Aqua Day Spa

I keep coming here ones every 2 – 3 weeks. Sometimes I order massage, sometimes just use the saunas. Temperature In all saunas went up a lot, it’s very very hot everywhere. It was not like this before. Also, the cleaning lady is very sweet, but she starts doing her job at around 6pm, which is a rush hour. It smells like all this cleaning stuff, she is on your way to shower, sauna, bathroom… I understand, that it’s important to keep the facility clean but not while you have tons of customers here!
Well I’ll still be coming here just because there is no other place in San Diego like this (if you know one, please let me know, I’ll be happy to check it out)

This was my first time ever at a spa. They ask you to arrive ½ hr earlier than your actual appointment — I’m guessing — so you can ultimately be on time and a bit more relaxed.
My BBF and I scheduled the appointment for late morning. And although the reviews on Unilocal were helpful. We still had to ask a lot of questions.
Upon arriving we too picked up our new mitts and were handed a key to the locker with a basket that held 3 towels. We asked where to go from there –Women’s side to the left — you are instructed to remove your shoes upon entering the door or you can take them off (at the door) and take them to your locker.
For those of you who have never been to this place –The lockers on the women’s side are to the right about 30 steps then on the left across from the sinks and just before the entrance to the actual spa area. Getting to the lockers can be a maneuver if your locker happens to be on the back wall or in the back corner and there are others in the area since it is kind of a small space but nothing major since this doesn’t take away from the experience. This is where you put all your belongings in and then put on your robe.
Next, what to do do with the basket of towels. You can put the basket on the shelf to the left as you enter the double frosted glass doors or there is a shelf to the right of the locker area.
Now you start your experience — I will say there is a little of a language barrier and you do have some guessing at what is being said and listen closely once on the table as to how they want you to maneuver on the table but nothing that can’t be figured out (may be a case by case — but my BFF said the same thing) — Note: Just because you book at the same time you may be called to the scrubbing area separately — we were by 3 – 5 minutes).
We only booked the scrub & massage and they did a terrific job, and we will be back. Even talked our guy into going the next time to compare their experience.
The next time we plan on exploring the spa a little more allowing more time at the beginning to try out the different saunas and common areas.

You will never feel this clean again.
As other reviewers advised I purchased my own scrubber; it’s totally worth it.
If you pay in cash you get a small discount.
I will be back and will definitely recommend to my friends too.

I had the scrub and massage for a total of 80 minutes which It was wonderful. Massage include the head and also cucumber facial. The price was $ 90.00 and worth every penny. Afterwork you are very relax with a new soft skin. It is a very nice gift or treat yourself. CHECK IT OUT!

This was my second Korean Spa experience. Unfortunately, this one was not nearly as nice. The reception desk was not very pleasant while checking in or leaving. When a customer is talking to you… you should at least pretend to put your cell phone down. The spa itself is small and the Jacuzzi was like sitting in a luke warm stagnant tub, but the salt room was nice. The women who performed our scrubs were sweet (and they did scrub the crap out of us) but the products they use are very cheap. I think I even saw Irish Spring Soap (which is not good for your lady bits)! Because of the cheap products I broke out on my chin which never happens to me. Also, the spa is not the cleanest. If you can travel to a spa in Orange County or something I would recommend doing that.

The place small but Good service, nice place ! Sauna room temperature made me so much sweating! After I feel much fresh !
And I love to pineapple massage + body scrub service. It’s a 90 min service n service lady name «Anna «was made me felling sleep 90 min! Haha
Anyway just try they not make a disappoint for u
Oh and Don’t be surprised when u see ur dead skin !!

Joanne is Amazing. So good. Knows the body so well. Love Korean spa in general. I wish this place had drinks like other spas in Irvine do. But overall clean and great service

This review is for the $ 20 pass. I would give this place 5 stars if it were cleaner, however the obvious mold and mildew around the cold tub and signs of mildew in the steam room make it a 3. Any spa should be spotless.
Otherwise, it’s good. Small, but very affordable so can’t complain.

