Entry No. 29 — the Providence file — filed under: hydrotherapy
The Bodhi Spa
A hydrotherapy circuit run out of a house on lower Thames Street, done in strict order: 98-degree mineral pool, eucalyptus steam, 55-degree cold plunge, sauna at up to 190 (or a 145-degree infrared option), plunge again, then a 104-degree finishing pool. The full loop takes two and a half hours, costs $100, and a whisper policy holds the whole way through — the cold plunge between every heat step is the point, and the staff will tell you so. It runs 8am to 9pm every day, with an 8pm 'express' version that compresses the circuit into an hour for $65. The Newport original has since spawned Providence and Norwood locations, but the Thames Street house is the mothership.
→ Three at a time, never the same twice — explore weird Providence
The story
The Bodhi Spa is the work of two sisters, Harmony Oschefski and Cedar Hwang. Harmony was born in Rhode Island and raised in Nova Scotia, where sauna-and-cold-plunge was a household routine rather than a wellness trend; she spent years of travel hunting for spas that felt like home, then built one. Cedar also grew up in Nova Scotia before moving to Newport, pulled by ancestral family ties to the coast; she started sailing at sixteen and went on to captain Heritage, a classic America's Cup yacht. The European hydrotherapy tradition they landed on is the whole architecture of the place, down to the registered tagline: heat up, cool down, relax, repeat.
The place is a circuit, and the order is not a suggestion. You start in the Bodhi Glow pool at 98 degrees, loaded with Mediterranean sea salt, potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate and bicarbonate; then eucalyptus steam, a rinsing shower, and the 55-degree cold plunge. Then a sauna — traditional at 165 to 190, or infrared at 145 — shower, plunge again, and into the Bodhi Restore pool at 104, which swaps in Himalayan salts, calcium chloride and lithium carbonate for muscle recovery. One more shower, one more plunge, then the relaxation room. The mineral blends come through a partnership with Medicine Springs, which exists to reproduce hot-springs chemistry indoors.
Newport noticed early. Its own press wall opens with a January 2015 Haute Living piece and a November 2015 Rhode Island Monthly write-up, picks up Goop in 2017, lands in RI Monthly's 2019 '100 Things to Do in Rhode Island Before You Die,' and collects an AIA Rhode Island design award in 2022. Providence and Norwood locations followed, and Providence sells a Sauna and Cold Plunge Suite that Newport does not. The Thames Street original is still the one people mean.
What it's like
Arrive fifteen minutes early; late arrivals lose circuit time, not money. Swimwear is required throughout, and you shower thoroughly with soap before you get in — that's state health code, not fussiness. Robes, towels, sandals, a private locker and a private shower with amenities are all included, so you can turn up with a swimsuit and nothing else. Phones go on silent or into the locker. The whisper policy is real and staff enforce it gently, as is the insistence that you take the cold plunge between every heat step rather than treating it as optional garnish. Two and a half hours sounds long until you're three rounds deep and stalling in the 104-degree pool.
The move: Reserve tonight's 8pm Water Journey Express ($65 each), whisper your way through the hot-cold circuit in an hour, then walk lower Thames for a late bite while your nervous system is still somewhere offshore.
📍 Before you go Book ahead online; 24-hour cancellation policy. Whisper-only inside, and the circuit is off-limits if you're pregnant. Full Water Journey is 2.5 hours ($100); the nightly 8pm express is 60 minutes ($65). Open 8am-9pm daily; it's at the quieter lower end of Thames, about 40 minutes from Providence.
- 📍 Newport
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Indoor or outdoor
Where: 654 Thames St, Newport, RI 02840
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Purgatory Chasm (Middletown) — Two miles away above the west end of Second Beach: a fifty-foot puddingstone cleft with a footbridge across the top, free and unstaffed — the cold-shock version of the cold plunge, done outdoors and for nothing.
- Fort Wetherill State Park — A little over two miles across the Newport Bridge in Jamestown, where graffitied 1900s gun batteries sit on hundred-foot granite cliffs; bring a real flashlight, then let the 104-degree pool undo the walk.
More weird in Providence
Good to know
How long is it and what does it cost?
The full Water Journey is $100 for two and a half hours. The Water Journey Express compresses the same circuit into 60 minutes for $65 and runs once a day, at 8pm. The spa is open 8am to 9pm, seven days a week.
How do I get there from Providence?
It's a drive of roughly 40 minutes to 654 Thames Street, at the quieter lower end of Thames well past the wharf crowds. Book ahead online — the circuit has a fixed capacity and the 8pm express in particular goes.
Is anyone not allowed to do it?
Guests must be 16 or over, and sixteen-year-olds need an adult with them. The Water Journey is off-limits if you are pregnant or think you might be — that restriction is absolute, not a waiver situation.
What happens if I have to cancel?
Twenty-four hours' notice or it costs you: cancelling inside 24 hours is charged at 50 percent, and a no-show is charged in full. Gratuity isn't built into the price; 15 to 20 percent is the house norm.
Can I bring food, or a drink for after?
No outside food, beverages or alcohol, except at private events, which can include in-house options. Plan on eating afterward — lower Thames has places within walking distance, and you will want them.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · rimonthly.com
last checked: 2026-08-25