Outdoor Showers

If you have not yet taken a shower outdoors, then you are missing out on one of the great pleasures of life.

Outdoor shower at The Calistoga Ranch in Napa Valley

Many years ago, I took my first outdoor shower at a beach house on Fire Island.  It was August and I had just walked up the sandy wood walkway from the beach.  I was messy, covered in salt water and sand, deliciously tired from an afternoon on the sun-soaked beach.  Out of respect for my sister (my host for the weekend), I made a beeline for the outdoor shower.  No, it didn't look like the one in the above photo.

This particular outdoor shower had three walls and a door on a spring mechanism that would slap shut if you let go.  Being shocked by that sound was part of the experience.

The enclosure was open to the sky.  The house was on stilts so the water ran through the wood deck and into the sand and rocks below.  The hot water mingled with the ocean breeze.  I could see seagulls flying high above me and hear the crash of the waves on the beach.  Bliss.

The eco-implications of my shampoo and soap never occurred to me way back then.  Today I'd choose an eco-friendly, bio-degradable variety, and I'd install a graywater system to reuse the runoff in my garden.

Since that very first experience, I've been fascinated with outdoor showers and have wanted one of my own.  Though I don't live at the beach, I can pretend.  You can make your enclosure out of anything you like, repurposing materials to your heart's content.  Lowe's has a nice tutorial here.  I found a few great photos of residential outdoor showers on a Squidoo Lens, here.  For more ideas, you could turn to this great book:



For inspiration, here are some more images of fabulous outdoor showers at equally fabulous resorts. 

Maayafushi Island Resort in Maldives

Four Seasons Hualalai