Kepulauan Raja Ampat di Papua Wilayah Indonesia: Surga di Atas dan Dalam Air

English

naturist 0002 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Siapa yang tidak suka melewatkan seminggu penuh di kepulauan tropis yang serba hijau dan dikelilingi oleh perairan yang jernih? Menulis ini membuat saya ingin kembali ke 7 hari yang sangat menyenangkan dalam perjalanan berlayar di salah satu keajaiban bahari alami di planet kita.

clown fish coral reef 0001 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Tulisan ini datang dari taman bahari Raja Ampat yang begitu mengagumkan di Papua.

islands view 0011 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Raja Ampat adalah kepulauan di ujung utara Semenanjung Kepala Burung di Pulau New Guinea, atau Papua, sebutan lainnya dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Daerah ini termasuk ke dalam wilayah Indonesia dan merupakan salah satu provinsi paling timur dari rangkaian kepulauan Indonesia yang luas. Raja Ampat adalah sebutan untuk empat raja yang ditunjuk oleh Kesultanan Tidore – sebuah kerajaan besar yang berpusat di Kepulauan Maluku – untuk memimpin empat pulau terbesar di kepulauan tersebut: Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, dan Misool. Keempat raja yang berkuasa di pulau-pulau inilah yang melahirkan nama Raja Ampat.

Kami melewatkan seminggu penuh di Raja Ampat. Terdiri dari 6 orang, kami berlayar dengan kapal kayu untuk menjelajahi kepulauan yang indah ini. Ini adalah cara terbaik untuk berkeliling Raja Ampat – mengingat Raja Ampat merupakan kepulauan yang luas, sebaiknya Anda melewatkan hari-hari Anda di dalam air dan juga di permukaan air untuk mendapatkan pengalaman Raja Ampat yang terbaik.

Raja Ampat digadang-gadang sebagai alam bahari dengan keberagaman kehidupan bawah laut terkaya di dunia.

clown fish coral reef 0000 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Begitu saya tiba di kepulauan tersebut, saya tidak henti-hentinya mengagumi alam sekitar yang begitu indah – pemandangan dan perairannya yang luar biasa begitu mengagumkan.

naturist 0001 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Banyak orang setempat yang mengklaim kepulauan ini sebagai surga yang jatuh ke bumi, dan saya sangat setuju dengan pernyataan tersebut!

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Kami memulai perjalanan dari bagian tengah kepulauan.

islands view 0003 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Kami disuguhi jajaran koral yang mengagumkan sejak hari pertama.

coral reef 0008 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Koral-koral tersebut begitu indah dan dalam keadaan yang baik

coral reef 0007 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

– mendorong untuk melihat masa di mana banyak terumbu karang yang pudar akibat polusi.

coral reef 0000 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Ikan-ikannya pun tidak kalah cantik berwarna-warni, seolah-olah mereka berlomba untuk memenangkan busana terbaik.

coral reef 0002 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Cukup hanya dengan snorkeling, Anda bisa melihat hal-hal terbaik yang ditawarkan Raja Ampat.

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Ya, Anda hanya perlu perlengkapan seadanya untuk menikmati dunia bawah air yang luar biasa!

naturist 0007 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Hari-hari berikutnya kami lalui dengan berlayar ke arah utara untuk mencapai

islands view 0007 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Wayag –

islands view 0010 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

sekumpulan pulau-pulau kecil yang ditumbuhi hutan lebat yang sering muncul di internet bila Anda mencari Raja Ampat. Sebuah contoh klasik dari sebuah surga tropis.

islands view 0006 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Berenang, snorkeling, berjemur, memancing, adalah beberapa aktivitas yang bisa Anda nikmati selama berlayar. Di Raja Ampat Anda bahkan bisa berenang dan memberi makan hiu-hiu secara langsung!

shark coral reef 0000 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Mereka memang tidak sebesar itu, tapi pada awalnya memang cukup mengerikan dan membuat gugup. Namun tidak berapa lama berselang, saya sudah bergabung di antara kawanan hiu dan ikan-ikan kecil lainnya, yang mana cukup mengesankan.

