Coney Island Bathhouse: Mermaid Spa Ice Cave and Platza

Mermaid Spa at 3703 Mermaid Avenue does not take walk-ins: every visit is booked in advance, lasts four hours, and costs $65 for adults or $55 for guests 65 and older. If your bathhouse near me search lands you in Coney Island, this is the Russian banya that rewards planning, with three steam rooms, a Turkish bath, pools chilled with chopped ice and a room the owners call the Ice Cave, all a few blocks from the beach.

The heart of the place is its three Russian steam rooms. According to the spa's own description, each is heated by a stove filled with granite rocks, and the temperature usually stays at or below 80 degrees Celsius, about 180 Fahrenheit. That is gentler than the scorching numbers some banyas advertise, and it is deliberate: the wet heat is meant to be sat in for a while, not survived in a 90-second dash.

Alongside the steam rooms you will find a dry sauna for people who prefer a Finnish-style burn, a Turkish bath with lower, humid heat, a circular Jacuzzi, and two tile pools that are machine-fed with chopped ice. The Ice Cave is the final stop for the brave, a cold room designed to snap your body back after the hottest round.

Everything runs on reservations, and the slot is fixed at four hours. If there is room, you can extend by $10 per person per extra hour, but arriving late does not stretch your window. A February 2026 review on Tripadvisor praised the borscht and the ice room while warning that the four-hour limit is strictly enforced, so treat your start time like a train departure.

Hours run from 10 am to 11 pm, a schedule the spa extended in 2024. An evening slot starting at 7 pm runs right up to closing, while a 10 am booking leaves the whole afternoon free for the beach. Memberships exist for regulars, starting at $960 for 26 visits over six months, but first-timers should simply book a single session and see how the heat sits with them.

The signature add-on is the platza, a treatment in which an attendant beats, brushes and fans you with a bundle of oak or birch leaves called a venik while you lie on the upper bench of a steam room. Mermaid Spa lists it at $60. It sounds like a stunt, but the effect is closer to a deep massage driven by heat, and the leaves leave the room smelling like a forest after rain.

Book the platza for your second hour rather than the first, once your body has adjusted to the steam. Afterward, go straight to the ice pool. The contrast is the whole point, and the staff will tell you as much if you hesitate at the edge. Massage is offered separately by an independent contractor and is not covered by gift certificates.

The house rules are stricter than at many New York spas, and they are posted for a reason. Children shorter than 62 inches are not allowed. Outside food, drinks and alcohol are banned, and visibly intoxicated guests are removed without a refund. Speakerphone calls are forbidden, and ringers must be off. Creams and scrubs cannot be used in the saunas, because they gum up the benches and the air.

Footwear is the one that trips people up. Barefoot walking is prohibited, and anti-slip footwear is required on the wet floors. If you forget yours, flip-flops are sold at reception. Pack a swimsuit, since this is a mixed facility, and bring a refillable bottle so you are not buying drinks just to stay hydrated.

The restaurant is half the reason regulars come. The spa quotes a line from press coverage about eating beef stroganoff or pickled herring in your bathing suit, and that is exactly the scene: tables of friends in robes and swimsuits, plates of herring and dumplings, glasses of beer, and Russian vodka on the menu for anyone whose steam sessions are already done.

The bar also pours fresh juices for anyone who wants to stay clear-headed. A sensible order is borscht and black bread between rounds, then something heavier only at the end. The New York Times and The New Yorker have both written about the place, and owners Zina and Boris Kotlyar and Joseph Feldsherov have kept the menu firmly in the Brighton Beach tradition.

The honest drawback is location. There is no subway at the door, and the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue terminal is a long walk east, so most people arrive by bus, car or rideshare. If you live in upper Manhattan, the journey can eat as much time as the visit. For those riders, Wall Street Bath and Spa 88 on Fulton Street offers a Russian-style circuit next to a major subway hub, with no booking needed for day passes.

For anyone already in south Brooklyn, though, Mermaid Spa is hard to beat. The timed reservation means the rooms never feel overrun the way walk-in banyas can on a Saturday, and the ice-fed pools are colder than most. Skip the extra paid hour unless you are eating a full meal, because four hours is plenty for three or four good rounds.

Brooklyn Magazine noted that the spa sits about five minutes on foot from the beach. In mid-October the sand is nearly empty and the boardwalk turns quiet, which makes an easy cool-down walk toward the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump. By late afternoon the light over the water turns soft and pink, and the wind off the Atlantic finishes what the Ice Cave started.

Sea Gate, the gated community at the western tip of the peninsula, begins just past the spa and is private, so turn east rather than west when you leave. Mermaid Avenue itself is lined with bakeries and small markets if you want something sweet for the ride home.

Address: 3703 Mermaid Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224, in Coney Island near Sea Gate. Hours: 10 am to 11 pm, by booked appointment only. Admission: $65 adults, $55 seniors 65 and older, four-hour visit, extra hours $10 when available. Platza: $60. Bring a swimsuit and non-slip sandals. Children under 62 inches are not admitted. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to time your bus or a beach walk after your slot.