Tag: coral reef

Raja Ampat archipelago in the Indonesian Papua: paradise above and under water

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

bahasa Indonesia

naturist 0002 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Who wouldn’t like a full week spent at a tropical, green archipelago surrounded by pristine waters? Writing this makes me want to throw myself back to those worry-free 7 days (almost a year ago) of a sailing trip at one of the natural marine wonders of our planet.

clown fish coral reef 0001 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

This post comes all the way from the magnificent marine park of Raja Ampat in Papua.

islands view 0011 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Raja Ampat is an archipelago on the northern tip of the Bird’s Peninsula on the island of New Guinea or Papua, as it’s locally called. It belongs to Indonesian territory and is one of the easternmost provinces in the archipelago. Raja Ampat is a local language for Four Kings. In terms of history, Raja Ampat Archipelago in the 15th century was part of the reign of Tidore Sultanate, a great kingdom centered in Moluccas Islands. The Sultanate of Tidore appointed 4 local kings to rule the islands of Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool, which are the four largest islands to this day. The term 4 Kings who rule the islands became the root of the name Raja Ampat.

We spent the whole week in Raja Ampat. We were a group of 6, sailing on a wooden boat to explore the archipelago. This is the best way to explore the area: since it is an archipelago, you need to spend most of your days on or in the water to get the best experience of Raja Ampat.

Raja Ampat is claimed to boast the richest marine biodiversity in the world.

clown fish coral reef 0000 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Right from the moment I arrived in the islands, I couldn’t stop my admiration of the beautiful surroundings – its breathtaking landscape and waters just blew my mind away.

naturist 0001 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Many locals claimed these islands to be a paradise on Earth, and I must agree with that statement!

islands view 0004 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

We started from the central islands of the archipelago.

islands view 0003 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

We were presented with a wide array of beautiful corals from the first days.

coral reef 0008 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

They were very colorful and in good shape

coral reef 0007 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

– encouraging to see that in the age when many coral reefs suffer from bleaching due to pollution.

coral reef 0000 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

The fish too were no less colorful, as if they were competing to win the best outfit.

coral reef 0002 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Merely by snorkeling, you can see the best of Raja Ampat.

naturist 0005 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Yes, you need very minimal 😉 gear to enjoy all that extraordinary underwater world!

naturist 0007 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

The next days were spent venturing northbound

islands view 0007 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

to get to Wayag –

islands view 0010 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

the jungle covered islets, that often appear in the internet as a classic example of ‘tropical paradise’.

islands view 0006 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing, fishing, are among the things you could enjoy in the sailing trips… In Raja Ampat, you can even feed sharks and swim with them too!

shark coral reef 0000 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Well, they weren’t that huge, but at first it was scary and made me nervous… Soon enough though, I found myself mingle with those sharks at ease, which was quite fascinating.

There are lodges on the bigger islands, and some of them offer full packages, where you can do a lot of water activities. But for me, sailing trip seemed to be the best way to experience Raja Ampat, as it allowed to wander as far as we wanted.

islands view 0012 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

It was also great to have some breaks from being on/in the water, and explore the islands – even hiking naked in the tropical forest!

islands view 0008 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

While the rest of the group were not keen on disrobing, I managed to exercise some naturism, mostly away from the group. I must admit that I am a newbie to naturism, which prevented me from being myself and naked in the whole journey… but I still enjoyed a good portion of it in the buff! I still recall how nice it felt to be naked and let the tropical breeze sweep your skin.

naturist 0010 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

It was definitely hot, but enjoyable. As many have said, the sun is the best treatment.

naturist 0004 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Best part? Of course swimming naked and snorkeling in the most beautiful underwater world!

naturist 0009 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

If you are keen on spending some of the best days of your life in this paradise, I would surely recommend you to visit the islands. The authorities restrict the number of tourists visiting the islands, which is actually nice, as you can enjoy the islands almost all to yourself when you get there, especially, once again, if you take a sailing trip. The crew of the boat might be not too familiar with naturism, if you want to make it a nude sailing trip, but I think they’d be open enough if you could explain it to them.

 

text and imagery by Miko

Kalani resort, tide pools and black sand beach (Hawaii)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Kalani retreat center was our base on Puna side of Hawaii island. Tod had been there before and loved it.

The painting in our room set our mood for another naturist adventure 🙂

painting 0000 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

As we arrived late in the evening, we were welcomed by a chorus of coquí frogs.

