Tag: naturist

beaches of Barcelona

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Barcelona is an ultimate tourist destination with countless sights of interest, be it history or art, beautiful views, gastronomic delights, vibrant night life and, of course, beaches. Now, what other major city can boast with a naturist beach in its central area? And not just one, but two!

One beach is located in the southern part of the hip Barceloneta area and is called Sant Sebastià. You can see it on the right side coming down by cable car from park Montjuïc.

Isn’t it great to strip down and dip in the sea after all that sightseeing? The location is especially perfect if you go there after checking out the Olympic site and city news from Montjuïc. That’s what we did.

Another well known naturist beach is Mar Bella. It is a little further away from the historic centre, but you can see the famous ‘Egg building’, for example. It also has a dune with tall grass, which gives it a bit more natural and secluded feeling.

All beaches within the city boundaries have showers, which is useful if you want to continue exploring the city straight after the beach.

Both naturist beaches of Barcelona are full of locals and tourists but are not overcrowded.

You will be most certainly offered a ‘masaje’ right on the beach; we thought it was a good idea, but just did massage to each other instead.

The clothing optional section is big enough for a walk

or even a short run.

But when the sun was high we of course went to swim

or simply relaxed in the breeze

and in water.

Well, actually the sea was quite rough, so it was difficult to relax in water and we mostly played in waves.

Which in the end was a lot of fun!

Thumbs up to Barcelona’s liberal attitude! Actually I read that some people took it one step further and were even walking naked on the streets, but unfortunately the new mayor was apparently looking for some ways to distract people’s attention from economic problems and proposed a law forbidding even walking topless in the city (even for men). Let’s hope the trend will be reversed soon, otherwise we’ll loose just about the only big city with naturist sea beaches in the centre.

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

dance, dance, dance!

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

Dancing naked always sounds like a great idea to me, and I have been to a couple of specialized naked discos – Starkers! in London and SchlagerNackt in Berlin, and was even spinning myself at Nude Year’s Eve in New York, but the idea that such a big and iconic night club as Ministry of Sound in London could host an event where electronic music buffs would dance in the buff sounds not just great but fantastic!

But unfortunately that is nothing but a bold commercial… maybe one day 🙂

Nude Year’s Eve photos and new party from YNA!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0000 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

So, as I announced briefly before the New Year, I joined Young Nudists&Naturists America as a DJ for their Nude Year’s Eve party. It was my first time to celebrate New Year in the buff at a social event and the first time I was DJing since 2007, so I was very excited!

I was there with my friend Jerry but I got to know a bunch of cool people, including Felicity, the PR of Young Nudists&Naturists America, and a couple of members from Florida Young Naturists, Kathleen and Mark. What they told me about naturist events and activities in Florida made me envious, but it looks like NYC has something to offer too 😉

naturist 0001 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

Mark seemed to be pretty much into my music.

naturist 0002 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

‘Music lives on’  – said his tattoo – that’s how we like our dancers 🙂 At some point I had to leave my ‘DJ booth’ (kinda) to join most of the crowd at the roof.

naturist 0003 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

It was quite chilly, but when I saw that we were right next to Empire State Building, I couldn’t care less about the cold!

naturist 0004 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

But I had to carry more though, namely Mark, as the roof was full of wet snow and he didn’t have shoes on him.

naturist 0005 Nude Year's Eve 2011 with YNA, New York, NY, USA

Well, I might have missed the Times Square Ball, but being naked on a rooftop next to Empire State Building seemed like a good alternative!

This Saturday night (Feb 19) Young Nudists&Naturists America organize another party at the same spot and I will play a couple of hours set there, hope to see even more people there! Go totheir website to register for the party.

famous Black’s Beach!

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

In the mid-November, I was lucky to go with my new colleagues for the biggest conference in my field, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, and that time it was held in the sunny San Diego. Of course, it wouldn’t have been me, if I hadn’t planned to visit a nudist beach there, especially such a famous one as Black’s Beach. And I was double lucky that on the warmest day during my stay, when it was over 25ºC, the program seemed the least interesting so I skipped most of the day and headed to the beach (see the map for exact location).

