St. Paddy’s polar dip draws big crowd at Lake Banook

Darkside Dippers main organizer Koko McNeil snaps a photo of a group of polar dippers at Lake Banook in Dartmouth Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Jesse Thomas/CTV Atlantic)

The Darkside Dippers is a polar dipping community which gathers each Sunday in the winter months to jump into the frozen Lake Banook in Dartmouth, N.S.

This Sunday many were decked out in green and shamrock sunglasses for a festive Irish-inspired polar dip ahead of St. Patrick’s Day.

As challenging or brave as it may seem, these cold-water dips do bring some health benefits, said Darkside Dipper main organizer Koko McNeil, but he believes the community spirit and camaraderie is what really keeps people coming out.

“You go in the water and afterwards you get out, you feel the post-dopamine high that everyone has and everyone’s just socializing,” said McNeil. “I think the reason people keep coming back is to hang out with friends and strangers and do something fun. An activity you can do throughout the winter which is traditionally slower.”

The Darkside Dippers is more than 100 members strong, and the group is making waves beyond the lake by raising money for a local food charity.

The North Grove is a Dartmouth-based community food hub, which works as a food centre and offers food, food programming services and space for people to learn about nutrition and healthy cooking.

So far, the polar group has raised nearly $9,000 for the charity.

​“Obviously the price of food and groceries has skyrocketed over the last few years and there’s a lot of families experiencing food insecurity and struggling,” said McNeil.

There are two more Sunday polar dips scheduled at Lake Banook and anyone can join, said McNeil.

“No registration required, no sign up, no fee, it’s completely free,” said McNeil. “Just show up with a warm layer of clothing, top and bottom gloves, I mean it’s warming up now, but a bathing suit underneath and a towel and that’s pretty much all you need.”

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