It’s an invasive species introduced from Puerto Rico, but I loved the ambient sound they provided (and to their defense, they haven’t really brought any harm to local ecology as far as I know). I managed to track down one of coquí frogs near the pool, which was impossible according to Tod – not if you’re a zoologist like me 😀

coqui frog 0000 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

After that, we relaxed in the sauna, and then Tod did a Watsu session for me (“a form of aquatic bodywork used for deep relaxation and passive aquatic therapy… in which a practitioner gently cradles, moves, stretches, and massages a receiver in chest-deep warm water”). Needless to say, we were naked, and the setting – warm humid air, dark starry sky, accompanied by frogs chorus – was perfect for total relaxation!

In the morning we were greeted by another cute guest, a brightly colored but naked gecko.

gecko 0001 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

So it felt only more appropriate to do our morning stretch in the buff, and there was even a statue for inspiration 😉

naturist 0000 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

However, after we finished our stretch, a worker came to us and told that apparently we were only allowed to be naked by the pool and another remote area. We could only guess why within the same premises it was ok to take off your clothes at one spot but not at another just 50m away. Tod’s speculation is that as Kalani is becoming more mainstream, they have to adapt to mainstream public, which includes restrictions on your attire.  Oh well, it wasn’t like we planned to spend too much time at the resort itself. We left to Kapoho tide pools after that.

On the trail to the tide pools we saw this tree with interesting fruit,

tree 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

but the most interesting stuff awaited us under water.

view 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Kapoho tide pools are popular among snorkelers thanks to crystal clear water, and we could see how clear it was from above.

view 0001 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

The only thing that interfered with water’s transparency was… water, just of different temperature. There were a few geothermal springs coming out, and at everything looked blurred where their water was mixing with water from the ocean.

water 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Although Kapoho tide pools is not an official naturist spot, to swim in au naturel I used a technique I developed at the Red Sea coral reefs in Israel, and then in Akumal in Mexico – just put your swimming trunks around your shoulder 😉

naturist 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

The corals there were not nearly as bright as at the Red Sea, but some rocks were covered with colorful moss animals.

algae, corals, moss animals 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Another invertebrate that was abundant there was sea cucumber.

sea cucumber 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

But numerous vivid coral fishes were of course the main attraction.

fish 0002 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Unicornfish was probably my favorite.

unicornfish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

There was at least a couple of species of unicornfish, and besides the unicorn

unicornfish 0002 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

they were decorated with adornments on the tail and stylish make-up.

unicornfish 0001 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

It was a lot fun to navigate in the labyrinth of corals and rocks of Kapoho tide pools, and we got lost twice (lost in a sense that we didn’t know how to get to the main, deepest path). And then we also got lost in the fish.

fish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

An impressive shoal of striped wish surrounded us all of a sudden and didn’t seem to be bothered by us swimming next to them.

fish 0001 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

But not all are so conspicuous at the coral reef. Needlefish is hard to spot and they usually don’t come too close.

needle fish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

And this one we almost missed altogether. Can you actually spot what it is?

flatfish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

The first reader who sees and guesses what it is on the photo above, besides sand and rocks, will get a print of any photo from this blogpost! (Maybe you’ll choose this photo? It’d be a nice background picture.) I guess I’m starting a new tradition. Comment here!

On the way from Kapoho, we stopped at the pandan forest. Pandans looked quite peculiar with their adventitious roots, which in turn made me feel adventurous and want to climb them (no particular logic, just like I wanted to do push ups on the cypress roots in Mississippi swamp forest 😀 )

naturist 0001 forest near Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

And I don’t know what it was about that forest, maybe the light, but I think I look particularly good on the photos from there. Another contender for your printout choice? 😉

naturist 0000 forest near Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

The next stop was something that I’d been dreaming to visit for a long time – a beach with black sand! There are just a few black sand beaches in the world, and Kehena on the island of Hawaii is certainly among the most picturesque beaches.

naturist 0000 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

The first thing you’d want to do on that sand is simply to lie down and enjoy its velvet softness, which I did too with great pleasure.

naturist 0003 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

I got a new dog friend while his owner was body surfing.

naturist 0001 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

That sand really feels (and looks) nice on the skin.

naturist 0005 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

Well, if you read this blog, you’d know that I wouldn’t be lying for too long. The rocks at surrounding the beach with tree roots coming all the way down from the top seemed too tempting to climb.

