Naked Wanderings
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How much does it cost to visit a naturist resort?
🕑 Added 2024-11-11 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
We often hear that some people find naturism rather expensive. Well, it's not. Taking off your clothes doesn't cost you a thing, unless you do so in inappropriate places which may result in a ticket from the police. In fact, going naked is cheaper than going clothed, because you obviously can avoid the cost of clothes.
Social nudity is another story, around the world are plenty of public places where you can be naked, of which nude beaches are the most popular ones. These are typically free to enter but come with the price of gas or public transportation. Or the cost of wear and tear on the shoes if you are more of a walker.
Then there are the clubs, resorts, campgrounds, hotels, BnBs, cruises, and whatnot. These are the costs most people are talking about and they can indeed be pretty steep. That's not the cost of naturism though, but rather to use private facilities. But we understand the confusion. In this blog post, we'll give you an overview of what it costs to get naked in places like this around the world.
But first some side notes
The prices we mention in this blog post are based on our own experiences during the last few years. They are, of course, subject to change.
As we always travel as a couple, those are the prices we're typically looking at. We are aware that travelling as a single may be significantly more expensive. It's not uncommon that the price for a single is the same as for a couple. Travelling as a group or family, on the other hand, may be cheaper.
Some resorts practice gender-balancing by making fees for single men more expensive or by requiring single men to buy a club/federation membership. These costs are not included here.
Club/federation membership in general can have an influence on the accommodation prices and in some places this influence is huge. We'll try to mention this where possible but we don't know the price structures of every single place.
This blog post is largely meant as an indication of what it costs to visit naturist places around the world. Once you've picked your destination it's best to double check the prices at the website of the resort(s).
Naturist vacations in Europe
Let's start with Europe, home to by far the most naturist resorts in the world. Many resorts are campgrounds, but there is an uprise in hotels and guesthouses and most campgrounds offer rentals these days. Often pretty fancy rentals that create more of a holiday village vibe.
Although campsite prices slightly differ from country to country, it's not significant. What mostly influences the prices are the size of the resort (large resorts typically being a bit more expensive), the location (seaside resorts being more expensive), and the time of the year (prices in July/August can be almost double than May/September).
What's complicated about campsite prices in Europe is that they are like Ikea closets. You have to put them together. It's not uncommon to find prices as low as 10 euros for a pitch, but that's just the pitch. Then you need to add several euros per adult, several more per child, more for pets, electricity, etc. In the end, you'll hardly ever find a pitch cheaper than 30 euros, except maybe in the very low season. Expect to budget somewhere between 30 and 60 euros per night for a pitch with electricity for 2 adults.
Rentals at campgrounds generally range between 100 and 200 euros per night, depending on the resort and the type of rental. Important to mention here is that bedding and towels are often not included. So you either bring your own or rent them at the campground for an extra fee. Some campgrounds will also have an additional cleaning fee. This may be mandatory or only charged if you didn't clean the place yourself.
Hotel and BnB prices are much more straightforward as they generally follow the market rates. A lot will depend on the quality and facilities of the place but expect to pay something between 100 and 200 euros per night. Sometimes it is a bit lower during the low season.
Naturist vacations in North America
Campgrounds are also the way forward in Canada and the USA. Although the USA seems to get an increasing number of guesthouses, typically a naturist's home with one or more extra rooms. We once stayed in one of those in Los Angeles, California and found it a great way to connect with local naturist communities. Nude hotels are few in this part of the world, the only one that currently comes to mind is Desert Sun in Palm Springs.
Campground pitches in the USA and Canada roughly range between $25 and $50 USD per night and unlike in Europe, this does include electricity, water, etc by default. But there is a huge caveat. In addition to the price of your pitch, you will also be charged a day fee per person or couple. Day fees may start as low as $10 but can be up to $50 USD.
The main reason why nudist resorts do this (we believe) is because they want to encourage membership. As a member, you pay a yearly membership fee but you don't need to pay the day fees anymore. This is a good deal for local nudists who like to frequently visit their club, but for tourists and non-members, this means that the price for a camping pitch can reach up to $100 USD (or sometimes even more) per night. Quite a lot for a patch of grass.
It's hard to put a number on the price of rentals at North American nudist resorts, sometimes they are as low as $50 and they can go up to more than $200 USD. It all depends on the club and the type of rental. At some places, the day fee will already be included in the rental price so that's something you want to double check.
For hotels and guesthouses, you can expect to pay somewhere between $150 and $300 per night, as well depending on the place.
Naturist vacations in the Caribbean
Note that we didn't include Mexico in the North America section, this is largely because it fits much more in the group of Caribbean resorts. In the whole Caribbean area, there isn't a single naturist campground that we're aware of. Caribbean vacations are known to be high-end and for the nude traveller, this isn't any different.
Most available places will be hotels or all-inclusive resorts, where you can expect to pay rates starting around $250 USD per night to over $1000 USD. It's a lot, but you get what you pay for. Free booze, free food, high-end facilities, and sometimes even a butler.