I like this place, BUT last couple times when I went there men sauna was not hot enough and the reason is 2 warming elements out of 6 don’t work. I told them both times and they never fixed it. I will defiantly update my review after they fix their sauna.

As a first-​timer at a Korean spa, this experience was both weird and pleasant at the same time. I was quite hesitant to come here since I’m not really used to being naked in front of other women. But I love body scrubs… so there I went.
I purchased both the body scrub and acupressure massage service for $ 90, plus a brand new scrub to use on me ($ 4) since some Unilocaler here mentioned in passing that they may be using and re-​using the same scrubber on people? I am not sure about that claim, so I bought one just in case. I’m just not comfortable with the thought of a scrubber being used on me after it had been used to scrub other people’s armpits and whatnot, you know what I mean? So anyway, I paid up front, without tip yet, and filled out a form. The form is a picture of the human body, and you’re supposed to circle areas where you want the masseuse to focus on, and put an «x» on areas you want them to avoid. You also have options on the type of pressure you prefer: Gentle, medium, or deep. I chose medium. For men, you must also indicate if you want to masseuse to «step on you»…hahaha…I giggled a bit. In the past at some other massage place, the masseuse just stepped on my back without even asking for any such permission! I’m only a 5 foot little woman… geez…but just FYI, you have that option here.
I was given a basket containing 1 medium sized towel, 2 small towels, and 1 robe. You go into the ladies side and leave your shoes on the shelf to the left of you. Around the locker area, you’ll see a bunch of rubber slippers you can use. I’m not really picky about using the slippers. It’s better than dragging my feet around, picking up organisms and possibly slipping. Just wear it or bring your own. So obviously this is the time you strip your clothes off and enter the pool/​scrub area.
The shower area is totally public! Hahaha… I was horrified deep inside, but I just went with the flow. I placed my basket on the shelf to the left, took a quick shower (in front of 2 other ladies chilling in the jacuzzi), and then went into the jacuzzi. I had 20 minutes to spare before my appointment. 10 minutes before the appointment, the masseuse made sure that I was in the room softening my skin in the water. She called me about 2 minutes past my appointment time, but it’s no biggie. They call you by the locker number, not by name. You don’t even have to write your name on the form.
Ok. I’m just going to tell it like it is, and I will break it down for you. I didn’t see any type of sanitation on the scrubbing bed between customers. What was I thinking anyway? For them to wipe it down with wipes used in clinical settings? Perhaps water will suffice. Better than nothing, right? They simply dump a bucket of water to wash away the gunk left by the previous customer. And then you must lay face down. Scrubbing starts immediately. Don’t forget to give your newly purchased scrubber! My spa buddy forgot to give it, and who knows what they used… lol. The scrubbing itself wasn’t as torturous as other people described, from my experience. The scrubbing ladies have system and rhythm. They will tell you to turn on one side, then the other side. Scoot up, or scoot down. I regularly exfoliate with ground coffee at home, but the lady still managed to peel off some stubborn layers. Eek! I felt like a newly sharpened pencil, with the bits and pieces lying around. Ok that was a terrible analogy, but you definitely see and feel your bits and pieces of skin. They scrub your back, butt, arms, neck, legs, stomach, inguinal regions, armpits, and boobs! Then after all the scrubbing, the lady just dumped a bucket of water on me like I was a pig about to be slaughtered! Hahaha… for real, that’s what it felt like. No vichy rinse experience here. This is where other people get turned-​off, expecting a zen, peaceful, and calming experience. A little spa music would have been nice. After the scrub, she squirted a little something on my hand to put on my face, and told me to go shower. I came back and found her clearing my bits and pieces off the bed with a towel. I dried off and lay face down again for my massage, which was heavenly! Facial was heavenly too! Except the little chit-​chat among the staff was a bit distracting. They wash your hair too. My favorite parts of the experience are the fresh cucumber mask, the hot towels on my back, shoulders, and stomach, and the warm milk rinse! Ahhh… I felt like Cleopatra bathing in milk. She gave me 2 extra handfuls of milk which I pleasingly splashed across my face. And that concluded it. She didn’t rinse the milk off of me. I had to do it myself in the public shower. Now, I don’t know about you, but I find it a bit awkward to be washing my private areas in front of others to see! I guess… just pretend no one is looking? It really isn’t a big deal. I just happen to be very shy. Overall I loved it. The men’s side seems to operate a bit different though? I tipped generously for the hard work on me :)

