Polar Bear Plunges Locations Locator Map and Directory

Polar Bear Plunges are winter events at which participants swim in near-frozen water. In the US, most polar bear plunges are held to raise money for charity (e.g. the Special Olympics), and swimmers are required to raise a certain amount of donations before registering. In some areas of Canada, it's customary to take a polar bear plunge on New Years Day. For example, Vancouver's annual Polar Bear Swim Club has been active since 1920 and usually sees around 2,000 registered swimmers on January 1st of each year. Notable swims in the US include the Seattle Polar Bear Plunge(since 1993), the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the Lake George Polar Bear plunge, the Boston Polar Bear Plunge (since 1904), Maryland's Plungapalooza, and the New Jersey polar bear plunge.