naturist 0010 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

And there I was, bouldering in the buff 🙂

naturist 00 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

It may not look that high on pictures, but it was quite scary to look down.

naturist 0011 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

Then we discovered a horizontal bar hanging on the tree. I’m always up for some pull-ups!

naturist-pull-ups-Kehena-black-sand-beach,-Hawaii,-USA

Then we chatted with a local owner of a small coffee plantation, who claimed that his coffee is even better than famous one from Kona side of the island. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to test that, but it was nice talking to him, as he also assured there were quite a few nudist groups in the area – something to keep in mind for the next time 😉

I thought yoga would be the best to finish the day at the beach.

naturist yoga 0002 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

With such a nice sand there was no need for mat,

naturist yoga 0001 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

and I followed the rhythm of ocean wave alternating between poses.

naturist yoga 0007 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

Fresh and at the same time very warm air was perfect for stretches –

naturist yoga 0004 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

“pigeon”, all the way to the front

naturist yoga 0006 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

and “camel” – all went well deep.

naturist yoga 0005 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

After some twisting,

naturist yoga 0009 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

it felt right to finish off with balancing in the tree pose on the coconut palm tree stump.

naturist yoga 0010 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

I so much look forward to coming back to this beach again!

Beach #67, much more interesting than it sounds (Hawaii)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

view 0004 beach 67, Hawaii, USAHope you didn’t think that my story about the Big Island, Hawaii, ended at the beach next to Kona airport 😉 The island is indeed big and very diverse. Even this beach at Kona side of the island looked totally different from Makalawena. It’s a cozy cove with yellow sand surrounded by black rocks and trees.

view 0003 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

It’s called after the electric pole #67 by Old Puako Road where you’d have to stop to get to the beach. I doubt you could find a label that would wholly reflect the atmosphere of this spot in any case, so never mind the numeric name of the beach.

view 0002 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Upon arrival, I first had a short walk, enjoying the views from the rocks.

view 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Meanwhile, my friend Tod started snorkeling already.

naturist 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

He saw a turtle pass by next to him, and although I’d seen a few sea turtles before, I was looking forward to seeing them here, in shallow and clear waters.

naturist 0001 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Coming down to water, I noticed a pretty stunning example of fossilized life –

fossils 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

– white snail shells encrusted into black lava. Crabs were on contrary black… and alive! 🙂

black crab 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Even more life could be seen under water. I couldn’t identify this kind of fish,

fish 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

but just as I reached Tod, we saw the fish that we both were eager to find –

reef triggerfish humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, or reef triggerfish in simple English – the state fish of Hawaii (the concept of state fishes was totally new to me btw).

reef triggerfish humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa 0001 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

After that, we saw pretty big shoals of yellow tangs and many other fishes,

yellow tang 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

including pufferfish

pufferfish 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

and moray eel.

moray eel 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Besides snorkeling and sunbathing,

naturist 0002 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

this place seemed good for climbing trees, because the trees had a lot of horizontal branches. However, I managed to fall from a tree and even hit another branch on the way to the ground, maybe exactly because it seemed so easy to climb trees there and it made me less cautious. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt seriously and after a pause I was back on the trees again.

naturist 0004 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

This time I made sure to have at least 3 points of support

naturist 0005 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

or even held myself with all fours.

naturist 0006 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Later in the afternoon, several quails came by;

quail 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

they seemed to be totally accustomed to humans. In case you forget your beach snack, you may be lucky to find their eggs (quail eggs don’t have salmonella and are even safe to eat raw), but we didn’t see any.

quail 0001 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

While sunbathing before our departure, I was going though the guidebook and picking locations for our next adventures at Puna side of the island. Stay tuned!

naturist 0003 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Zipolite beach

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

español

The beach of Zipolite on the Pacific coast of Mexico was probably the first naturist place in Mexico that I heard of. It is a beautiful long sandy beach,

naturist 0000 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

but what makes it special is its hippie history.

naturist 0001 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

Hippie culture has been diminishing since 1960-’70s and now it’s being more and more commercialised,

naturist 0002 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

but there is still a very laid-back liberating atmosphere. Freedom of being naked is definitely a big part of it. This place is perfect for soaking in the sun’s energy during day and adoring its colourful spectacle as evening approaches.

naturist 0003 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

A peculiar addition to Zipolite’s landscape, is a natural arch at the north-western side of the beach.

