Naturists, as they prefer to be called, the real boom in nude vacations is coming at the high end of the business, as upscale hotels and resorts, and even some luxury cruise lines, have begun to see the economic potential in the no-clothes crowd — particularly those who want to shed their clothes but not their pampered lifestyles.
The $300-a-person all-inclusive Hidden Beach Resort, a nude-only luxury hotel that opened in 2003 along Mexico’s popular Mayan Riviera, greets guests with Champagne upon arrival.
Rose petals are tossed on the beds at turndown, and beach butlers hand out towels and reading materials to guests relaxing in the nude, while they themselves walk around in discreet uniforms of buttoned-down shirts and khaki pants.
Several mainstream hotels, including Caesar’s Palace and the Mirage in Las Vegas, have introduced topless pools in the past couple of years. (Now why didn’t I stay there when I was visiting Vegas?)
Even in the vacation home market, a new clothing-optional condo-resort, Mira Vista in Marana, Ariz., is selling more than a hundred two-bedroom condominiums, priced from $244,500.
In 2007, nude recreation represented a $440 million industry — up from $400 million in 2001 and $200 million in 1992 — and it’s still growing, says the American Association for Nude Recreation, which promotes au natural vacations as “nakations.”
According to the association, roughly 20 percent of members have a median household income of $106,000, drive luxury cars and spend $3,000 or more on travel.
“It’s no longer just a grass-roots, nuts-and-sweets kind of thing,” said Nancy Tiemann, president of Bare Necessities, which specializes in nude travel and is offering a seven-day Greek cruise in September, along with four others in 2008 and 2009.
Four months ago, Ms. Teimann’s company began selling an all-nude 2010 Hawaiian cruise on Celebrity Cruise Line’s Constellation, a 2,000-passenger ship.
Already, about 90 percent of the ship is booked.
Most nude vacationers say that what they enjoy most is liberation from the typical pretenses of society. “When you don’t have any clothes on, you don’t know if someone’s a judge or a doctor, or a lawyer or a mechanic,” said Larry Massa. “You are what you are.”
Today, America’s increasing obsession with health and wellness may be contributing to the rise of clothing-optional vacations. “Americans have moralized healthy bodies,” said Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, who has studied moral emotion and judgment.
He added that “a case could be made that people are traveling to these places to be pure for moral reasons — to achieve harmony in nature.” It’s really a form of self-expression, he added, that dates back to Walt Whitman and John Muir, as well as Thoreau, all of whom advocated being as true to yourself as possible. “The truest you can be is taking off those clothes,” he said.
“You come to the realization you’re looking at those people, you’re not staring at people. They’re not staring at you,” Susan Sullivan, 42, from New Jersey.
Shan Kanagasingham, the general manager at The Tides, in South Beach, recalls her first stay at the hotel when she got the job about a year ago. “When I checked in for the first time to the Tides — and I’m not making this up — I opened the window and looked out, and all I saw was this sea of breasts and people walking around in G-strings.”
To make sure the experience doesn’t turn voyeuristic — or into a free love free-for-all, some resorts turn away single men. And most make it clear what the resort offers and what it doesn’t. “We make sure they understand it’s not a sexual kind of place,” said Tom Mulhall, who owns the Terra Cotta Inn in Palm Springs, with his wife, Mary Clare.
I’m interested in such vacations but I think it’ll be more romantic if it’s done when you get old =))
I doubt they will have it in Vietnam which is where i’m heading to in approximately 30 hours time!
The big question which we have always asked is why are the naturalists in the pics always of the chubby variety? 🙂
Thats because the skinny ones dont take their clothes off unless they are getting paid (i.e. supermodel)
Because most Americans are chubby.
At these places you see ppl of all shapes and sizes, and it’s representative of the society you’re in.
If you’re only interested in viewing model types, then you’re a voyeur, not a naturist/nudist.
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LOL. I totally agree with you David. Inform me once you find that hidden spot…sans chubs! =))))))
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Nakations are going to be one of the next big things!!
I suggest you give it a shot. It’s a ton of fun!
Kelly
http://www.nakations.com
My wife and I like being nude at home when we have a chance. We are makeing plans for a Dec vacation to somehwere that is clothing optional. Any suggestions
Kevin, some recommended spots via CNN for 2009:
Cypress Cove, Kissimmee, Florida
Turtle Lake Resort, Union City, Michigan
Sun Meadow, Worley, Idaho
Laguna del Sol, Wilton, California
Avalon, Paw Paw, West Virginia
Do share which places you chose in the end with us! =)
Hey Kelly!
I’d love too! But I think I have to get that droolsome figure first. Lol.
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I once tried to walk around naked, my neighbor called the police…
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Annnnnnnnd…just back from my sixth Vegas trip since discovering the place mid-2006! This was the fourth time I’d taken my sister with me and the first time in my life to go away from home for my birthday. January 2 is a pretty lousy birth date as it’s the day everyone else in the world is saying or thinking, “whew! The holidays are finally over! Back to real life!”. In other words, everyone forgets my birthday, always.
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