I’ve heard a lot of great things from my friends about Aqua, and my girlfriend and I were really excited to try it out for our first time as part of our Valentine’s Day celebration.
When we arrived at 3pm for our 3:30pm Oil Massage n Body Scrub, the receptionist told us there were no openings for us. Our name was on the reservation list, but no therapists had been assigned. Apparently what happened was the receptionist put our name down on the appointment list when we called to schedule, but never assigned us any therapists, and when we arrived all the available therapists were already taken.
«Sorry, you can come back at 6:30pm».
Problem is we scheduled our Valentine’s Day around the Spa visit, and had plans for dinner in the evening.
Like I mentioned, we were really excited to try out Aqua for the first time, and especially looking forward to the visit for our Valentine’s Celebration.
Unfortunately this put a damper on our Valentine’s Day, and was a disappointing first encounter with Aqua Spa… :/

I’m always afraid that someone will ask me what my secret vice is during a party drinking game or similar scenario. Because it would be easy enough to explain if it were duck fat, cocaine or kinky sex, but no, my secret vice is Korean spas – it requires more explanation for the uninitiated. Imagine a hydrotherapy wonderland where you can take a scaldingly hot shower (or a normal one, but I like mine scalding), soak in a hot tub, jump in a cold pool, go to the steam room and then two different saunas! Is this heaven? No, it’s Aqua Day Spa! Imagine being scrubbed so well that years and years of bad life choices get washed down the drain, along with all your worry, tension and back pain. It’s Amazing! You’re not just clean when you come out, you are nearly virginal!
Aqua Day Spa is LOVELY. I’d go every week if it were closer to my house. If your frame of reference is one of the huge Korean spas in LA, I’d recommend you think of this as a much more boutique experience. It’s a lot smaller, but it has everything you need. It’s clean. The locker area is nice. They just did a remodel and there is some nice tile work going on. There is a red clay sauna, which smells like some kind of magical fairy-​tale herbal potion; I wish I knew what they were, as I dream of the smell sometimes. There is a dry cedar sauna. There is a steam room. There is a hot tub. There is a cold tub, and there is an area for services, such as scrubs and massages. You can buy a day pass for only $ 20 and have access to all the areas, or you can buy a service and it will include access to the other areas. I usually just get a day pass, but the scrubs really are great! You get a robe, a towel and there are flip flops for you to wear around. You are free to wear a swimsuit, but practically nobody does. It’s segregated by sex, and people generally just spa naked. I’m not Korean, I use to go a lot when I was a much bigger person, I have tattoos, I have impressive stretch marks and I’m usually about six weeks behind on any kind of waxing regimen. At no time has anyone ever gawked at my body, nor have I felt uncomfortable being naked here. It’s chill. Don’t be freaked out. If I could change anything at all about the experience, I’d get rid of the TV in the relaxation area. It doesn’t mesh with my personal preferences and I find it a little distracting, but most patrons seem to like it. It’s not a big deal, as the volume is off. You should definitely go. I’d recommend that you schedule at least 2 and a half hours. Happy Spa-​ing!

Having in mind that this may be the only Korean Spa of this nature in San Diego County I would say 5 Stars. It is very small it is clean I was visiting. I had the scrub… well…not the best nor the worst. I would say compared to about 7 others I frequent in Orange /​LA County I give the scrub 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The relaxing room cold… the tiles are supposed to be heated. zero stars

