Ocean Wave

Ocean Wave stands in Norddeich, part of the town of Norden on the East Frisian coast, and is run by Wirtschaftsbetriebe der Stadt Norden GmbH. The water is not thermal or drilled brine but genuine sea water: the operator calls the building an "Erlebnisbad Ocean Wave in Norddeich mit original Meerwasser", describes the wave pool as a "Meerwasser-Wellenbecken" and says the sauna deck's relaxation pool is "gefüllt mit Original Nordseewasser". The whole house is dressed as a ship, with bathers addressed as passengers and the bathing hall called the Badedeck.

The bathing level centres on the wave pool, which the operator says is kept at about 29 degrees; waves run for seven minutes on every full hour and reach up to 80 centimetres. Next to it lies a 300-square-metre Erlebnisbecken with a grotto, a waterfall, a current channel and a bubbling basin, plus a "Hexenkessel" from which underwater windows look into the pool below the surface. A separate Sprudelbecken is held at 32°C, the large toddlers' paddling pool also at 32°C, and the tropical steam bath at 42°C. Underwater massage jets and a shoulder-shower add to the set. Above the hall rises a lighthouse with a spiral staircase and portholes; from its top the slide runs 101 metres down into a landing pool.

The sauna deck covers 750 square metres on two levels and is split into an indoor part (binnen) and a garden part (buten). Indoors the operator lists an Aroma-Sauna at 80°C with 25% humidity, a Heizkessel at 80-90°C with 20% humidity, a Klima-Sauna at 50-60°C with 40% humidity and a Dampfkessel at 45°C with 100% humidity, around the sea-water relaxation pool, together with a bubbling pool with an outswim channel, a 20°C plunge pool, warm benches with foot basins, quiet rooms and a sun terrace. In the sauna garden two boathouses hold a green Finnish log sauna at 80°C with 10% humidity and a red one at 90°C with under 10% humidity; a large Panoramasauna runs at 80-90°C with 20% humidity and its two stoves are heated to 90°C during the infusion ceremonies. A cold-water installation, a plunge pool and a heated outdoor pool with massage jets and whirl seats complete the garden.

Regular hours for the Badedeck are Monday to Friday 10:00-21:00 (last admission 20:00) and Saturday and Sunday 10:00-20:00 (last admission 19:00); the Saunadeck runs Monday to Friday 10:00-22:00 and at weekends 10:00-21:00. On Lower Saxony public holidays the bath closes earlier, and it is shut on 24, 25 and 26 December. Wednesday is women-only sauna day except on holidays and New Year. Residents of the town of Norden get reduced admission during the winter tariff; the operator warns that admission may be stopped when the house is full.