Ada beberapa penginapan yang tersedia di beberapa pulau besar, dan beberapa darinya menawarkan paket-paket lengkap yang memungkinkan Anda melakukan banyak aktivitas. Tapi menurut saya, berlayar dengan kapal adalah cara terbaik untuk menikmati Raja Ampat, karena dengan begitu kita bisa pergi ke tempat yang terjauh yang kita mau.

islands view 0012 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Selain itu kita bisa rehat sejenak dari segala aktivitas air dan berkeliling pulau – bahkan hiking telanjang di hutan tropis!

islands view 0008 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Sementara teman-teman saya yang lain tidak tertarik untuk menanggalkan pakaian mereka, saya berhasil menyempatkan diri untuk memisahkan diri dan mempraktikkan naturisme. Saya harus akui bahwa saya termasuk pendatang baru dalam naturisme, di mana hal ini membuat saya sungkan untuk bertelanjang di sepanjang perjalanan. Namun saya tetap mempunyai kesempatan untuk melakukannya dengan senang. Saya masih bisa merasakan nikmatnya telanjang di alam dan merasakan hembusan angin tropis menyapu kulit.

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Cuacanya memang sangat panas, namun tetap menyenangkan untuk dinikmati. Seperti kata banyak orang, matahari adalah perawatan yang terbaik.

naturist 0004 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Bagian terbaiknya? Tentu saja bisa berenang telanjang dan snorkeling di salah satu dunia bawah laut terbaik di dunia!

naturist 0009 Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia

Bila Anda tertarik untuk melewatkan beberapa hari terbaik Anda di surga, saya sangat merekomendasikan Anda untuk berkunjung ke Raja Ampat. Otoritas setempat membatasi jumlah turis yang berkunjung ke Raja Ampat, yang mana merupakan hal yang bagus, karena dengan demikian pengunjung akan lebih sedikit dan kesempatan Anda untuk menikmati kepulauan untuk Anda sendiri semakin besar, terlebih lagi, sekali lagi, bila Anda melakukannya dengan cara berlayar. Kru kapal mungkin tidak terlalu kenal dengan naturisme jika Anda ingin membuat trip Anda sebuah pelayaran telanjang sepenuhnya. Namun, dengan memberikan pemahaman kepada mereka, saya yakin mereka akan paham dan memakluminya.

 

text and imagery by Miko

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

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.

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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

secluded spot at Key Biscayne (Miami)

naturist 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Welcome to Miami! And if you think that glamorous and crowded Miami Beach is the only way to enjoy the tropical seaside, you are wrong. Key Biscayne island lies south-east of Miami Downtown, close enough to see its skyline,

view 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

but wild and remote enough to enjoy a small secluded beach with barely anyone else in sight, and totally naked if you will. (By the way, the first photo and the one below were taken at the same spot, just at different times of the day, so you can see how tides change.)

naturist 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

The northeast point of Key Biscayne, right by the fossilized reef, has a history of nude recreation, but it’s not an official nudist beach, while Virginia Key just north of it did have an official nudist beach until 1980’s. The place is known as Bear Cut beach. Maybe “bare” would be more appropriate than “bear” here, though far not all visitors bare it all, and some – actually nothing at all: a couple of fishermen were covered entirely, face included.

fisherman 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Besides humans, we also saw quite a few animals of the rare kind that actually wear something:

hermit crab 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

hermit crabs were all over the place there, from the size of a nail to the size of a palm. And luckily for them, there seemed to be no shortage of shells of various sizes.

hermit crab 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USAhermit crab 0002 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

It was nice to wander through the mangroves and observe nature.

naturist 0003 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Besides numerous crabs, we saw quite a few crab spiders (aka spinybacked orb-weavers).

