How this St Andrews hotel convinced me to get into the freezing North Sea

It’s 6:30am on Kingsbarns Beach.

I’m wearing my bikini underneath a cosy white gown that has Fairmont St Andrews embroidered on the chest.

After a few deep breaths, I abandon this on the sand, and march into the water.

Last time I attempted wild swimming in the sea, I made it as far as my ankles.

Now, the Wild Scottish Sauna team is with me. They have a partnership with the luxury hotel, so braver guests can experience this increasingly popular activity.

I’ve walked across the tiny shells and am up to my knees, with kelp brushing my shins. I’ve got this, I think, as my shoulders start to judder and my breath catches.

Then I’m at my waist and, finally, with encouragement and advice, I’m immersed to my neck.

“There she is!” says Wild Scottish Sauna’s co-owner, Jamie Craig-Gentles, in reference to the sun, which appears to have risen to cheer us on. The orange rays scatter across the waves. I can feel my endorphins jangling. After a few minutes of floating, we’re back to their beautiful cedar-lined sauna, to gradually heat up.

Wild Scottish Sauna | Gaby Soutar

On my visit, as part of a wellbeing experience weekend, I also tried a couple of the treatments in the Fairmont Spa. The coastal theme continued, as these sybaritic pampering sessions included the 90-minute Escape to the Hebrides treatment from Hebridean seaweed brand, Ishga.

It involved a full body scrub and an algae wrap, where I was swaddled like a newborn baby, before hopping into the shower to rinse the salty potion off. This was followed by a full body massage with their rich lemongrass-scented oil. Joy.

Later that day, we were back to a windy Kingsbarns Beach, for a minimal effort foraging session with Kiwi, Jason Byles, of East Neuk Seaweed, who has also partnered with the Fairmont St Andrews.

He explains how the tides work, and types of seaweed - his favourite is sea spaghetti - then gave us scissors, to snip tiny bits of dulse off the rocks, before showcasing his cooking. After heating up his rocket stove, we tried a rich kombu broth and muffins that were sprinkled with smoked dulse, followed by carrageen pudding with meadowsweet and raspberries. Apparently Irish grannies used to give a more spartan version of this to their offspring to ward off the flu.

Carageen pudding | Gaby Soutar

We shelter from the wind in a bothy, and he tells us about his favourite coastal finds, which include a whole porpoise skeleton.

And, to conclude the oceanic theme, that night there were scallops and sea bass for dinner, in the hotel’s St Andrews Bay Clubhouse & Grill with its views across the bay.

The next day involved another element - the earth. It began with a grounding experience of ESPA’s new Strength and Resilience treatment.

Apparently, this is partially inspired by a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.

It involves reflexology, a back massage and tapping of the thymus gland, which is located near the solar plexus. The idea is that this stimulates white blood cell production and the immune system and, thus, can help stave off winter chills.

Even without those benefits, it was one of the most pleasurable 80-minutes I’ve ever had, though I was tempted to retreat to my boudoir and nap afterwards.

Fairmont bedroom | Contributed

To revive me, we were booked into a golf clinic with one of the PGA professionals at their two Championship level golf courses. This involved trying different clubs and irons to whack a seemingly endless supply of balls, delivered by a man in a buggy, into the stratosphere.

They didn’t get too technical with us novices, but I was feeling pretty proud of my (imagined) latent skill. I seem to have recovered from the childhood trauma of being my dad’s caddy.

After my final hole-in-one and a 30-minute Pilates work-out at their gym studio, the final treat was an autumnal afternoon tea in the hotel’s vast atrium.

This included a top deck round of savouries - finger sandwiches, sausage roll, beetroot fondant with smoked trout and horseradish, wild mushroom and goat’s cheese gougeres, and more - all served on cute William Edwards Reed china that’s emblazoned with kingfishers, lapwings, and bees.

Then, the sweet stuff. After downing a few fruit and plain scones, the patisserie included a glossy sphere of cherry and chocolate mousse, apple tart tatin, mango and lime tart, and praline and vanilla eclairs.

Fairmont afternoon tea | Gaby Soutar

I’ve never had an afternoon tea that concludes with a final flourish of loaf cake. We were presented with trays of glorious-looking fruit stuffed Dundee and Madeira cakes, but I just couldn’t manage. Instead, I took away a slice of each, to eat on the train from Leuchars.

As it pulled into Edinburgh, I could still smell a note of East Neuk Seaweed’s cooking stove smoke on yesterday’s jeans, my hair was scented by salty seawater and there were Dundee cake crumbs in my lap.

So many souvenirs of a perfectly elemental weekend.

Rooms start from £259 per night including breakfast at the Fairmont St Andrew, Kingask House, St Andrews (01334 837000, www.fairmont.com).