A couple of years ago, we were hiking with friends in some woods in France towards a creek. The idea was to have a small picnic and a skinny dip once we’d get there. It was really a spot in the middle of nowhere, but luck wasn’t on our side and when we arrived, two women were fishing for crayfish.
“So far the skinny dipping”, we thought, but one of us did walk up to the women with the fake excuse that we had forgotten our bathing suits but still wanted to go for a swim. Would they mind? The women told us they couldn’t care less. They did move a bit further upriver once we got in the water, but probably just because our splashing chased the crayfish away.
SPOILER ALERT: This blog post contains stories from one of our upcoming videos.
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Going nude on Mexican beaches: Part 1
Of course, that previous story happened in France, the country that is often considered the holy grail for naturism. But it’s definitely not unique to countries where naturism is well accepted. A couple of days ago, we were staying at Intima naturist resort in Tulum, Mexico. When we looked online for more opportunities to get naked in town, the information we found was quite contradictory. There may or may not be a nude beach, you may or may not be able to be naked in this or that spot. The common hassle of travelling to places with no official naturist options.
We had planned to make a video for our YouTube channel about the journey of trying to find places where we could get naked in Tulum. We found the website of a very expensive resort at the coast which was supposed to have its own “very secluded” nude beach. So our idea was to see if we could somehow get on that beach without having to stay in the resort. For the record, all beaches in Mexico are supposed to be public, but some hotels claim parts of beaches, put up fences, and place security guards that you don’t want to pick a fight with.
With Google Maps, we found a public access trail that would take us to the beach close to the hotel. As soon as we arrived, we noticed that the hotel was built on a rock and that the secluded nude beach was probably on the other side. We walked a bit closer to investigate and soon enough a staff member of the hotel walked up to us to say that we had to stop filming… because we were on a nude beach. The reason why we hadn’t realised this was because the 20 or so other people there were all in bathing suits. We did get naked though and nobody seemed to care at all.
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Going nude on Mexican beaches: Part 2
It was really fun that at the first beach we tried was already a nude beach, but we realised that this was not very interesting for our video. So we decided to follow another lead towards a beach in the very north of town. Once we got there and saw probably more than a hundred clothed people, we figured that this time it wouldn’t be so easy. At the very far end of the beach, we found an empty spot where we might be able to get naked without being in the range of sight of too many others.
Before we undressed, our friend Angela went over to a beach bar to get some beers and casually asked if it would be okay for them if we would hang around naked at the far end of the beach. The owner of the bar replied: “Of course, this whole section is a nude beach, you don’t need to go to the end, I’ll give you a table and chairs in front of the bar”. And just like that, we were sitting naked in a beach bar between lots of clothed people. We did get a number of curious looks, but nobody seemed to be disturbed by our nudity.
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The 10/10/80 Theory
We can tell you more stories of times when we were naked among people who didn’t really expect this. Yet, the negative reactions we’ve had are very few. One time comes to mind on a beach in Greece when a German lady walked up to us to say that it was illegal to be nude there and that our nudity would attract the police. Interesting side note: She was camping illegally on that beach, which was probably why she was concerned about the authorities.
In most other cases, the people either reacted positively or didn’t really care at all. This made us come up with the 10/10/80 Theory. We believe that 10% of the people are either naturists/nudists or think very positively about naturism/nudism. Another 10% is very much against naturism/nudism. And the other 80% doesn’t really know anything about it nor doesn’t really care.
If we look in the media and especially on the internet, it’s both 10% fractions that you’ll hear the most. As naturists, we seem to be constantly focused on proving the 10% anti-naturists wrong. But that doesn’t make much sense, because these are the most difficult people to change their minds. It’s like trying to talk the local butcher into becoming a vegetarian. The anti-naturists will have very strong opinions and ideas that are very hard to break. But do you know who doesn’t have those? The other 80%.
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Reaching the big public
The 80% of people who don’t know or don’t care about naturism will be the easiest to get on the naturist side. This doesn’t mean that they all need to become naturists, just that they have a positive idea about it. So at the moments when we need their support, for example if an association tries to get an official naturist beach, that 80% will think “Hey, I know naturists, they are nice and friendly people, let them have their spot”.
Going naked on an unofficial beach on the other side of the world where everyone else is clothed, may not be something for you. We would’ve also preferred if there had been more naturists. But you can also do this closer to home by just talking about naturism. We think that the number one reason why some people don’t care about naturists is because they don’t know any. So spread the word, become the face of naturism, and let the world know who naturists really are. It’s You, us, and who knows who else we will inspire to try it as well.
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Bravo! Well done for having (gently) tested the limits. The lesson, I think, is that we in the naturist 10% will never win over more of the 80% if we hide away from the hostile 10% in secluded places. Reactions will vary from place to place, but my own experience tells me in a lot of places, the “hostiles” may be no more than about 2% — which is to say you may go days or weeks without running into one. Meanwhile, every member of the indifferent “80%” you have a positive interaction with is not only a personal pleasure but a win for our cause.
There is one major problem with spreading the word by own example.
In most countries, there is a kind of “social peace” law what means you’re not supposed to alarm or disturb other people.
When you try to beach in the nude in proximity of clothed (90% neutral/hostile) people there is quite a risk you will encounter one of hostile kind.
The “hostile” beach-goer has a very strong opinion about nudity and yes, they will feel offended, alarmed and they will go ballistic. Probably it’s not a very great day on the beach.
If you have guts and good understanding of local law/customs you may just ignore this guy. But it’s not an option in a foreign jurisdiction. Sticking to secluded or officially naturist place is the most obvious and reasonable approach.
catch 22
True, but you can start with just talking about naturism. If you look at our content, there’s hardly any explicit nudity. This way, we can use mainstream social channels and people can read our content on the train or during a work break without having to fear that someone looks over their shoulder.
Exactly!
I would. Love to be. Nudist.