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Some of them built their webs quite high up,

crab spider spinybacked orb-weaver 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

with an impressive span between the trees.

crab spider spinybacked orb-weaver 0002 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

I found these spiders pretty too, and hopefully there aren’t readers of this blog with arachnophobia :O (Does anyone know its scientific name btw? And if you like spiders, check this post out!)

spider 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Well, the sight of ibises would probably be more commonly appreciated 🙂

ibis 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

As we walked at the fossilized reef,

naturist 0002 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

we also saw a heron. It didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence. I got pretty good shots of it resting,

heron 0002 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

hunting

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and flying.

heron 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

We also saw flocks of pelicans pass by,

pelican 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

but only a couple of them rested nearby.

pelican 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Our neighbor at the cove where we stayed was an iguana.

iguana 0002 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

It  was climbing trees,

iguana 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

and Lee Roy followed its example.

naturist 0004 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Although majority of trees there are represented by various mangrove species, we also saw papayas

papaya 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

and coconut palms.

coconut palm-tree 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Too bad none of them had ripe fruit. These ants though seemed to be excited about something at the tip of the mangrove root, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. (BTW I later discovered that honey from mangrove blossom has a very particular fruity flavor, make sure to try it when you get a chance!)

ants on mangrove root 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Plants and animals weren’t the only thing that drew our attention though:

trash 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

unfortunately, there was quite a lot of trash too. Most of it was probably washed off from the sea. On the way out, we collected plastic bags and bottles from the cove where we stayed.

mangroves view 0002 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Some of the bigger bits of trash though found their new life as sitting surfaces among mangroves. That’s a good way of recycling too!

mangroves view 0003 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

It also turned out to be a great place for snorkeling. I hoped to see manatees,

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but I had to be satisfied with their potential feeding ground only, as some parts of the seafloor were covered with seaweed.

seaweed & corals 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

I was also happy to see that despite this place is known for its fossilized reef from several thousands years ago, there is some new coral growth – hopefully there will be a new live coral reef sometime soon!

seaweed & corals 0002 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USAseaweed & corals 0003 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

I saw quite a lot of fish, e.g. young barracudas (?)

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and a stingray.

ray 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

There was a lot of small fish by the mangrove roots, confirming mangroves’ role as fish nurseries. Among the bigger fish, puffers were probably most common.

As you can see, the water is very clear there, and the seafloor is clean, but I did see some glass, so be careful when you wade.

hermit crab 0003 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

Overall, it was amazing to see this pocket of wildlife right off Miami downtown, great for naturists and naturalists alike!

mangroves view 0001 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

As we were about to leave, this crab wanted to give us a good-bye hug… We weren’t quite sure.

crab 0000 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

We also had a small video shot for something very special – stay tuned for updates!

naturist 0005 Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA

For now, just enjoy this view of Eddy’s jump split trying to bridge Miami downtown (on the left) with Miami Beach (on the right).

recap of some naked surf fun and watching sea life at Black’s Beach

I’ve already written up about Black’s Beach twice – in general, and on our first nude surfing experience there specifically – but as I’m finishing the latest Californian series of blogposts, I can’t help adding some new footage from surfing there again, as well as photos of marine life.

Well, I guess I have to promise to post another video in the future when I improve both my surfing skills and using GoPro camera. It was my very first attempt to shoot a video with GoPro on a surfboard, so I’m pretty confident the next one will be better. In any case, it was still a lot of fun to play with the waves naked. And it was very liberating too, especially after that pretty long (especially when you carry a surfboard) hike down the dirt trail from the parking lot to the beach.

I was very happy to find quite a few other naked surfers (including one woman) on those days. And a couple of days ago, as I was preparing my footage for this post, I got across this recent video of a guy surfing naked at Black’s Beach.

Who knows, maybe some time soon those nude surfing contests will be back at Black’s Beach?!

naturist 0002 Blacks Beach, California, USA

Black’s Beach would be also perfect for a barefoot (or should I say bare all around?) running race, with its perfect flat wet sand (not necessarily submerged in water, as on the photo above, but running in water could be a sport of its own).

sand 0002 Blacks Beach, California, USA

Speaking of sand at Black’s Beach, it fascinated me quite a lot how those sand grains of different colors formed various patterns

sand 0000 Blacks Beach, California, USA

depending on the waves and tides.

sand 0001 Blacks Beach, California, USA

These patterns change from place to place as you walk along the beach,

sand 0003 Blacks Beach, California, USA

and throughout the day too.

sand 0004 Blacks Beach, California, USA

The symmetry of this pattern is amazing

sand 0005 Blacks Beach, California, USA

but inexplicable to me due to lack of enough knowledge in physics and geology 😎

Even more exciting view followed from the ocean, however!