Aqua Day Spa is an authentic Korean-​style sauna and spa (called jimjibang in Korean). I lived in South Korea for a year, and visited a few jimjibang in that time, and while this certainly does not make me an expert on the subject, I feel that I have a better appreciation for this spa from my experiences.
Yes, you are naked. And no, it’s not a big deal. It is gender-​separated, so I can only speak to the women’s side of things.
The spa has a hot tub, a cold (COLD) tub, standing and sitting showers (including a cold shower), dry and wet saunas (the wet one is crrrrazy hot), and a clay and salt room. Everything is extremely clean and well-​maintained, and the lockers are also in good shape. I wish the space were slightly bigger, to maybe have one more pool, or one more option for relaxation. It would also be nice if there were space for men and women to be able to relax (clothed) together. One more wish: tea and light snack options. There are some crackers, and of course water, but people would be inclined to stay longer if there was a little more there.
Last time I was there I got a body scrub and a massage, and let me tell you, it was INTENSE. I felt reborn after it (seriously, so clean and soft), but this is not for the faint of heart, and not for those with extremely sensitive skin. My favorite moment was when my masseuse/​scrubber lady grated a cucumber right there and packed it on to my face. FRESH. And you get doused with warm milk at the end. Pretty great.

This is the best secret in San Diego by far! I consider myself a spa junkie and this place always brings me back to life. I have been going here for about a year now and they just finished remodeling. It is absolutely impeccably clean and very inviting. I literally saw a woman scrubbing the corners of the wet room with a toothbrush today so you know it’s sparkly fresh.
It’s a little bit hidden since it’s in the corner of the strip mall so keep your eyes peeled for it once you turn onto Convoy.
For $ 20 you can come in for the day and enjoy the amenities such as the red clay sauna with Himalayan salt, The steam room, the regular sauna, the Whirlpool Jacuzzi, and cool bath.
They give you a little basket with a robe and several towels to use while you are there.
If you want to get any of the services I would recommend the body scrub and then the acupressure massage afterwards. The total for all of that including the use of the amenities is only $ 120.
If you pay with cash they give you free masks, one for each service you buy. I always like the cucumber one… So refreshing!
They have little snacks and hot tea there while you were visiting if you get hungry but save your appetite and afterwords go get some amazing food across the way. There is Korean barbecue, phô, tofu, etc nearby.

This review is NOT for massage service!!!
They have 3 different kinds of sauna rooms: dry sauna room, steamed sauna room, and mud/​clay/​salt sauna room. Personally, I like the steamed sauna room and the mud/​clay/​salt one. The last sauna room, you can lay down to relax or read a book. They put several pillows on the mat already for customer, some of pillows are made from salt, some are made from bamboo. I prefer a salt pillow because when i lay down, i can put my neck on it, and pillow is med hot so it is really help to sooth my neck pain. The light in the room is quite bright but you can turn it off any time.
$ 20/​for using sauna rooms, hot spring with jacuzzi (it is not really hot like natural spring, i consider it is warm) in 5 hours. There is free hot/​cold water, hot coffee, and cookies in jar. They have locker and they will give you key after you pay for your service. In your locker has: 1 rob, 1 bath towel, 1 small towel and all are put in a clean plastic basket. They also provide flipflop to wear after you get out from the wet area. Be careful, inside the public bath is quite slippery and they DON’T take responsibility if you fall down, so be careful!!! They also have hair dryer, Q-​tips, make up remover cream, soft tissue, hair gel, combs (3kinds), lotion, hand shampoo and a big wall of mirror so you can easily do a make up and get well dressed after you get your service done in here.
This is my own piece of advice for you guys after using Spa service at Aqua: please bring your own 2 small towel with you. When you get into sauna room, cover your face with one towel to feel more comfortable and use another one to put on you seat before sit down (you never know who have sit in there and in naked) when you are in dry/​steamed sauna room. With the mud/​salt room, you will able to wear rob so no need towel. Be aware that you have to be naked in public bath toom with other women, in sauna room and in hot spring.
And this is my comment for Aqua: can you guys please provide a one-​time-​use/​disposal panty for customer, so they can wear it when they go to dry sauna room. and turn the light less brighter in the body scrub section. :)
I will be back, but just only for mud/​clay salt sauna room or steamed one with my own disposal panty. ;) I am not gonna use hot spring because I feel so uncomfortable to be naked and have a bath with strange women. Hot spring is quite small, so i wonder how many naked people that stepped into the hot spring. (=_​=”) Just thinking of that makes me goosebump already! They should pay more attention on hygiene safety for customer.
As I know, they have service for men too. And of course it is seperately with women.
Thank you!