naturist 0006 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

Zipolite is known for its strong currents and crazy waves, and nothing illustrates it better than massive amounts of water pouring through that arch with immense power and noise!

naturist 0007 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

The legend goes that Zipolite means ‘beach of the dead’ in an ancient language, but I read that it is probably not the case. There is definitely something to it, as its waters look quite turbulent indeed. Pelicans don’t seem to mind it and come in flocks to catch fish.

pelicans 0008 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

There are many fishermen too, but I found it more fascinating to see how pelicans dove with full speed.

naturist 0005 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexiconaturist 0009 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

There were a lot of birds, actually… including chicken! They were not wild, of course, but they were roaming free in the greens.

chicken 0004 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

I stayed at a small guest house of Posada Lua, and a fisherman family next to us held those chickens just like that, free out there.

chicken 0010 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

The concept of a ‘happy chicken’ is definitely becoming more and more popular with advent of eco-conscious and ethical farming in the West, but could there be a happier chicken than this one?

chicken 0012 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

Zipolite itself is not suitable for snorkelling, but there are organised small boat tours that promise you whales, dolphins, sea turtles… On my tour, we didn’t see any of those, but we did get to coral reefs. Again, I decided to give it a try and ask our tour guides and the company whether they didn’t mind me skinny-dipping. The guides were fine, but there was a tricky part with other tourists. It was a group of deaf guys. I tried to explain them but was not sure they got it until I took off my shorts. Regardless, a couple of them showed thumbs up 😉

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Back on the beach, I played volleyball a couple of times, but although it is a quintessential naturist sport and there was a decent amount of naked sunbathers, nobody played volleyball naked :-/

volleyball 0016 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

There was one more thing that I was desperate to do at the Zipolite beach – surfing – and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to do this one naked! As I was still inexperienced in surfing, I asked local surfer teachers – Aguila and Cali – to assist me.

naturist surfer 0013 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

They were very helpful, so ask for them if you’re around and need some guiding, but there is one thing you need to take into account: people of Zipolite do not wear wristwatches… and they don’t like carrying mobile phones either. Renting a board from them, might be a better idea than setting exact times for classes…

naturist surfer 0014 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

Unfortunately, I took photos of me surfing only on the last day…

naturist surfer 0015 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

and it was the worst time for surfing out of 4 days that I stayed there :-/

naturist surfer 0017 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

There were a lot of double waves breaking unexpectedly, and the currents were all messed up as it was between low and high tides, so I could hardly get on the board at all. I guess I’ll have to come back to take some better photos 😉

naturist surfer 0018 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

I was sad leaving that place, but on the way to the bus stop, while looking for dried grasshoppers, this shop put a smile on my face:

tienda naturista 0011 Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

‘Tienda naturista’, ‘naturist shop’ was not what I thought it would be, but I liked the name nevertheless.

בילוי בעירום בשונית האלמוגים. הפעם מפרץ אילת

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

 English

שחיה בעירום במים חמימים בשונית אלמוגים שוקקת חיים זה חלום ישן שלי. ביקרתי במיצרים בשנת 2005 יש שם חוף המאפשר רחיצה ללא בגד ים. זאת אותה השונית רק בצד הישראלי של הגבול. הפעם היתי מצוייד גם במצלמה תת ימית.

שוב הדהימו אותי הצבעים העזים והחיים הטוססים מתחת לפני המים. אחד המראות היותר מהממים שראיתי מעודי. לישראל חוף בים סוף באורך של 10 ק”מ זוהי שמורת האלמוגים הטרופיט הצפונית ביותר.

 

שהותי באילת תוכננה לקצת יותר מ24 שעות. בגלל קוצר הזמן התרכזתי בשמורת האלמוגים בלבד. לא ידוע לי על חוף נודיסטים בצד הישראלי. התקווה למצוא חוף מבודד מספיק הגיע מידידה שהכרתי דרך מדריך גלישה. פגשתי אותה שוב בדרכי לים המלח. היא סיפרה לי על [חוף המיגדלאור] הריק יחסית שבו היא מבלה עם חברייה ואף נשארת לישון שם. מדריך גלישה נוסף שפגשתי הסכים לארח אותי בביתו למרות שהיה עסוק בהכנות לבחינה. השארתי את הדברים שלי אצלו והתכוננתי לצאת לישון בחוף. זה היה בחודש יוני היה חם ולא היזדקקתי לאוהל או לשק שינה.

