Where else would you go?

[123456]

As frequent visitors to Fuerte and visitors to the beaches, although I wouldn't call myself a nudist I do like to sunbathe and swim nude. We would like to get away for Christmas this year only find December weather in Fuerteventura a bit hit and miss. Where else do people go or where can you recommend? For warm winter weather, where nudy sunbathing is accepted.

[conniebee]

You need to haul ass to French Caribbean- island of St Martin in fact and a resort called Club Orient- very well-known. Or there are naturist resorts in Florida- probably cheaper. Difficult to think of any European non- Canaries destinations in December where you would be warm enough.

[notdeadfred]

Caribbean definitely.

We go to Hawksbill Resort on Antigua. The resort itself is not naturist, but it has four private beaches, one of which is the only clothes optional beach on Antigua. It is in a beautiful quiet part of the island and the nude beach is never very busy, probably because it has no facilities whatsoever. But it's only 5 mins walk from the hotel and rooms, so easy to nip back when required.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g147243-d148275-Reviews-Hawksbill_by_Rex_Resorts-St_John_s_Saint_John_Parish_Antigua_Antigua_and_Barbuda.html

Don't be put off by some of the reviews on Trip Advisor. Yes the hotel is a little bit dated, but that's part of its charm, and it attracts a high percentage of repeat guests who get a weekly private cocktail reception with the management team.

[bedouin]

Caribbean is the obvious choice.  Club Orient is rather expensive, and flights to St Martin aren't cheap.  Hawksbill in Antigua isn't the prettiest place, and last time we went we got the most awful food poisoning we've ever experienced anywhere (plus dreadful room and other problems which gained us a complete refund from Kuoni).

A "wild card" alternative is Caliente Caribe in the Dominican Republic.  It is the most beautiful resort, swaying palms, beautiful flowers, lush grass, lovely pools, inviting hot tubs.  The staff are outstanding.  The resort is owned by Americans, so has its own generators (the public electricity often goes off) and it purifies all the water used in the resort. You can be naked 24/7 - even at dinner.  It's all-inclusive, but the food is mainly a la carte, waiter service, so no lukewarm buffet offerings.  You can buy cheap charter flights to Puerto Plata, and Caribe offers free taxi transfers.  So, the downsides - Caribe runs special weeks for particular categories of client (swingers, gays, etc) and you might like to avoid those times.  Sea bathing isn't great, but the pools are clean.  Also, the Dominican Republic is a very poor third-world country with high levels of corruption, so you're best to confine yourself to the resort (which has armed guards at night).

Or you might look at Jamaica, which has some naturist offerings, but we haven't been so can't advise.

Or there's Cayo Largo in Cuba, with stunning beaches, most of which are CO.  But the hotels are clothed only.

Or Hidden Beach in Mexico, a naturist resort which seems to be highly rated, but again we haven't been.

Our favourite Caribbean naturist resort was Sorobon in Bonaire, and we went there every year for about 7 years, until it closed as a naturist resort.

[notdeadfred]

Tiger,

When was your "Hawksbill from Hell" trip? Just realised we were last there in 2006, our fifth visit, and never ever had any problems in those days. There was a very good proactive manager and great staff in those days, but it was also round about then that the Rex Resort Group took it over. So maybe you were just very unlucky or maybe it has gone downhill under Rex ownership. Would like to know as we were thinking of going back this year!

Trip Advisor still seems to have the usual mixed bag of reviews - it's that kind of place I think, a more traditional and quirky Caribbean resort that people seem to either love or hate! Personally we much prefer it to most of the more modern corporate monstrosities that could be anywhere.

I understand that there hasn't been much investment in it recently because Rex's lease on the site expires in the near future. The sooner that is resolved the better.

[MinRich]

So to give others an idea , how much do you pay for 2 weeks in these places for Two people ?

We are thinking of somewhere around Cuba , Mexico or Carribbean but the cost seems high and could give us 6 weeks in Fuereteventura . We will have to go in February , so is this a good time of the year to visit this area ?

[bedouin]

Tiger, When was your "Hawksbill from Hell" trip?

About 20 years ago.

[bedouin]

So to give others an idea , how much do you pay for 2 weeks in these places for Two people ?

We are thinking of somewhere around Cuba , Mexico or Carribbean but the cost seems high and could give us 6 weeks in Fuereteventura . We will have to go in February , so is this a good time of the year to visit this area ?

February is a great time to go to the Caribbean.

Cost depends on resort standard, etc, but it is expensive compared with Spain generally.  But it's gorgeously sunny!

[notdeadfred]

Tiger, When was your "Hawksbill from Hell" trip?

About 20 years ago.

Ah right, not a recent experience then! Several years before we started going there!

[SoCal]

December 25 --> Australia.

[arnieculane1]

  Hi All

  We have twice been to hidden beach resort , its great , the food is great , the staff great , and the late afternoon hot tubs get together session was a hoot . drinks great .

  Price 8.000 £ pounds for two weeks all inclusive

  Business Class Return Tickets 6.000 £ pounds from Aberdeen

  If you can afford it go , you can't take it with you .

  Regards

  Arnie n Dawn

[MinRich]

£8k for 2 weeks !

