Atlantic Canada's only Nordic spa opens in Chance Harbour

On the edge of Saint John County, at the end of a narrow road dotted with cottages, a cove opens up onto the Bay of Fundy.

A sign and a few small buildings are the only indication that this is Atlantic Canada’s only Nordic spa. This rustic business is the Nature Spa Chance Harbour.

The spa was built four years ago by Michel Racine and Line Betournay, a couple from Quebec. They fell in love with the property when they first saw it in 2010.

“When you arrive at the end of the road you discover the ocean and beach, low tide, high tide. It’s spectacular,” Racine says.

“You need to walk a little bit into the beach and marsh area to discover what nature is hiding in there: falls, stream, salt marsh, hiking trails, forest, old logging roads.”

Racine and Betournay experienced popular thermotherapy spas in their home province. Those spas feature traditional Finnish saunas, hot pools and cold pools or waterfalls.

The idea is simple, heat a person’s inner core, cool it down by submerging in frigid water and repeat.

In 2010, the couple built a cabana and sauna on the beach for personal use and they eventually shared the facilities with friends and locals.

It wasn’t long before the couple met local tourism operators Dave Ryan and Wanda Hughes and together they realized the property could be turned into a business.

Ryan and Hughes now partner with the couple, taking care of the business when Racine and Betournay are back in Quebec or away travelling.

In 2011, a building with a washroom, change rooms and private space for massage and other spa services was built. Most recently, a wood-fired hot pool was laid into the forest floor.

Hughes says the business is only open on Saturdays throughout the winter from noon until 5 p.m. She says the spa has hosted work retreats, bachelorette parties, a monthly music show and an annual Polar Bear Dip on New Year’s Day.

“The things you can enjoy are the heat and the cold,” Hughes says.

“From the heat you go into the cold: the cold water of the Bay of Fundy or the pond that is part of a waterfall that is right beside the sauna and the hot tub.”

Ryan helps stoke the wood-fired sauna and hot tub and transports guests to the shoreline for a dip in the Fundy when the tide is out.

“Go in the sauna and get yourself just as hot as you can take it and then just go jump in the water,” says Ryan.

“And when you’re walking to the water you’re going to say, ‘This is cold, this is crazy, what am I doing?’ And when you jump in the water you’re going to be cold. But when you come out you’re going to say ‘I’m not cold anymore.’ And then go right back into the sauna.”

For Ryan, the business is more passion than work. He says he’s taken a dip in the Bay of Fundy every month for four years.

“It’s so relaxing,” Ryan says.

“Once you’ve done it, after you’ve done it, when you go home and go to bed, you’re going sleep like you’ve never slept before because you’re going to be so relaxed.”