dolphins 0000 Blacks Beach, California, USA

Well, it could also be a worrisome sight, if I thought those might be sharks… But dolphins are a lot commoner in these water, and the fountain from the blowhole revealed their identity with certainty.

dolphins 0002 Blacks Beach, California, USA

I’ve never seen wild dolphins in the ocean so close!

dolphins 0001 Blacks Beach, California, USA

(I have to specify “in the ocean”, because I did swim with wild river dolphins in the Amazon, and canoed next to sea dolphins in the mangroves in Florida.)

dolphins 0003 Blacks Beach, California, USA

Another time, dolphins appeared at sunset.

dolphins 0004 Blacks Beach, California, USA

They were even more active, probably feasting on a shoal of fish,

dolphins 0006 Blacks Beach, California, USA

and I hoped to get a picture of a dolphin jumping above the setting sun 😀 Was that too much to ask? Well, I got pretty close to it!

dolphins 0005 Blacks Beach, California, USA

As a bonus afterwards, a seal came by as well, but it was getting too dark to take a decent picture of it.

seal 0000 Blacks Beach, California, USA

Once again, Black’s Beach proved to be an amazing site for beach activities and marine life observation. I can’t wait to go back!

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

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.

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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)

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

beaches of Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve, natural and naturist?

Unfortunately, I have to start from bad news: just one month after I posted about eco-resort Papaya Playa and its clothing-optional beach, upon my second visit there I found out it was no longer clothing-optional. There was a warning on the beach that read: ‘Welcome to Papaya Playa. Clothing is mandatory!’ Unfortunately, Papaya Playa also bought neighbouring resort Copal that was known to be clothing-optional. So, now there is no nudist beach in Tulum’s eco-hotel zone to my knowledge. I’ve read about a couple of luxurious nudist hotels in the area – Hidden Beach Resort, Dolce Vita B& B, and Desire Resort, but they seem to be very expensive and do not offer day passes to the beach. However , if you don’t mind staying away from the hotels, you could go to biosphere reserver Sian-Ka’an or Xcacel-Xcacelito for some more secluded beaches where you can sunbathe and swim ‘as nature intended’.

I’d recommend renting a bicycle to move around Tulum, but make sure to find a good one – most of the rented bikes are in terrible, really terrible conditions (you feel like something is about to fall off as soon as you take off). iBike seemed to be the only bike rental that offered mountain bikes. We rented cruiser bikes from them because they were much cheaper and the road seemed to be pretty smooth, but now my advice is to go for their mountain bikes, because they seemed to be in much better state, and not so much because you’ll need suspension, although that helps too, once you leave the asphalted road and enter Sian-Ka’an. The closest open access beach in Sian-Ka’an is about 15-20 min by bike from the hotel zone (about 35min from the town). After you enter Sian-Ka’an through ‘the arch’, continue further and look for mark “3” on the right side. There is a  trail opposite of it,

naturist 0011 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

and it leads to this idyllic beach.

naturist 0002 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Shortly after our arrival, we saw the rain was approaching, but as the sun was still shining, the colour of the sea got only more intense juxtaposed with dark clouds.

naturist  0001 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

When the rain started, we followed advice of the pelicans not to be bothered

pelicans in the rain  0002 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

and ran into the sea.

naturist 0001 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Soon the rain stopped, and we were rewarded with a rainbow.

naturist 0004 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

I felt like doing some stretching and a coconut palm tree seemed perfect for practicing ‘bridges’.

naturist 0003 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

That’s when I noticed two ripe coconuts hanging at the top. Maybe it was the influence of videos of Indian pole gymnastics, that I had impressed me so much shortly before the trip, but I decided to climb the coconut tree.

naturist 0006 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

My first attempt, though, appeared more appropriate for the tree-hugging day 😀

naturist 0005 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

I tried to remember techniques for that but mostly had to improvise. Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen this video of free climbing a 100ft coconut palm tree, so my way up wasn’t as efficient, but I did manage to reach the coconuts (granted my tree was much shorter, but on the other hand, I didn’t have any equipment at all, so my climb was truly ‘free’).

