Jonathermál Gyógy- és Élményfürdő

Jonathermál Gyógy- és Élményfürdő is a year-round thermal bath at Kiskunmajsa, in Bács-Kiskun county on Hungary's southern plain, with a motel and a campsite immediately beside it. According to the operator, the thermal water came to the surface in the 1960s as a by-product of hydrocarbon drilling that found no oil, and the wells stood capped for years until the local Jonathán agricultural co-operative built a bath around them; the site states that the bath opened officially on 20 August 1984, and that the name Jonathermál was later formed from Jonathán and thermál. The operator describes it as a three-generation family bath: medicinal pools and a 25-metre swimming pool in a timber-framed hall, an adventure pool that runs all year, and a summer aquapark of wave pool, slide park and children's pools, set in landscaped grounds of some 20 hectares with sports pitches. The site states that every pool in operation, along with the slides, the salt chamber, the Finnish sauna and the jacuzzi, is covered by a single bath ticket.

Thermal water

The operator states that the water rises from the ground at 72 °C as a sodium hydrogen carbonate thermal water, and that its heat is used to warm the bath and motel buildings before the water reaches the pools. The published analysis describes the source as ásványvízként elfogadható, nátriumhidrogénkarbonátos hévíz — a sodium hydrogen carbonate thermal water acceptable as a mineral water — and gives a total of 1,556.4 mg/l of dissolved constituents. The dominant components listed are hydrogen carbonate at 1,019.0 mg/l and sodium at 399.0 mg/l, followed by chloride at 60.0 mg/l, metasilicic acid at 48.8 mg/l, sulphate at 9.7 mg/l, potassium at 7.0 mg/l, fluoride at 1.9 mg/l and metaboric acid at 1.8 mg/l. The bath states that it has certified gyógyvíz pools, the Hungarian state designation of a water's composition and provenance. The operator states that the water is indicated for degenerative musculoskeletal changes, chronic inflammatory joint disease, soft-tissue rheumatism, states following surgery or fractures, gynaecological conditions and paralysis following a stroke, and lists contraindications including decompensated heart damage, persistent high blood pressure, feverish states and an overactive thyroid. Under a contract with the national health fund, the site states, several of its medical services can be used on a referral issued by a rheumatologist.

Pools

The timber-framed hall holds a 36 °C and a 38 °C medicinal pool, a 25-metre medicinal swimming pool with a taut water surface and its own lane, and a cold plunge pool. Outdoors, a 36 °C circular medicinal pool operates all year; according to the operator it dates from the first phase of construction in the 1980s. The adventure pool, which the site dates to 1 May 2001, has 400 m² of water surface and 14 experience elements, among them a hill slide, bubble beds, a water cave, a geyser, upwellings, massage jets, a wild-water channel, a whirlpool, a rock cascade and a water mushroom; the operator states that a heated hall section was added to it in February 2009 and that it also runs during the Friday and Saturday night bathing sessions. The summer aquapark adds a wave pool of 530 m² with waves of up to 80 cm, four experience elements and depths from 10 cm to 220 cm, and a slide park, which the site dates to the summer of 2004, with four giant slides: the 120-metre "anakonda", the 61-metre "hidrocső", the 44-metre "kamikaze" and the 41-metre "rafting". The wave pool was added to the aquapark in 2005 according to the operator's history page. A beach section opens an artificial lake with a sandy shore and natural water deepening from 0 to 3 metres, with reed-roofed parasols and inflatable aquapark elements. The site states that the bath hall was reconstructed in 2010, keeping the features of the original structure.

Sauna and wellness

The hall contains what the operator calls a sauna island, with a Finnish sauna, an aroma sauna and a steam bath alongside the cold plunge pool. The site states that the sauna island is included in the bath ticket while the infra sauna carries a separate charge, and that it may be used from 11:00 to 18:30 during the day and from 19:30 to 23:30 during night bathing. The salt chamber is lined with Parajd salt, which the operator gives as 96.6 per cent pure salt, and the site states that it forms a dry aerosol carrying 7 to 20 mg of active agent per cubic metre of air, acting on the mucous membranes of the airways and the smooth muscle of the bronchi. Other services listed include medicinal, refreshing and aroma massage, underwater high-pressure jet massage, massage in a combination bath tub, group underwater physiotherapy, aroma baths, a solarium, a jade-stone massage bed and a massage chair. A 16-bed rest room occupies the roof level of the medical building.

For children

Two children's pools operate in the summer season, with elements the operator lists as bubbling air, a cascade, water spouts, a water cannon, a water curtain, a water hedgehog, a tipping bucket and small slides; a sun sail is fitted above them. The paddling pool is given as 20 to 60 cm deep. Within the slide park a separate shallow area of 30 to 40 cm has a small slide and six experience elements. The grounds hold two playgrounds and, in the summer season, a playhouse with games and craft activities, and the site lists volleyball courts, a beach football pitch, badminton courts, a football pitch, giant chess and skittles.

Opening hours

The operator states that the bath, motel and campsite are open all year, including public holidays. The medicinal bath and the adventure pool are listed as open daily 9:00 to 19:00 year-round, wellness treatments and the medical department 9:00 to 18:30 year-round. The aquapark — wave pool, slide park, children's pools and paddling pool — is listed from 7 May to 16 September, 9:00 to 19:00. The beach lake is given as a summer section from 1 June, with the opening-hours page naming 20 August as its last day and the beach page stating that it runs to 31 August. Night bathing is on Fridays and Saturdays: 20:00 to 24:00 from 1 May to 31 August, and 19:30 to 24:00 from 1 September to 30 April.