“WHEN you’re in a sauna, you just stop thinking,” ex-Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank tells me.
The Bestival co-founder is brimming with enthusiasm having just opened the UK’s first-ever “floating sauna” on the Isle of Wight – an idea inspired by a recent holiday to Finland.
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Bobbing on a small lake in the middle of amusement park Tapnell Farm, Slomo sauna features two wood-fired Nordic saunas, an ice-cold plunge tank and an outdoor lounge area framing a cosy fire pit.
Add Himalayan salt and rose body scrubs into the mix as well as thermal massages, it’s safe to say that Slomo is a little different from the former techno DJ’s usual ventures.
But it’s part of his wider plan to introduce saunas all over the island for tourists and holidaymakers.
“Ten years ago, there were very few attractions on the Isle of Wight that appealed to younger families.” But over the last decade, Rob da Bank – who has been visiting the popular holiday destination since the 1980s – has watched the landscape here completely change.
His family loved it so much that they even ended up moving to the island 12 years ago.
“It’s an incredible place to live,” he gushes. And Tapnell Farm, he says, is a “mini world for families” thanks to undercover adventure barns, an on-site aqua park, axe-throwing, a football golf course – and now his floating sauna, where holidaymakers can properly unwind in nature.
The activities aren’t the only reason to visit, though. The amusement park is also home to The Cow Restaurant & Bar, which Rob describes as one of the best burger joints on the Isle of Wight.
As well as classic beef patties served with simple additions of lettuce, burger sauce & gherkins (£16), the menu features more unusual burgers like the Matador crammed with “Mexicana cheese”, confit chorizo, chorizo mayonnaise and jalapenos as well as dirty, loaded fried and juicy steaks cooked the way you like.
For those who prefer seafood, another of Rob’s favourite spots is the Smoking Lobster, (there are three locations on the island), which serves “pan-Asian sushi with a coastal twist”.
Then for families, there’s Salty’s Pizza in the Western town of Yarmouth, which serves classic pizzas like the margherita and Americana as well as simple pasta dishes and salads.
But the best thing about the Isle of Wight is that when it comes to having fun, you really don’t need to spend a penny.
Families who love the great outdoors are quite simply spoiled for choice, with the Needles being one of Rob’s favourite places to take his four sons.
The three distinctive chalk stacks, just off the western coast of the island, have been owned by the National Trust since 1975. Make sure to visit the Needles Old Battery, a former defence site in the Victorian times, while you’re here. It’s the perfect place to for a postcard snap.
On the same side of the island, the shores of Alum Bay and Freshwater Bay are two more of Rob’s recommendations for nature-loving holidaymakers. Freshwater Bay is just over a 10-minute drive from the Needles Old Battery and is home to the Blacksmith’s Arms – “one of the best food places on the island” which also serves local and national ales.
A roast dinner here will cost you as little as £12 for a small plate or £16.50 for a large, piled high with meat, veg, yorkies and gravy.
If you’ve never tried wild swimming, here is the place to give it a go. Newton Creek, north of Freshwater Bay which is “a very beautiful place with seals and wildlife”, Rob says.
And if that’s not enough free- fun families can further explore the island’s sweeping landscapes on a DJ-approved hike. Among Rob’s favourites is the seven-mile Tennyson Down trail which offers impressive views of the Needles and over the English channel – “it is a good family walk because it’s not too steep”.
Then there’s the scenic 4.6 mile ‘monk and the merchant walk’ which takes you past the Pepperpot, known more formally as St Catherine’s Oratory. Believed to be a former lighthouse, the brick tower was given its nickname due to its pepper-pot-like shape.
When it comes to accommodation, the Windmill Campersite in the centre of the island is, in Rob’s words, “the best campsite in the world”.
Guests can sleep in a renovated 1965 Falklands helicopter with an in tact control panel that can now be used to store a bottle of bubbly and play music. Or there’s an old submarine which now features two double beds, a single bunk bed and a kitchen – you may recognise the vessel from a 1999 James Bond film, The World is Not Enough.
Over the past decade, the Isle of Wight has “definitely had a bit of a renaissance”, Rob says.
And with a short ferry ride costing from less than £30pp from Portsmouth, this small island has all the charm of a far-flung destination – but without the steep price tag.
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