Peninsula Hot Springs is the Mornington Peninsula’s OG hot springs. It’s like a wonderland of geothermal baths – more than 70 baths set over 42 acres (i.e. HUGE). Basically, take a compass to navigate the maze of springs and saunas and bushland and hill tracks, because it’s like a suburb in itself – with a restaurant, two cafés and a coffee hut, sun lounges and hammocks, relaxation domes, a little food farm, areas where you cover yourself in clay, luxe glamping (more on that later)… you name it, they have it. The vastness of Peninsula Hot Springs means that, despite the popularity of this place, you won’t feel cramped.
There are shared thermal mineral pools, wet and dry saunas, a hydrotherapy pool, Turkish and Moroccan hammams and the frequently Instagrammed hilltop pool, which boasts 360-degree views over the farmlands of Fingal.
The tranquil Spa Dreaming Centre also offers communal bathing in a variety of thermal pools, including a barrel bath, grotto pool and an indoor pool that overlooks the lake. Pampering options at the in-house spa include massages, facials and body treatments. You can also book private bathing pavilions, and there are yoga classes, body clay workshops and mindful walks.
Decades after opening, the Hot Springs continue to expand – some of the more recent additions include the ice cave and deep-freeze chamber, a food garden that services the onsite café and restaurant, and there are always new pools in the works.
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We booked in for a Fire & Ice experience (sauna followed by ice bath, repeat) – a good idea if you’re looking to push yourself outside your comfort zone. But maybe skip that part if you’re just here for a day of pure relaxation. You're guided through a 45-minute workshop, which takes you between the site’s 60-degree hot sauna, its ice cave (a very cold -17), 4-degree cold plunge pool and geothermal hot spring, which sits at a balmy 36 degrees. Your heart rate will rise and fall, you’ll sweat, you’ll shiver, but you’ll also walk out of it with a profound respect for your body and its limits (forget bungee jumping – this is what thrill-seekers should be doing).
Adults can bathe at Peninsula Hot Springs from $55 (with concessions from $45 and kids aged 3-15 from $40) – though if you want to experience all-of-site bathing, you’re looking at $130.
If you want to stretch the bathing beyond a single day like we did, Peninsula Hot Springs also offers luxe overnight glamping. This place puts the "glam" in glamping – think heating as well as heated terrazzo flooring, a walk-in wardrobe and exquisite décor. Whatever they saved by erecting tents instead of building the accommodation from scratch, the reinvested in the tents' interiors. Better yet – when all the day bathers head home for the evening, you get the place to yourself, with 24-hour access to hot springs by starlight (with a drink in hand, if you want), and dinner and breakfast at the lovely restaurant. How good.
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