bodies and feel more grounded and mindful. This can help us to improve our mood and reduce feelings of depression or anxiety.

“Stepping into cold water offers an instant sense of being alive. It encourages us to turn down the volume of our busy, buzzing minds, and to embrace the natural world around us. This helps us to feel more connected to our bodies and to the natural world around us. It offers us perspective on the everyday stresses and strains that have been bogging us down. This makes us feel better able to cope, and more resilient in our everyday lives.”

People should exercise caution when cold-water swimming as temperatures below 8c can cause hypothermia if in for longer than a minute at a time based on the exact temperature of the water.

To find out more about where you can invest in a holiday home or lodge for a weekend of wellness and potential cold-water exploration, get in touch!