naturist 0007 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

I hope my fascination of coconut palm trees can be forgiven, given that they represent an ultimate tropical beach icon and I came there after some chilly New York spring days… But sometimes they also form some interesting structures… this one was somewhat ‘alienesque’…

naturist  0000 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Next time we came to the same place with my local friend, and we were up for a treat. We made ceviche from freshly caught bought fish. It would be cool to catch our own fish for lunch, but fishing is understandably forbidden in Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve.

naturist ceviche 0000 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

So, we chopped half an onion and squeezed about 10 limes onto the fish filet of about a kilo and left it to marinate for 20min.

naturist ceviche 0002 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Then we diced a tomato,

naturist ceviche 0003 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

and added some cilantro too.

naturist ceviche 0005 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Our ceviche turned out just perfect (at lest for our hungry stomachs).

naturist ceviche 0006 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Maybe it’s time to start a new section on this website, something like ‘cooking with active naturists’?

naturist 0013 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Later in the afternoon we continued cycling further south; we were aiming to reach the point that I saw on the satellite view map where coral reef came closer to the beach. Surprisingly, most of the shore was actually privately owned or on sale – not sure how that works on the territory that is a biosphere reserve – so we had no choice but go until we’d find free access beach. We almost gave up, and Will’s bike got a flat tire, but then there was a sign for a public beach, playa publica. We decided to deal with the tire next day, and settled down on that beautiful beach.

naturist 0009 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

There was just one other group of 3 guys on the beach and someone jogging, so we felt the place was pretty much ours. We found a nice spot under coconut palm trees (of course!) to set up our tent, and there were some pretty bushes with orange flowers.

naturist 0012 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

It’s hard to imagine a better place for beach camping!

When we walked around, we noticed that one of the guys in the other group was skinny-dipping too. We were a good influence 🙂 At night, we went for a walk by the water again in hope to see bioluminescent plankton. There was almost none in the water, but surprisingly we noticed that we had many of those sparkling dots in our hair! Probably the previous beach had more of bioluminescent plankton and it got stuck in our hair. Then we saw two men wearing some kind of military outfit approaching. We just behaved as if our outfit was as natural as theirs (and in fact it was, but you know what I mean), but they didn’t seem to be bemused at all; they just asked where we stayed and where we were from…

naturist 0008 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

As the sun was rising, it was a good time to get out of the tent

naturist 0010 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

and take photos of the shorebirds.

frigatebird 0011 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico.jpg

Frigatebirds and pelicans were the most numerous.

pelican 0002 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We saw some successful catches,

pelican 0000 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

but they also seemed to enjoy the dives.

pelican 0001 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Synchronised diving of pelicans was particularly impressive. Too bad I didn’t manage to get a photo of three of them plunging simultaneously.

pelican 0003 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

By the way, where you see the waves breaking in the sea in the background goes the barrier reef. It’s not very close to the beach, but we decided to swim towards it. It was a nice long swim (it took us about half an hour one way), but we didn’t see anything particularly interesting at the reef like I did previously at Akumal beach (turtles) or in front of Tulum ruins (squids).

naturist snorkel 0000 Sian Kaan beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

After that, we had a fruit snack, pumped the tube at the nearest ‘rancho’ (looked more like some kind of small boat maintenance place) and headed back to Tulum.

Another beach in vicinity of Tulum is Xcacel-Xcacelito. It’s really pretty and not crowded at all. We figured that at the far left side we could be naked as there was hardly anyone, and we saw some topless women too. That is also where the reef comes close to the beach, but again it wasn’t particularly vivid, as you’d expect from the most prolific type of marine ecosystem.

naturist 0000 Xcacel-Xcacelito beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Goluboy [Blue] Bay (Crimea)

 Русский

Another picturesque location to enjoy the sea au naturel in Crimea is Blue Bay near Simeiz. It is located under Mount Koshka, which means ‘cat-mountain’ because of how it looks from a certain point.

Coming from the centre of the town, you’ll have to walk by this beautiful alley on Lenina Street, which already has some hints promising clothing-optional leisure in the end.

After this building, Lenina Street becomes Golubaya Street (Blue Street).

Then, watch out for this sign on the left.

Like at Cape Fiolent, there are some politically-charged signs too, with a very different tone, however: this one says “Freedom to gays!”