[isleswing]

Plus flights.

[bedouin]

£8k for 2 weeks !

I think Arnie was thinking of premium rate rooms!  The Oct/Nov/Dec rack rate this year for the base room (Oceanfront Jacuzzi Junior Suite) is $312 pppn.  That's about £5250 for 2 weeks.  But that's the rack rate and discounts are available if you search around.  In fact, the resort itself is discounting in November, to $265 pppn - about £4500 for 2 weeks.  And there are lots of cheap flights to Mexico.

[arnieculane1]

  Who wants to sit squashed up in cattle class when you can get a nice flat bed and dream the day and night away in comfort .

  Arnie

[123456]

Thanks for all the replies. We are not naturists as such and would not want a naturist hotel, couldn't think of anything worse personally. But just a good beaches and sunshine where no clothing is not 1. illegal  2. frowned upon - local/culture or religion  3 unheard of.

[Spike On Q]

Global warming is  big issue. The jet stream movement this winter has been dramatic and northern hemisphere weather unpredictable. Wherever you go is now a gamble

[MinRich]

Thanks for all the replies. We are not naturists as such and would not want a naturist hotel, couldn't think of anything worse personally. But just a good beaches and sunshine where no clothing is not 1. illegal  2. frowned upon - local/culture or religion  3 unheard of.

You appear to be the same as us . The problem with many adverts/details for holidays that they fail to tell potential holiday makers about access to Nude beaches , especially with the bigger Travel companies . So you have to trawl other parts of the internet to find the information , this is not always reliable

[Magoo]

Thanks for all the replies. We are not naturists as such and would not want a naturist hotel, couldn't think of anything worse personally. But just a good beaches and sunshine where no clothing is not 1. illegal  2. frowned upon - local/culture or religion  3 unheard of.

We are in the same boat, all we want is a nice cloths optional beach with reasonably safe access to the sea & sun loungers as we like our comfort. As for naturist hotels, its a case of finding the right one. We use the Monte Marina SC apartments.  Well kept clean basic accommodation. Apart from the pool / sauna area, you would not guess it is naturist. It is not a "Lifestyle" venue & is free of screaming kids although it is technically a family resort.
Access to down the beach is good, but is a ballbreaker coming back up the cliff path. At least you get exercise once per day

[notdeadfred]

So to give others an idea , how much do you pay for 2 weeks in these places for Two people ?

We are thinking of somewhere around Cuba , Mexico or Carribbean but the cost seems high and could give us 6 weeks in Fuereteventura . We will have to go in February , so is this a good time of the year to visit this area ?

February is indeed a great time to visit the Caribbean, but it is also the peak season so costs are much higher. We found that the cheapest time to go was November, and the weather is still fine, being just after the end of the hurricane season! Just as a for instance, costs with Kuoni in November for the Hawksbill in Antigua are c£3.5k for 2 weeks for 2 people, incl flights. This rises to £7k in December and £6k in February. And that's economy flights, flat beds are extra!

[MinRich]

quote]

We are in the same boat, all we want is a nice cloths optional beach with reasonably safe access to the sea & sun loungers as we like our comfort. As for naturist hotels, its a case of finding the right one. We use the Monte Marina SC apartments.  Well kept clean basic accommodation. Apart from the pool / sauna area, you would not guess it is naturist. It is not a "Lifestyle" venue & is free of screaming kids although it is technically a family resort.
Access to down the beach is good, but is a ballbreaker coming back up the cliff path. At least you get exercise once per day

But they are quite expensive in comparison to other non naturist accommodation aren't they ?

[Magoo]

quote]

We are in the same boat, all we want is a nice cloths optional beach with reasonably safe access to the sea & sun loungers as we like our comfort. As for naturist hotels, its a case of finding the right one. We use the Monte Marina SC apartments.  Well kept clean basic accommodation. Apart from the pool / sauna area, you would not guess it is naturist. It is not a "Lifestyle" venue & is free of screaming kids although it is technically a family resort.
Access to down the beach is good, but is a ballbreaker coming back up the cliff path. At least you get exercise once per day

But they are quite expensive in comparison to other non naturist accommodation aren't they ?

No doubt, but paying a premium for naturist accommodation is not just a Fuerty issue is it?  We could just use regular accommodation & still have the benefit of the beach, as I really could not care less about 24/7 nudity. However, its nice to have a sheltered naturist pool on windy days   

[Spike On Q]

Personal experience:
Trinidad. February, 7 days of rain
Florida. October, 6 days of rain,  5" in one 36 hour period!

[Gone Fishing]

Was in Antigua recently mid- March

Weather was beautiful ....... Odd shower but mostly at night and daytime sunny with temps in mid- 80's to low 90's with light breezes so never too hot.

Eden beach at Hawksbill was quiet with less than a dozen people there most days.

We weren't guests but walked through the hotel grounds along the first three beaches and over the bluff, through the gate and onto Eden beach. About 15 mins from parking the car.

Stayed self- catering in a villa and hired a car.

Not cheap but easy jet and Ryanair don't do the Caribbean 

[arnieculane1]

  It is a nice beach i sailed our yacht past there last year on our way to St Johns . But Galley Bay has the best stretch of sand .