מונית לחוף לא צריכה לעלות יותר מ-20 ש”ח. קו 15 של אגד לחופים הדרומיים יוצא כל שעה עגולה מהתחנה המרכזית באילת. חוף המגדלאור הוא תחנה אחת לפני האחרונה של הקו. אין שם ממש תחנה אבל אפשר לבקש מהנהג לעצור בחוף.

הגעתי לשם כבר בשקיעה, אבל בגלל ההרים החשכה היה מגיע אפילו מהר יותר. אז הייתי צריך למהר אם אני רוצה לראות את שונית לפני החושך ואני עדיין צריך למצוא מקום לישון. החוף עצמו לא עשה עלי רושם. כפי שאתה יכול לראות על התמונה מעל, זה פשוט קטע של כמה מטרים רחב של מכוסה חצץ החוף נדחק בין הכביש לים (הכביש יש ללכת כל כך קרוב לים בגלל הסלעים). אבל זה לא היה על החוף הייתי אחרי, אז הלכתי ישר אל הים (במכנסיים קצרים, כי הזמן). ונדהמתי מיד על ידי היופי של שונית האלמוגים. זה לא היה גדול כמו אחד שראיתי Hurghada, אבל הוא היה מלא חיים. וברגע שראיתי צלופח מוריי כי היה מסובב לצד באיום אל החור שלה, אני חשה שמחה נתקלו כזה התושב הייחודי של שונית האלמוגים, כי לא ראיתי לפני. בעוד לשנרקל הבחנתי מקום בגבול עם חוף הנסיכה, כי נראה היה גובה גבוה 1m על אשר חשבתי היה להסתיר אותי מן האור מן הכביש, כמו גם להגן עלי מפני הרוח. אגב, החוף היה מלא באוהלים, אבל לא יכולתי לראות אף אחד מסביב רובם. בכל מקרה, זה נתן לי את הרושם מחנאות היה בסדר שם, אנשים חשו בטוחים להשאיר את הדברים שלהם. אז הרמתי את התרמיל הקטן שלי הלך למקום הזה. זה הרגיש כל כך גדול כדי להיות מסוגל לישון בחוץ ללא צורך לכסות! אז ישנתי תחת כיפת השמים המכוכבים ליד הים הדבר היחיד שהטריד אותי היה האור מגיע מן הכביש. ובכן, בשלב מסוים היה גם עכבר קטן ניסה להיכנס לתוך התרמיל שלי, אבל אחרי שאני פוחד שזה כמה פעמים זה השאיר אותי לבד 😉

הגעתי לחוף בשעת השקיעה. בגלל ההרים החוף מחשיך מוקדם. הזדרזתי כדי להספיק לראות קצת אלמוגים ולהיתכונן לשינה לפני שמחשיך. החוף לא מרשים כפי שניתן לראות בתמונות למעלה. חוף חלוקים ברוחב כמה מטרים תחום בכביש. הכביש צמוד לחוף בגלל הסלעים הטבעיים המזדקרים לאורך החוף. החוף לא עניין אותי ושמתי פעמיי לים (הפעם במיכנסיים) המפגש עם השונית והיופי של האלמוגים היכה בי מייד. השונית קטנה מזאת שראיתי בע’רדקה (Hurghada) במיצרים אבל היא מלאת חיים. מורנה הציצה אלי מתוך חור בשונית זה ריגש אותי מכיוון שזאת הפעם הראשונה שאני פוגש יצור זה שהוא כל כך מזוהה עם השונית. בעודי בים ראיתי על החוף בסמוך לחוף הנסיכה תלולית בגובה מטר שהגנה מהאורות של הכביש ומהרוחות. על החוף היו הרבה אוהלים שנראו שוממים מאדם זה נתן לי תחושה שאפשר לחנות במקום ולא צריך לחשוש מלהשאיר את הציוד כל החוף. אספתי את התרמיל הקטן שלי והלכתי למקום. התחושה של שינה בחוף ללא צורך בכיסוי כל שהוא היתה נפלאה. ישנתי על החוף תחת כיפת השמים. הדבר היחידי שהפריע היה אור המכונית מהכביש. בשלב מסוים מכרסם קטן ניסה להיכנס לתוך התיק אבל אחרי שגירשתי אותו שוב ושוב הוא הסתלק.

השקמתי עם עלות החמה מכיוון ירדן. איזה כייף להיעורר על החוף ולראות שלוש מדינות בו זמנית.