Simeiz is actually the only known holiday destination that attracts a large proportion of gays from Ukraine and Russia, and by coincidence the name of this bay, Goluboy, means both ‘blue’ and ‘gay’ in Russian. Which meaning you think is of more relevance is up to you to decide 🙂

From the bay itself, you can see Crimean mountains including the highest peak of Ai-Petri.

And this is how it looks from this peak.

There are a lot of different fishes, and the rocks are covered with colorful algae.

The area is relatively green, so you can stay in shade and even camp under trees,

but most people stay on the rocks in the open,

right under this steep cliff.

There are also many rocks that provide more private setting.

And some of them are also popular for cliff diving. I dived from this one, but unfortunately I don’t have any photo evidence.

Maybe next time?

beaches of Cape Fiolent (Crimea)

Русский

With this post I am starting a series of descriptions of Crimean beaches. Right on time if you plan some vacations in Ukraine after the final of the Euro Cup 2012 😉 Crimea is the main tourist destination in Ukraine with rich history and diverse nature, as well as several nudist beaches.

Cape Fiolent near Sevastopol provides some of the best beaches in the area thanks to the beautiful scenery and clear waters. Several years ago it was treated as a protected area, so the number of visitors was limited and one had to arrive in the morning and get tickets in a nearest pension or hotel, but in 2010 it was no longer the case, which I found rather unfortunate, even though it made it easier in terms of reaching the beach.

In any case, prepare to go down by hundreds of stairs, as the beaches are down by the steep cliffs.

If you go to the beach on the western side of Cape Fiolent, aka Tsar beach, you’ll be stunned with the vast views over the Black Sea.

At sunset, the colors are only more dramatic.

The nudist section is behind that big rock that you see in the center of the photo, but it is actually even marked as such (probably by its visitors themselves).

This beach is mostly pebbled, which is not the best option for sunbathing, so there was only more reason to go swimming. Luckily, I had my waterproof camera too, I was surprised to find rich underwater life.

Most of the rocks are covered by green, red and brown algae and moss animals (bryozoans).

And I’ve never seen that many hermit crabs as there.

Of course they were hiding in shells and were not eager to pose before my camera whatsoever.

But I was able to get a comb jelly photographed, also a relatively rare but beautiful sight; while moving, it created shiny multicolor waves at the edges of its body.

If you go to the beach on the eastern side of Cape Fiolent, aka Yashma [jasper] beach, the views are even more picturesque,

with a small monastery on the left.

Probably it was them who put a big cross on the small rocky island right in front of the beach.

Given a conservative stance of both Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches (I don’t know to which one the monastery belongs), I hope they don’t mind that part of the beach is by default clothing-optional. Actually, I was so inspired by the view with the cross, I felt like I could walk on water!

OK, I’ll have to tell you my secret, there was a barely submerged rock a few meters away from the shore.

And this is how the beach looks like from that island with the cross.

The unofficial nudist again hides is protected by the rocks and has a sign.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only sign there. I saw also another custom-made sign, or rather obscene homophobic warning (this time not only in Russian but in English as well), which was apparently painted, erased and repainted a few times. Hope it didn’t represent an ongoing ‘battle’ between different beach visitors and was rather a flick by a single individual idiot.

In any case, whenever I was at that spot, it all seemed very peaceful.

Further behind another set of rocks, accessible only by water, there was a place where fresh water was coming down by the rocks covering them with a thin layer. Useful if you decide to camp there, or at least to refresh.

But I wasn’t the only one who leaned against the rocks there.

Even further away from the beach, there are rocks of contrasting colors,

that look especially spectacular from and underwater.

Algae, moss animals and mussels appear highlighted on the white background of chalk rock.

Then I saw two bright animals side by side: a blenny fish, and a big prawn, 

that was actually transparent but had some bright blue, orange and white spots.

This kind of prawn is like the next level of nudist, with most of its body parts being transparent 😀

The blenny fish first appeared somewhat sad but then flashed with its bright colors before swimming away.

That was definitely a memorable swim; I’d love to come again in search for sea life posing on light background of chalk rocks.

בילוי בעירום בשונית האלמוגים. הפעם מפרץ אילת

 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