As soon as I reached, it was pretty clear why this beach is so famous: it is, obviously, one of the biggest clothing-optional beaches and the view from the cliffs is stunning! It reminded me of the beaches of Meco in Portugal and Ga’ash in Israel.

I was surprised that on such an unusually warm day for November it was relatively empty, although it was Sunday, but I noticed some naked sunbathers immediately.

There are several trails leading down, and apparently I chose not the easiest one, but it was fun.

And I saw some lizards on the way down, apparently the enjoyed the sun too.
Soon I was walking on the soft beach sand, and look how the waves create a beautiful ornament of black and gold.
Then I saw that besides sunbathers there were surfers too!
But not naked :-/
Well, the water wasn’t too warm… But actually, first time I heard of Black’s Beach was because of the Nude Surfing Event. (check this link for more info)
Here is a video of one of the surfers.
Now, I’ve found that they actually arrange naked surfing lessons from July till September! I want to do that!!!
… but coming back to my calm day at the Black’s Beach, I was looking for a nice spot to lie down. I stayed near bushes and soon found that I had some neighbors: a rabbit (could not manage to take a photo of it) and a California ground squirrel that was quite tame and obviously was attracted to my nuts. (I mean I had some almonds with me 🙂

But then I got to know a bit more communicative neighbor, local visitor Alex. We chatted for a while, and it was him who disillusioned me by saying that such a hot day was not common that time of the year even in Southern California… But I still thought to myself that I might have made a mistake not applying for job at Salk Institute which is located practically on top of Black’s Beach, hehe. The idea that one can walk to such a beautiful beach for a lunch break sounds tantalizing! I did go to a lake for lunch breaks in my first year in Berlin until our lab moved, but even then my work was not that close to a naturist retreat like here.

Later in the afternoon I went jogging all along the beach and this gave me the real impression of how huge the beach is! But, apparently not all beach is officially a clothing optional area. When I ran in the northern direction one elderly man waived to me and told that I was way beyond the nude-friendly area and might get fined! If I understood correctly, the clothing optional part ends to the north of these rocks. But there was no sign. In any case, I didn’t feel bad, as only 2 or 3 people saw me in that section of the beach and there were either coming from or heading to the clothing-optional part, so I doubt they would be shocked by seeing a naked jogger.
Other people that I met gave me much more pleasant news. I saw one guy practicing some capoeira moves, but unfortunately he had to leave soon. I still haven’t mentioned that I did swim there too. The water was a little chilly, but I could stand it for 20-30min, amongst few others. And then, the only neighbor of mine, who went for long swims too, was coming from the sea almost crying. Don’t worry, he wasn’t bitten by a shark, those were tears of happiness as he saw a school of dolphins right next to him! He said it was one the most beautiful moments in his life, and I was very disappointed at myself that I left the ocean just about 10min earlier… I have swum with dolphins once, but that was in murky waters of Rio Negro in the Amazon basin so I couldn’t really see them underwater…
And when I was going back at sunset I saw a group of people playing volleyball, in the buff of course. This beach certainly seems to be perfect for many kinds of naturist activities 🙂

Before I was going to wear my clothes, I saw a threatening warning ‘Unstable Cliffs. Stay Back’
And I did so and enjoy one of the most beautiful sunsets 😎

One of the next (colder) days, I went there again with my colleagues for a short hike in Torrey Pines Park. When we went down to the beach I took some more photos, like this one with giant algae brought by waves on the shore.

And these are sandpipers; the smaller ones always run somewhat clumsily trying to escape the waves, while the bigger one stay calm.
And once in a while there were flocks of (probably) pelicans…
So overall, Black’s Beach seems to be perfect for nature lovers and active beach-goers. I hope to go there again, perhaps for a class of naked surfing!

