Hot Floats!

Spa to go!

Floater’s Blog: Pool Date, December 8th 2025

I have one regular visitor who is always complaining about the water temperature in the pool at the Villa. Then again, they complain about the water temperature almost everywhere so I guess I shouldn’t feel so special. I even installed a little solar water circulation warming loop, to help create a more tepid swimming and floating environment in the cooler months, for those who can’t plunge in quickly but prefer to torture themselves through a slow wade in process.

Anyway, one day last year when I knew they were coming over for an afternoon float I did a little prep work to accommodate their temperature sensitivity issue. I have a fair variety of floats, so I usually offer up a full lounger style float where none of your body has to be submerged in water (ugh, so prima dona) but on this day I prefilled a different float which has a solid seat base instead of mesh in which you can actually warm any water in the cockpit with some extended sun exposure. It is like a mini hot tub and yet traditional float at the same time. Problem solved.

We have joked about this many times since and just the other day while pursuing the glories of randomness on my handheld device I came upon a grand version of this very same float technique.

Lo and behold upon further research there are plenty of options out there for those who require or just want a ‘Hot Tub Float.’ None of these options are going to fit in your average swimming pool but I know I will be trying out one of these fabulous floats the next time my travels take me to a region providing such an experience.

The company leading the way is HotTug based in Netherlands who use the tag line, ‘unexpected freedom’.

If you want to check out their website, use the link provided above so you don’t end up at the Rub’n’Tug.nl website which is a whole different form of pleasure and has the tagline, “unexpected STD.”

Here at beerfloat.calm we like their concept (the former, that is) so much that we have added them to our ‘amigolinks’ list of like-minded floaters.

The inventor, Frank de Bruijn, put his first prototype in the water way back in 2012 as a personal project but after it became obvious, he was onto something, production was started and they have been going strong ever since with multiple franchises in Europe and North America.

The concept is just what you would expect, a hot tub and a boat, at the same time and Frank’s design is marvelous. The hot tub is heated by a wood fire stove which sits directly in the tub, and you can even touch the stove under water because the water cools the stainless steel at the same time the stove heats the water. The boat is powered by an electric motor with battery power for many hours. One panel provides all the controls for both hot tub and motor with a tiller for rudder control.

The wide upper rim or gunwale (pronounced gunnel) around the entire boat allows for seating in case you are finding the tub temperature too hot and there are open top ice buckets on both sides for beverage cooling, plus a supply of wood is provided. Additionally, there is a rear mounted ladder for getting back in the Tug after a swim in whatever body of water your journey has taken you. The floating tub fits up to eight people, and they provide piloting lessons or a sober captain if everyone in your group cares to imbibe.  

A second builder, Hot Tub Boats from Seattle in Washington, U.S.A., also supply a more typical six-seater craft with hot tub seating, a flat teak deck, an electric heater and it’s driven by a joystick control.

With the success of HotTug and Hot Tub Boats there is now another manufacturer based out of the renowned watery state of Montana in the U.S.A., Spacruzzi. Their slick propane heated product is geared for both the rental market and personal orders with tubbing space for up to six.

After a little scanning of the web, I was also able to track down some larger boats with hot tubs for bigger groups but now we are really drifting away from the beerfloat experience.

DIY folks have also taken it upon themselves to create personal water craft with hot tub seating.

Well done people!

You can enjoy a hot tub. You can enjoy a float. You can enjoy a hot tub in a float. What’s your pleasure?

I think I’m gonna hit the pool in my vinyl tube!

Corliss

beer float.calm = beerfloat.net not beerfloat.com