Inflatable spa v traditional hard shell spa pool? A spa owner's experience.

That was initially the case with James Duggan. He and his wife and two young children really wanted a spa. However, they’d never owned one before and were wary of spending a lot of money on something they might not use or enjoy.

“Initially I didn’t think we would use a hydrotherapy spa regularly. We decided to test it out with an inflatable spa to see if we’d use it and go from there.”

After researching different options, the family took the plunge and bought an inflatable spa for around $700 (pictured below).

James says it was a great first step. Their blow-up spa was easy and enjoyable to use and they used it a lot more than they thought they would.

Unfortunately, along with the benefits of an inflatable spa, there were also a few downsides.

James says it was noisy, didn’t retain heat well and the bubbles from the jets were ineffective. Plus, it became clear early on that it wasn’t designed to last.

“We knew eyes wide open that we may get a couple of seasons out of it, but we were quite shocked to see direct sunlight made a difference to the structural components on it.”

“The other thing with the inflatable spa is there are no individual seats, just a flat bottom with a bit of foam. It wasn’t overly comfortable.”

After around four months of using the spa three to four times a week, the family warmed to the idea of a hydrotherapy spa.

“We started to get that "oh it would be nice if there were jets massaging your back and bubbles in the right place to hit your muscles!""

Before long they’d sold the inflatable spa to a new owner and replaced it with a Fisher 5D™ hydrotherapy spa (pictured below).

Even though they only had it a short time, James is happy they tried a blow-up spa before committing to a ‘proper’ spa pool.