Review: Thera Spa, Tustin

Amenities: 1.5/5 
Cruisiness: 4.5/5 
Price: $25

Pros: Clean, lots of parking, saunas are a good temperature
Cons: Small, limited towels, warm and cold pool temperature, 2-hour limit, only very basic spa features.

Apparently this spa has been around for years, but somehow I'd never even heard of it until relatively recently when I saw several people posting about it. I looked into it and decided to check it out.

It's located in a strip mall in Tustin, just off the 5 freeway. It's an interesting little mall, with Indian, Japanese, Jewish, and Korean businesses.

I went in and paid my $25, and was told "2 hour limit!" which is kind of annoying. There are also several signs reiterating the two hour limit. I was also given a small towel and a bath towel, and a padlock with a key. Instead of lockers with the locks built in, you had to use the padlock to lock the gym-style lockers.

The locker room is not large and everything is in one area... there are a couple of sinks, lockers, and a TV with two chairs. (A sign reads that shorts must be worn in the chairs... despite the fact that you're not issued shorts.) There's a door to the restroom, the door to the massage area, and the door to the wet area. Also a water cooler with those cone-shaped cups. There's also a sign warning that lewd conduct is illegal in the city of Tustin. Just so you know.

Entering the wet area, there's a shower stall like right inside the door and to the left, with three other shower stalls beyond it. Beyond that is a wall with 3 or 4 seated showers. To the right as you enter is the hot pool, then beyond that is a few chairs and lounges, then the warm pool. In the far corner is the sauna and steam room, and between the steam room and the seated showers are the cold pool and the scrub area. And that's the whole spa. I was kind of disappointed that there was no sleeping area, but I guess with a two hour limit there's not much point.

The "hot" pool is a temperature that I'd compare to "warm" pools at most other spas. It was a fine temperature. At most places that have both hot and warm pools, the hot pool is too hot for me to stay in very long, but this was comfortable. The jets are controlled by a timer dial on the wall. The "warm" and "cold" pool were virtually the same temperature. Not warm or cold, pretty much just ambient temperature. They were a nice cooldown after the saunas. They reminded me of the lukewarm bubbly pool at Lion's, except they weren't bubbly, and there was no step to sit on. I should also note that the "cold" pool gives you a direct view of the scrub area, if that's your thing. (although it might be kinda rude to just sit there and watch)

The dry sauna and steam room were both SMALL... like they're both basically full with 6 people in them. The dry sauna could use some work... the wood could definitely use some sanding or replacing. The temperature was a good temperature though. And actually the steam room temperature was also pretty good... both warm enough that I could sit and enjoy for a while without feeling like I was going to pass out after a couple of minutes. Also, the sauna door would stick. I'd have to apply a bit of force to get it to open. Both the sauna and the steam room have glass doors that face the wet area, and the steam room also has a window that faces the cold pool and the scrub area.

The crowd was a very diverse group; ages ranged from the 20s-60s and White, Black, Latino and Asian. But I would guess that at least 90% are there to play. Like seriously, even more cruisy than Wilshire Spa. Because of the layout, the steam and sauna are the only places where one can play, and they're both fairly visible from the outside. That said, there were only a couple of customers that I felt might have had an issue with it, and I honestly, without going into detail, I don't think the scrubber really cares about what's going on. (One day I went, the scrubber was the only one working in the men's area; another day, there was another guy there too cleaning and refilling soap, etc; but I rarely saw him in there) So basically it was really easy to avoid getting caught by staff, if it's even an issue with them there. You just gotta make sure not to offend the wrong customer.

I went two different days from 4:30-6:30... one day it was pretty busy when I arrived but had died down a lot by 6:00; the other day it stayed busy the whole time. Also, they close at 8:00pm, which is kind of early.

It's not a great spa, but it's fairly clean (other than the dry sauna that could use fixing up) and lots of guys looking to play. You could do worse.

Thera Health Spa
650 El Camino Real 
Tustin, CA 92780