It's bathtime! Castro Baths aims to open June 2025

San Francisco is long overdue for a new bathhouse.

Jul 05, 2024

San Francisco and the broader Bay Area have one of the highest concentrations of LGBTQIA+ folks in the world. We have explicit legislation creating a favorable business environment (Supervisor Mandelman, bless 🙏). If there was ever a time to revive our city’s once burgeoning bathhouse culture–it’s now.

Castro Baths is hustling to open our doors in time for Pride 2025 and you’re invited!

Flyers in the Castro call for a new bathhouse; the original SF Chronicle article from 1985.

Our Vision

An institution that lives up to San Francisco’s history & reputation as a queer capital, known worldwide for dusk-to-dawn connection, top-tier bathhouse facilities, and immaculate vibes.

Last summer, we visited bathhouses around the world: Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Istanbul, New York, Los Angeles, London, and more. (If Lorraine at the IRS is reading this - this was an absolutely necessary business expense!)

Repeatedly, we were asked: “I’m going to San Francisco next month - which bathhouses should I visit?” Sheepishly, a tad embarrassed - we explained that there isn’t really a gay bathhouse scene in San Francisco. “Your best bet is probably in Berkeley.”

While there are a handful of local traditional bathhouses we frequent (shoutout to the newest addition: Alchemy Springs) - gay bathhouse culture in San Francisco never recovered after the AIDS crisis.

Closing the baths in 1984 was like shutting off the internet today. Our lines of communication in the war on AIDS were severed here in this city.

Harry Breaux, “The bathhouse battle of 1984”

Today, gay bathhouses are the ultimate third space. Literal watering holes for community; a space to connect with others; facilities to connect with yourself.

Breaux says it well: “Often times the encounters were just that, encounters, but once in a while, in an hour or an evening, a connection would occur that would change me.”

Our Mission

Queer community through sauna, space, and sound.

At the end of the day, our goal is simple: you feel better when you leave.

We want to be a respite from your day-to-day. Somewhere you can shed the trappings and weight of life and, at least for a bit, unplug.

A place to let your hair down, take your wig off (please, no make up in the baths), and laugh about last night’s shenanigans. Somewhere you feel comfortable going by yourself, with a new mate you met “on the apps”, or a proper gaggle where a few of you used to date but now you’re “all just friends”.

A black-and-white photo of a group of people relaxing in a park, with many sitting or lying on the grass. In the foreground, a person with short, light-colored hair looks towards the group. Prominently, the words “Castro Baths” are superimposed in bold white text. — People at the International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 29, 1986 in San Francisco | Bromberger Hoover Photography

We want to be the place where you can start your night or end it. Refresh before work or relax after a double. Rinse off after the gym or spend an afternoon catching up with your gay besties.

A place where you don’t have to worry what night of the week it is or whether or not you’ll be welcomed. Somewhere different people can find different things. Somewhere there’s always space, or spaces, for the long list of letters in our evolving alphabet soup.

We think we’ve got a lot figured out, but there are just as many questions as there are permit approvals. The longer we work on this, the clearer it becomes: the community needs spaces like this!

If we do a good job, it will outlive us all. If you feel inspired to contribute please DM @castrobaths on Instagram or email us at higay@castrobaths.org.

Written by Joel Aguero