Naked Gym in Paris (again)!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists
naturist 0009 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Many people, including me, find working out in the gym too boring… But as in winter the number of outdoor activities is rather limited, and even more limited if you want to do them naked, a gym may seem a little more attractive. And one way to spice up the exercises a little is to do them in the buff!

naturist 0010 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

I already reported about a gym and a swimming pool in Paris with naturist hours a year ago, and we visited it again last December. First, my boy and I had a dinner with the founders of Oh!naturist network, Philippe and Laurent, from whom I actually first heard about this gym.

Then it was a good time to burn the calories.

naturist 0007 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

This time we didn’t go to the pool and treadmills and concentrated on more serious work out 😉

naturist 0008 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Also, this time we took our camera with us and tried to capture our exercises on as many machines as possible till the gym would get crowded.

naturist 0001 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

It is, of course, more fun to exercise in a good company.

naturist 0000 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Also we were kind of lucky to see Paris covered with snow. Such heavy snowfalls are rare in Paris, and this one caused quite a bit of chaos in the city. But we decided to enjoy the snow, fully!

naturist 0003 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Not only did we run naked in the snow,

naturist 0006 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Laurent even dared to lie down and create a so-called snow angel.

naturist 0004 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Then, of course, a snowball game followed 🙂

naturist 0005 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Luckily, the gym has a steam sauna, so we could warm up.

So if you like to work out and hang out naked in company of good people, this gym is perfect!

naturist 0002 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Go to my previous post for more details and links.

video from River Island Nature Retreat (NSW, Australia)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

My naturist pen pal Brenton wrote in his first post for this blog about a beautiful nature retreat in New South Wales, Australia, called River Island. While the north-eastern state Queensland is suffering from floods and is in a critical state now, NSW seems to have a good summer weather, so Brenton made this cool video about his latest visit to River Island.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgl0qv_river-island-naturist-reserve_lifestyle#.USBYWqVH3TY

Enjoy! Hope to visit that and many other places in Oz one day…

Hiking near oasis at the Dead Sea in Israel

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

After spending 2 days of snorkeling at the Red Sea, I had to move further, and the next stop on my trip through Israel was the Dead Sea. I stayed at a friend of my new friend who brought me to Ga’ash beach in Tel Aviv. He lived in Ein Gedi kibbutz, which is a part of luscious Ein Gedi oasis off the shores of the Dead Sea. The sea-lake itself is of course the major attraction in the area, and I will talk about it in my next post, but there is also a nice opportunity to see local flora and fauna on a daily hiking trip. Ein Gedi nature reserve has two spring-fed streams with flowing water year-round: Nahal David and Nahal Arugot. The former is much more popular, and I was advised not to go there, as tourists pour in big portions coming with organized bus tours.

view 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

So, I went alone to Nahal Arugot and for most of the time I wasn’t disturbed by anyone and even found some moments to enjoy the refreshing waters in the buff!

view 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Right after entrance, it did feel like it was a desert, but then it got quite green along the stream and at some points I walked right on its banks or even in its shallow waters.

view 0002 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

When it got deeper and wider, I couldn’t resist dipping in the water. Skinny-dipping, of course!

naturist 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

But I heard some loud voices of american teenage tourists and had to cover fast. In any case I had to hurry, because the trail closes very early and I had to return to the entry point by 5pm.

Then I saw the first pool with waterfalls. That is what the trail is known for, but this one was quickly occupied by some American tourists and I continued further.

view 0003 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

I noted another pool but decided to stop there on the way back, if I didn’t find anything else.

view 0004 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

So, I continued hiking partially on the trail, partially through in the stream, in hope to find a more secluded spot. I found one pool that seemed to be somewhat hidden by the trees and bushes and refreshed again.

naturist 0003 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

It also seemed like a nice spot for having a lunch. While I was eating my sandwich, a couple of birds came very close to me.

bird 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

They did not beg for food like their urban relatives, and it was nice to imagine that they were as curious about me as I was about them.