ארוחת בוקר של פירות ואגוזים. החלטתי להישתזף ערום מכיוון שהחוף נראה שומם.

קמתי להיכנס לים, דרך אגב בתמונה למעלה אפשר להבחין בגדר לאורך קו המים עם כניסות מוסדרות כדי להגן על השונית… טוב הלכתי לים אבל לא העזתי ללכת ערום. הורדתי את בגד הים בתוך המים ונישארתי לבוש בשנורקל בילבד. 😎

הפעם השונית התגלתה במלוא הדרה כשהשמש האירה את השונית. דגים בצבעים בוהקים שחו בסמוך לשונית.

אחדים בניגוד כמו האבנונים (Crocodilefish) למטה היו מוסבים לגמרי וקצת מאימים.

בסך הכל זאת היתה חוויה מרגשת לפגוש מגוון כזה של דגים בשעתיים של צלילה. רובם לא הראו כל סימן של פחד. התמזל מזלי לצלם אותם. אפשר לחזות בכמה מהם במצגת.

שמות הדגים פחות מעניינים. בסופו של דבר הבלוג הוא על עירום בטבע ולא על חיות בטבע. בכול זאת נראה לי שאני אבדוק בויקיפדיה מה בדיוק ראיתי שם. ראיתי את רוב הדגים האופיניים לשוניות בזמן הקצר ששהיתי שם. זכיתי לראות מינים שונים יצורים החיים בגמלין ושיתוף. למשל דג הנקאי (דג ממשפחת השפתניים wrasses בתצלום) המפורסם מטפל בעורם של החברה הגדולים (חלילן needlefish בתצלום). אפשר לראות אותם גם בסרט.

חוויתי על בשרי תוכון (Picasso fish) מנסה לאיים עלי כאמצעי
הגנה על הקן שלו וזה פעל למרות הפרשי הגודל כ :O

כמומן שהכל בעירום. זה נקרה התמזגות עם הטבע.

לצערי פגשתי לא רק דגים ואלמוגים –

מדי פעם ראיתי גם זבל צף במים.

כנראה שזה הגיע מסירות התיירים הרבות. התיירים על הסירות נראו שמחים. הם קפצו מהסירות לים אבל לא נראה לי שהחיים מתחת למים ענינו אותם. אין לי מוסג מי משליך את כל הזבל הזה לים. זה חייב להיות משהו שלא מזיז לו כל היופי הזה שאותו הוא מזהם.

חוויה מתקנת מצאתי על החוף. כשחזרתח בשחיה לחוף. מתוך הים הבחנתי בבחור יושב עליד התרמיל שלי. בעודי מתכוון ללבוש את בגד הים הבחנתי שהבחור יושב ערום. שמחתי לפגוש נודיסט על החוף והרגשתי מספיק בטוח לצעוד במערומיי על החוף למרות שהחוף בוא לא באופן רישמי חוף שאפשר להיסתובב בו ערומים. שוחחתי עם הבחור והיסתבר לי שהוא חשפן מצ’ילה והוא מגיע לחוך לעיתים קרובות וראה לא פעם נודיסטים נוספים בחוף. האם המזל הביא אותי לחוף הזה מבלי שהיה לי מידע כלשהו ולמרות שכולם אמרו לי שאי אפשר להשתזף בעירום באילת. אולי יש לי מין חוש או ראדר למקומות כאילה. חוש שאני קורה לו נודאר. ‘nudar’ 🙂

Hebrew text by Dror

snorkeling naked in coral reefs again! (Red Sea, Israel this time)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

עברית

I have been dreaming of swimming naked in the warm and full of life waters of coral reefs ever since I visited Egypt in 2005 and went snorkeling at a clothing-optional beach there. Finally I could do it again on my trip to Israel, and this time I had my waterproof camera with me.

And again I was amazed by the colorful and vivid underwater scenery, certainly one of the most stunning I have ever seen, even though Israel has less than 10km of seashore at the Red Sea and it is the northernmost tropical coral reef.

I had a little more than 24 hours in Eilat, so I didn’t want to spend my time on anything else but snorkeling there. I couldn’t find any information on a nudist beach in that area, but the first hint that I could go swimming naked there came from a girl who I got to know through CouchSurfing and who I was going to visit later on my trip at the Dead Sea; she said she liked a relatively empty Lighthouse beach where she sometimes stayed overnight with her friends. I found another couchsurfer in Eilat who agreed to host me even though he was busy preparing for exams, but I just left my stuff at his place and decided to go to the beach overnight. Given that it was late June and it was very hot, I wouldn’t even need a tent or a sleeping bag, so I loved the idea!

