This massive wellness park is opening in 2030 in Singapore – here’s what you need to know

Work on Singapore’s first large-scale wellness attraction in Marina South – a seven-storey facility slated to open in 2030 featuring thermal pools, water slides and saunas – will start in the third quarter of 2026.

Therme Singapore, which will sit next to Gardens by the Bay and Marina Barrage, will have more than 20 pools and water features, and over 70 wellness treatment rooms.

Ticket prices were not announced at its ground-breaking ceremony on June 19, but developer Therme Group Singapore said it aims to make the facility “accessible to all”.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, who spoke at the ceremony held at the IMBA Theatre within Gardens by the Bay, noted that Therme Singapore will strengthen the country’s position as a hub for tourism, wellness and urban innovation in Asia.

The region is projected to lead the world in travel and tourism growth over the next decade, driven by the rising affluence of travellers globally and growing demand from the region, she said.

“By developing distinctive, high-quality attractions and continually refreshing our tourism experiences, we can strengthen our appeal to the growing pool of travellers,” said Fu, who is also Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations.

Also present were Mah Bow Tan, a former minister for national development who is now chairman of Therme Group Asia and Therme Singapore, and former JTC Corporation chief executive Tan Boon Khai, who was appointed as chief executive of Therme Singapore in February.

Therme Singapore said in a press release that it is “designed to serve visitors from all walks of life”. It expects about two million visitors annually, with tourists and locals each making up half of the demographic.

The $1 billion project occupies over 720,000 sq ft of gross floor area, equivalent to over nine football fields, and is designed by DP Architects and Therme Group’s in-house architects.

Guests can visit three zones: the Play zone, with family-oriented attractions such as children’s pools and 18 water slides; the Relax zone, with thermal pools and therapeutic mineral baths; and the Restore zone, which has saunas, cold plunge pools and massage rooms.

Pool temperatures will be 32 deg C, while indoor temperatures will be kept at about 30 deg C to maintain a “stable tropical indoor environment”, said the developer.

More than 200,000 plants, including orchids and palms, will fill the space.

The facility sits within a new 4ha coastal park, which will be free for public access and connects with Marina Barrage.

Food and drink options will be available within the facility, and there are gathering spaces with sea views.

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Each visitor will be given a waterproof RFID wristband that doubles as a locker key and a cashless payment tool.

A robotic arm will bring portable lockers to visitors in the changing room to place their belongings before whisking them away for storage in a new space-saving locker system.

Therme Group’s large-scale well-being infrastructure draws inspiration from communal bathing and wellness traditions of various cultures, including Roman baths and Japanese onsen.

The group is known in Europe for its facility in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, and is expanding in North America and Asia.

Mah said Therme Singapore must be “distinctively Singaporean”, instead of an imported overseas concept.

Examples include treatments unique to the region, such as traditional Chinese medicine treatments and Javanese massages, Mah told ST ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony.

Customised packages and programmes for different groups, from heartlanders to families, including those with special needs, are also being considered, he said.

Therme Group founder and chief executive Robert Hanea noted that there is a growing focus in Singapore on not only lifespan, but living well for longer.

In this light, Therme wants to create everyday environments that make healthier living more natural, enjoyable and social, he said.

On June 19, Therme Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Technical Education and Republic Polytechnic to develop skills and provide employment opportunities for their graduates in the wellness sector.

Fu said wellness tourism is a key growth area in Singapore’s Tourism 2040 strategy, as it moves towards “high-value, experience-led tourism”.

She said she had initial reservations about the project, but later felt Therme Group was a “serious player” when she saw how it handled energy and hygiene processes during her visit to its Bucharest facility.

Fu added that as someone in her 60s with joint pains, she understood the value of having a wellness facility in a convenient location.

“Maybe between Parliament and my ministry, I can squeeze in an hour of soaking to just relieve my back pain,” quipped Fu.

All-in-one complex

To understand what Therme Singapore may look like, one can look to its counterpart in Bucharest.

The sprawling complex defies simple definition, as it is simultaneously a water park, wellness space and spa facility, as The Straits Times learnt on a trip in May hosted by the company.

Full-day access to the three zones within the 44,000 sq m facility starts at €38 (S$56) per ticket for adults, with other price packages differentiated by specific zones or time duration.

Other features, such as massages and treatments, are available at an additional cost, while food and drinks can be bought at eateries around the facility.

Therme Group wellness director Cosmin Ciric said visitors to its Bucharest facility typically spend €40 to €50 beyond the ticket price. This means a trip may cost over $100 in total.

The complex was bustling with activity – silver-haired seniors doing aqua exercises, a bridal party taking photos for the ’Gram, and couples waltzing in the water with cocktails in hand from the pool bars.

The first sight greeting visitors is an aquamarine main pool within a climate-controlled glass dome surrounded by palms. Swimsuit-clad guests soaked in the 33 deg C geothermal pool or waded their way to the outdoor pool via a revolving door to enjoy a warm contrast with the cool spring breeze.

The water is naturally extracted from a geothermal spring beneath the facility, cooled from its original 80 deg C. In Singapore, the “thermal pools” will be created by technology. Pool water within the facilities is purified through an oxidation process.

Smaller, cosier pools include a selenium and zinc mineral pool, which is said to slow down ageing, and a Dead Sea salt pool with grip bars to help users maintain stability in the highly buoyant liquid.

At another zone, children and adults alike played in the indoor wave pool, and queued for its 17 water slides – ranging from gentle chutes to high-speed thrill rides with sharp drops.

There are also spaces for those whose idea of a good time is peace and quiet, such as its three tranquil 45 deg C steam rooms, or its beds lit by infrared lamps and hydrotherapy beds with water jet massages.

At a wellness zone for those aged 14 or older, visitors sweated it out in saunas themed after various cultures, including a Himalayan sauna with walls of pink salt said to benefit the respiratory system.

The hosted visit took place during Therme Bucharest’s annual Herbarium Festival, which runs for two weeks in May and features various therapeutic treatments, and international sauna masters, or aufgussmeisters, conducting traditional sauna rituals.

Visitors flocked to sauna rooms to join these rituals, where the aufgussmeisters whirled around the heated space to show off their craft.

Mocked at the start

The wellness attraction’s current popularity is a far cry from when it first started in 2016.

Tropical environments were a foreign concept for the Eastern European country, whose residents were more familiar with forests, while spas were considered a luxury for the rich.

Some Romanian locals mocked them openly, likening aufgussmeisters twirling towels in their rituals with pizza tossers and car washers, telling them to “get a real job”, said Ciric.

It took some time to introduce their activities to the public “step by step”, such as by using a familiar Romanian scent like chamomile in sauna rituals to set them at ease.

Word of mouth gradually spread over the past decade about the attraction, which is about seven minutes’ drive from Bucharest’s airport.

Of its 1.7 million visitors a year, 70 per cent are locals, while the rest are foreigners from countries like the United Kingdom and Italy.

Romanian couple Omar and Alina Shamim visit the facility once every few months for a relaxing getaway. Sometimes, they take their five-year-old son along.

Omar, a 38-year-old doctor, said mostly middle-income individuals patronise the place as the prices are still considered steep to lower-income locals. But it is still within what he can afford.

The family tried going to the seaside and other indoor swimming pools, but Alina, a 39-year-old graphic designer, said they ultimately preferred the “exotic” environment in Therme.

On why they make the hour-long drive from home to Therme Bucharest, Alina said: “We wanted to get away from the noise, and just stay here and relax.”

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This article was originally published in The Straits Times.