I have been frequenting this venue periodically for the last 10 years. This last visit was the worse nightmare. I gave management a chance to make this right before posting this review and they chose to offer me a free mask on my next visit but of course there will be no next visit. I’m sharing this with you all as a warning.
My arm is visibly bruised so much so that I can’t sleep on my side and my range of motion is limited. My skin is brown so you may not be able to easily see the broken capillaries all across my shoulder but trust me I feel them.
Update:
To add insult to injury (literally) the staff responded to my Facebook review misquoting me saying that I asked «am I getting anything for free». Which are NOT words that came out of my mouth at any point during the multiple conversations I had with this individual but clearly that’s the message they want to convey in an effort to CYA now that I have made their handling of the situation public. How distasteful!

The spa is just ok. I’m clearly spoiled by LA/​OC korean spas like Wi Spa and Imperial Spa.
There is no coed area, so it’s not a place you can relax with your SO. The men’s side is limp compared to the women’s side. Mens side has none of the clay/​salt/​cold rooms that other spas have. I think the women’s side might have a clay room, but I don’t know since I’ve never been to that side.
Everything else seems pretty typical for a korean spa. Yes, you’re naked. Yes you get to see lots of other people’s dongs. No, no one cares.
Btw, I think they’re going to be remodeled soon. Hopefully it improves.

This was my first time at Korean spa. I read other reviews and did a bit of research before booking an appointment. Great reviews everyone btw, very detailed! :) Super super helpful.
I called a day ahead to make an appointment for the body scrub/​oil massage combo. They want you to get there 30 minutes before your appointment so you can shower and sit in the sauna/​jacuzzi for at least 10 minutes. It loosens up your skin so the body scrub is easier. The facilities are quite small, but it can accommodate quite a lot of people at once. When I arrived, the receptionist asked me if I had ever been to a Korean day spa before. I said no and she just smiled. Little did she know that I knew what to expect! Nakedness. You undress and walk into the spa area, sit in the jacuzzi for a bit and wait until your number is called. It’s like a group massage kind of. Everyone is in the same area. All the ahjummas are friendly, but have limited English. No need to talk anyway.
Overall, I had a great first experience. My back is looser and my skin is incredibly smooth now. Definitely will be back!

Brought my mom here for Mother’s Day and she loved it! At first she didn’t want to go bc you have to be naked, but she quickly got over that.
We got the scrub and body massage for 80 minutes which was $ 90 each. First time customers get a cucumber face mask and body scrub gloves. We asked them to use our new ones bc the ones they use are clean but used. If you pay with cash you get face masks to take home.
We asked for a gentle massage bc I heard the scrubbing hurts. But it did not hurt at all. The massage was a little rough but she softened up after I told her.
We brought a change of clothes, makeup, hair straightener, and everything else I use to get ready with. They provide shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, face moisterizer, brushes and hair dryers. I actually brought my own brushes and moisturizer. If you are particular about the products you use, I would definitely bring your own. They have shower flip flops, but I read you aren’t supposed to wear them in a the bath area bc ppl consider it to be unclean. The massage ppl wear it in the bath area, but I didn’t see anyone else doing it –they leave them near the entrance.
They want you to arrive 30 mins before your appointment so you can go in the jacuzzi and sauna before the scrub. They give you a key with a basket, robe, body towel and hand towel. You get undressed and go into the shower area. You take a shower and then go in the sauna or jacuzzi. I also read somewhere you’re supposed to take a shower after you use each of the facilities: jacuzzi, cold bath, steam sauna, dry sauna and clay sauna.
Anyway, it was great! The only thing is that I’m a bit of a germ-​a-​phobe, so I’m not sure how clean the place was. There was a clump of hair dangling from hand soap in the locker room.
This was my first time at a Korean Spa and now I’m a fan. My skin feels like my 5 month old baby’s stomach — so soft! I’m excited to try the ones in Irvine!