An exception to this rule is Zipolite in Mexico, which technically isn't in the Caribbean either. If you don't want to spend several months' wages on a vacation and you don't mind a rough ocean and bohemian vibe, this may be your go-to place. There are quite a lot of clothing-optional resorts in Zipolite, some are very basic hotels and others are more luxury places. Average prices will be between $50 and $150 USD per night, except around New Year's Eve and the yearly nudist festivalwhen the prices go up.
Naturist vacations in Latin America
Although many Latin American countries have at least one nude beach and local non-landed naturist clubs, the accommodation on offer isn't particularly huge. Right now, one resort in Colombia comes to mind as well as one in Argentina. The country with the most options is definitely Brazil.
Naturist resorts in Brazil are typically campgrounds with rental accommodations or small guesthouses. It's been a while since we were last in Brazil and finding accurate prices online can be a bit of a hassle. Most places don't really have an up-to-date website but rather expect you to call, WhatsApp, or just show up. To give you one indication, Praia do Pinho in the south of the country is one of the more upscale places and charges about $30-40 USD for a camping pitch and $80 USD for the most expensive rental. Other places are likely to be less expensive.
At The Naked House in Colombia, you can expect to pay between $55 and $70 USD per night for a room.
Naturist vacations in South Africa
We didn't mention the whole African continent in the title, because as far as we're aware, South Africa is the only country with naturist options. Most resorts in South Africa are a combination of campgrounds and rentals, although there seems to be a recent uprise in guesthouses and boutique hotel-style places.
When we talk about rentals, don't imagine mobile homes or caravans as you'd find in Europe or North America. Rentals in South Africa come in many different styles. Sometimes it's just a room or chalet, at other resorts you'll find actual homes that might be larger than your own. At SunEden, for example, some of the rentals are two-story buildings complete with several bedrooms and bathrooms, a full kitchen, a living room, a garden, and so on. Have a look at their website, it's pretty impressive.
For us, "westerners", a huge advantage of naturist resorts in South Africa is that they're cheap. A camping pitch won't cost you more than $20 USD per night, for the most expensive accommodations at SunEden, you'll be paying about $70 USD per night.
Naturist vacations in Asia
The naturist scene in Asia all happens in Thailand and Bali and the accommodations are hotels. From small boutique hotels like Barefeet to full-blown beach resorts like Oriental Beach Village. And everything in between. The level of comfort that you'll find at Asian naturist resorts is quite comparable to the Caribbean, except for the all-inclusive formula that hasn't found its way (yet) to this part of the world.
Prices at these resorts are roughly between $80 and $150 USD per night and mostly depend on the size of the resort and its location. If you're a frequent visitor to Asia or a local, it might be a good idea to look at the membership options. Most resorts will give a discount for members of the Thai Naturist Federation and some resorts offer their own membership system with sometimes really nice discounts.
Naturist vacations in Australia and New Zealand
The naturist scene in Australia and New Zealand is quite comparable to that of North America in the sense that it's mostly about campgrounds that offer a limited number of rentals and that the market for naturist guesthouses seems to be lifting off.
What differentiates Down Under from North America is that the prices are typically much lower. In our experience, it was often more economical to camp at a naturist resort than at a textile one.
Day fees on this side of the world are rarely over $15 USD, campsites average between $10 and $30 USD and rentals are most often cheaper than $80 USD. It's not always clear whether day fees are included in the overnight fees or not, but as they are pretty low anyway, it won't make much of a difference. Generally speaking, you should be able to camp for less than $40 USD and have a rental for less than $100.
Nude Cruises
If spending multiple days naked on a boat with regular stops for skinny dipping is your thing, there is the Bare Necessities cruise company that used to only cover the Caribbean but is now expanding to other parts of the world as well. Prices per couple typically start around $4000 USD for the cheapest cabin up to nearly $70 000 USD for the most expensive one.
Bare Necessities is still the only company that offers cruises this size, but several other companies travel around with smaller ships. A naturist cruise with Katarina Lines along the Croatian islands will cost you between €2 500 and €2 800 per couple and a weeklong catamaran trip in Croatia won't cost you much more if you're with a group.
Other types of naked vacations
Then there are a few other types of naked vacations that we would like to highlight because we believe that they will increase in popularity in the future.
One is organised naturist group tours. The South African company Joxilox has been organising naturist tours around the country for several years, our friend Francelli recently organised her first group tour to Zipolite, and there are probably several others we haven't heard about yet. We can't really put an average price on this because it all depends on the destination, the services, and the length of the tour.
Similarly, multi-day naked events seem to be lifting off. These have existed for a long time in naturist resorts, but now we're seeing more and more of these events happening in non-naturist venues that are being taken over for the occasion. Again, the prices largely depend on the location, the activities, and the length of the event.
And that's about it, we assume. With 2025 around the corner, we hope that we've given you a good indication of what's on offer and what both you and your bank account may appreciate.