bird 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

After food I went for another dip

naturist 0002 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

and encountered another creature that didn’t mind me taking a close-up photo.
dragonfly 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Then I finally continued hiking. I reached the tallest waterfall

view waterfall 0005 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

but didn’t stay there for too long as I wanted to go till the end of the trail.

view waterfall 0006 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Unfortunately, just a little further above the waterfalls I was called by a guard, who told me it was too late to continue further. It sounded strange to me, as it was early still, but I didn’t bother arguing and started my way back in the direction of the Dead Sea.

view 0007 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

I was passing by the high waterfall again, but it was then full of VERY noisy teenagers, orthodox Jews this time. I was wondering why they needed to shout so much, as the place looked so peaceful and perfect for listening to the sounds of nature, but for them it was more of an attraction park, which is also understandable, given that they might not have too much access to natural freshwater pools if they lived in that area. But then I raised my head and right above the gorge saw a group of nubian ibexes.

nubian ibex 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Apparently, they were thinking about the same issues, as they were staring from above at the noisy tourists fooling around at the waterfall. The good part about their noisiness, I thought, was that in case I would do skinny-dipping, I could hear them approaching.

The pool that I noted previously was still unoccupied so I decided to enjoy it for myself.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xghfk2_skinny-dipping-in-the-desert_travel

As you can see, I also found it to be quite an attraction to slide down the stream bed into the pool.

It was also amazing to see ferns growing on the walls above the stream given that few meters away a rocky desert was starting.

fern 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

But then even more amazing was it to see two animals side by side that you would never expect to see in the desert: a frog and a crab!

frog & crab 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

After I had enough fun at the pool, I followed till the exit quickly and just stopped to take pictures of another group of ibexes, which came even closer.

nubian ibex 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

I never thought I could spend such a refreshing day and seeing so much wildlife at the Dead Sea.

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’ 🙂

Swan Lake

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

I’ve seen something that impressed me so much, I couldn’t skip it on my blog, although it has little to do with naturist activities…

Swan Lake, Pyotr Tchaikovsky‘s masterpiece, has been arguably the most popular ballet for decades and has also become classics in modern dance thanks to Matthew Bourne‘s interpretation, first staged in 1995 in London’s West End and never having a break since then with several tours around the world.

I first saw their billboards in Athens where they were on tour last autumn, but finally got a chance to see the show itself last weekend here in New York.

I won’t pretend being an expert in modern dance (although I do like it), but I hardly can imagine any other show that can beat Bourne’s Swan Lake in both choreography and emotional message, so beautiful and powerful, romantic and tragic. There is an interview with Matthew Bourne on youtube where he talks about New York’s production specifically. In short, the Prince is struggling with his false and exposed life where he cannot get love and understanding neither from his mother nor girlfriend, and then he sees (dreams of?) a flock of swans…

He falls in love with their leader, who is a reincarnation of everything the Prince actually wants to be: strong and free…

One of the things that struck me was that the swans in the show moved and behaved pretty much like swans in reality. I tell you as a zoologist 😉 , and I’ve seen plenty of them at the Wannsee lake in Berlin.)

The swans in this performance were not only gracious creatures, typically portrayed in Tchaikovky’s ballet, but also vigorous and sometimes fierce.

naturist & swan 0001 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

They may come to you

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

and bow gently.

naturist & swan 0002 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

(oops! this one even slightly overdid it, putting his head underwater.) But they may also hiss and move menacingly if you come too close

naturist & swan 0005 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

or simply leave all of a sudden…

And don’t even try to catch them:

naturist & swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

you are lucky if they decide to escape, otherwise they can actually hit you!

But if you are even luckier, perhaps you’ll be able to find your way to a swan… A possible interpretation of Bourne’s Swan Lake is a desire to be one with nature, whose symbol in the story is a swan. Maybe Matthew Bourn should have staged some of the scenes in the nude, that would certainly make the connection even more powerful and dancers’ moves even more beautiful…

naturist & swan 0004 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

Anyways, this is how the Prince found his ultimate freedom…