Lighthouse beach is before the last stop of the bus line that goes along the coast from Eilat’s central bus station to Princess hotel at the border with Egypt. There is not official bus stop, but I asked the driver to let me get off.

I came to there already at sunset, but because of the mountains the dusk was coming even quicker. So I had to hurry if I wanted to see the reef before the darkness and I still had to find a place to sleep. The beach itself didn’t impress me. As you can see on the photo above, it is just a several meters wide stretch of pebbly shore squeezed between the road and the sea (the road has to go so close to the sea because of the rocks). But it wasn’t the beach I was after, so I went straight to the sea (in my shorts that time). And I was immediately astonished by the beauty of the coral reef. It wasn’t as big as the one I saw in Hurghada, but it was full of life. And as soon as I saw a moray eel that was twisting menacingly next to its hole, I felt happy to have encountered such a distinctive inhabitant of the coral reef that I hadn’t seen before. While snorkeling I noticed a place at the border with Princess beach that seemed to have an about 1m high elevation which I thought would hide me from light from the road as well as protect me from wind. By the way, the beach was full of tents, but I couldn’t seen anyone around most of them. In any case, it gave me an impression that camping was OK there and people felt confident to leave their stuff. So I picked up my small backpack and went to that place. It felt so great to be able to sleep outdoors without a need to cover! So I slept under the starry sky next to the sea and the only thing that disturbed me was the light coming from the road. Well, at some point there was also a small mouse that tried to get into my backpack but after I scared it a couple of times it left me alone 😉

I woke up with the sun that was rising over Jordan. What a great start of the day to wake up at the sea with 3 countries in your view.

I had some fruity-nutty breakfast and decided to sunbathe naked as I didn’t see anyone around.

But soon I was ready to get into the water. BTW, on the water above you can see that there is a fence next to the sea and there are designated entrances into the sea which is an absolutely necessary measure to protect the coral reef… So here I was, going to the sea again but I didn’t dare to walk naked. I entered the water and then left my swimming trunks at the rock and continued swimming totally naked (except for the mask with snorkel 😎

With the sunlight, the coral reef looked of course even more stunning and many fishes were colored in an amazingly bright manner.

Some, like the crocodile-fish below, were on contrary barely noticeable and looked rather menacing.


But overall, it was a fantastic experience of seeing such an incredible variability of fishes during just a couple of hours, and most of them do not even try to escape when you come closer. I was lucky to capture most of the fishes I saw on my camera.
Here is a slideshow with some photos.

I didn’t bother putting names of the species, as my blog is about naturism and not naturalism after all, but I for myself, I was happy to find a list of fish species of the Red Sea coral reefs on wikipedia; apparently I have seen most of the typical species in such a short tour! And I was happy to see even some interspecies cooperative interactions: the famous example of cleaner fish (a type of wrasses on my photos) taking care of the skin of their big fellows (needlefish on my photos).
And here is a video with some of them.

And I was happy to experience an interaction of one of the fishes with me! That was a Picasso fish trying to intimidate me protecting its nest. And it worked, despite its size :O

And did I mention I was naked too? That’s what I call to be connected with nature 🙂

Unfortunately, fish and corals were not my only encounters:

Once in a while I saw some rubbish floating…

Most likely it comes from those tourist boats… I saw plenty of them; people seem to have lots of fun there, jumping from boats to the sea, but probably they don’t bother looking at beautiful underwater world. Otherwise I cannot imagine how someone could throw garbage into the sea knowing that there is such a marvel right under the surface.

But then a very pleasant surprise came from above the surface! When I was swimming back to my place, I noticed a man sitting close to my stuff and I was preparing to put on my shorts before getting out of the sea, but then I noticed he was naked too! I was quite happy to see a fellow nudist, so I felt even more comfortable staying without clothes, although the place wasn’t known to be clothing-optional. I spoke to the guy, who turned out to be a strip-dancer from Chile, and he said he went there quite regularly and saw some other people naked too. I was quite thrilled that I managed to find that spot just by chance, although everyone told me there was no nudist beach at the Red Sea in Eilat. I thought I might have some special sense, radar, for such places which I called a ‘nudar’ 🙂