Recovery on a Budget: Polar Dive PRO Cold Plunge Review

One of the biggest barriers that people face when considering buying a cold plunge is the price. If you’re looking for a full-featured cold plunge tub with a chiller, you can expect to pay anywhere from $3,000 to over $10,000. Some of the plunges we’ve reviewed charge $2,500 or more just for the chiller. 

Which is why the most common question I’m asked as GearJunkie’s resident “cold plunge guy” is if there’s an affordable cold plunge that’s any good. My answer is always the Polar Dive PRO Cold Plunge ($899). While I was skeptical at first, after a few months of testing, the PRO Cold Plunge won me over. 

In short: The Polar Dive PRO Cold Plunge has a 106-gallon capacity, an insulated barrel-style tub, and, with the chiller included, costs a third of what some companies charge just for their chillers. It’s the perfect choice for plunges on a budget.

What I Tested

I tested the Polar Dive PRO Cold Plunge by plunging daily for about 4 months. The PRO spent the first 2 months in the backyard to assess how well it handled the heat and was then moved into the garage in the fall.

Most of the plunges I test are made from some form of fiberglass, plastic, or stainless steel, so the first thing I noticed was how lightweight the PRO Cold Plunge ($489, without the chiller) was. Basically made of sailcloth, the inflatable tub weighs under 10 pounds empty. The PRO is inflatable, which provides some insulation, as does the included lid, made from the same material and secured to the tub with three clips. 

I tested it along with the Polar Dive Chiller ($479), a 0.3-horsepower chiller that can lower the water temperature to 39 degrees. 

Setting up both the tub and the chiller couldn’t be easier. Inflating the tub and lid took approximately 5 minutes, and connecting the chiller involved attaching two hoses. Fill it with water, and you’re ready to start chilling. 

Bonus: The tub only weighs 9 pounds, so if you don’t like where you set it up, you can just pick it up and move it (before you fill it with water, obviously). 

Polar Dive PRO Cold Plunge Review

Tub Ergonomics

The tub is 36 inches tall and has a 32-inch diameter. I’m 5’8” and 220 pounds, and I had plenty of room to sit. It’s a barrel-style tub, and while I’m more partial to lying in a prone position, I did appreciate the extra floor space it saved. I did find that the barrel shape made it easier to submerge myself up to my neck.

In a bathtub-style plunge, I tend to chicken out and keep my chest, arms, and shoulders out of the water. Since all I had to do was squat lower in the PRO, it was easier to convince myself to get the full-depth experience. 

One thing that people may not love is that, unless you’re a lot taller than 5’8”, you’re not going to be able to fully sit in the PRO Cold Plunge. When my butt hit the floor of the tub, I was completely submerged, so I had to either hold myself up with my arms on the tub or press my feet against one wall with my back pressed against the other, holding me up. Neither was taxing at all, since the water added buoyancy, but it’s something to note. 

That said, it shows how sturdy the walls are. I was able to hang on the sides with my arms without causing them to bend. The same goes for pushing my feet and back against opposite walls.

I even sat on the tub, as shown in the top photo. I can now verify that a 220-pound man can hop up and sit on the tub without any issue. The tub hardly moved. That’s pretty damn impressive.

Water Chilling

As far as the chiller goes, it’s fairly simple. One tube connects the tub to the chiller, and another tube connects the chiller to the tub. There is a series of buttons on the front of the tub to turn the chiller on and off and set the temperature down to 39 degrees. 

It’s simple, and it’s not as powerful as some of the 1-horsepower chillers that I’ve tested, but it gets the job done, even when the black tub is sitting in the sun on a 105-degree summer day. I had the PRO Cold Plunge in my backyard with zero shade, and the temperature never wavered more than 3-4 degrees above the 44 degrees I programmed. 

This could also be attributed to the relatively mild insulation provided by the inflatable tub. As Polar Dive’s least expensive plunge, the Polar Dive ($579 with chiller) appears to have no insulation, which may make it harder to keep the water cool. This, along with its smaller size, is why I chose the PRO as the better bargain. You’re just getting more for your money. 

The chiller is also one of the quietest chillers I’ve tested. You can hear a mild buzzing while it’s on, but if you keep it in the garage or the backyard, you won’t hear it when you’re in the house. I’ve had chillers that were so loud I thought my neighbors would complain, so this is a welcome feature, especially in this low price range.  

The only complaint I have is the chilling time. More powerful chillers can cool the water to plunging temperatures in a few hours, but after refilling the tub, I’d have to let it cool overnight to get to 40-50 degrees.  

Water Filtration

The Polar Dive chiller has a single 20-micron filter. The higher-end chillers I’ve tested have at least two- or three-stage filtration, which often includes ozone filtration to help keep the tub clean. 

As a result, I found it useful to drain the tub every week to keep the water clean and to keep the tub from getting grimy. The plunges with heftier filtration systems allowed me to change the water every few weeks or even monthly, so that’s something to consider if you want the lowest-maintenance tub possible.

The Polar Dive chiller still does a decent job of keeping water clean. And if changing the water a bit more often is worth saving a couple of grand for you, this is the one to get. 

Durability

One of the most common tradeoffs for a less expensive product is durability. After 4 months of testing (two of those outside in a wide range of conditions), it doesn’t seem like an issue with the Polar Dive PRO. 

Inflatable tubs tend to bow out under the weight of water over time. That’s not the case with this tub. The walls have not warped or changed shape in the slightest. The sailcloth has spent weeks under the blazing sun without drying out or cracking, and the chiller has experienced the same conditions with no degradation whatsoever. 

I was worried that the chiller might be damaged after a few late summer storms, but it’s still as quiet as ever. And if something does pop up, Polar Dive offers a 6-month warranty

It’s also worth mentioning that if something catastrophic ever did happen with the tub or the chiller, replacing either wouldn’t break the bank. It would be more palatable to shell out another $500 to replace either the tub or the chiller than to spend $3,000 replacing one of the more expensive models.

Final Thoughts

I think that a cold plunge isn’t worth it without a chiller to cool the water. If you need to buy a few bags of ice every time you plunge, you might as well use your bathtub. I did that for a time, and it’s just not worth the hassle. If you’re serious about cold plunging, a chiller is key. 

And the Polar Dive Pro (with the chiller) is one of the only tub/chiller combos you’ll find for less than $1,000. And in my testing experience, it’s also the best you’ll find for less than $1,000. The chiller is quiet, powerful, and durable, and the tub is roomy, easy to set up, and surprisingly sturdy when fully inflated. 

The single-filtration system means you’ll have to clean it more often, and the chiller takes some time to cool the water, but for what you’re paying, they’re small concessions. If you’ve been wanting a cold plunge, but the high price of entry has been putting you off, the Polar Dive PRO cold plunge might be the answer.