Is Nudity going away?

It seems as though many places that have allowed nudity in the past are either changing policies, or closing (Pilot House, Marrero's, Chelsea House, Grand Lido, and others in Negril etc). I am not a regular nudist, so I wanted to get other opinions. Is this a trend, or am I just unaware of the new opportunities that exist?

It seems Key West is changing. Plenty of other places to loose your clothing.

Well, Grand Lido is gone and the replacement is unlikely to provide clothing optional facilities. N Resort is gone, though how they stayed alive so long is a mystery to me. Intima is the only new opportunity I know of right now.

There does not seem to be a lot of consistency. The cove at Grand Lido was cited by the management many times as the major draw, but that doesn't seem to be enough to retain it. N Resort was nearly empty much of the time. Hidden Beach seems to do very well, though they are expensive and smaller. Though many resorts struggle to fill a few hundred rooms, the nude cruises seem to be a huge draw.

It seems that way with all the places in Key West and other places like Firefly Cottages in Jamaica doing away with nudity. It seems like the world is being Disneyized. Everything today has to be "family orientated" I love kids but there needs to be somewhere for adults to go also. Mark my words (and I'll be flamed for this) nudity on Orient Beach (anywhere) is doomed. Maybe not today or tomorrow but it's coming. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" />

CaptainJim, I agree with you. Maybe the Beach in front of Club O will be the last area sans suits, but that too will be textiled eventually- Hope I'm wrong.

Remember a few years back when Vegas took on a family friendly slant. Soon went back to what pays the bills.

A general problem everywhere is that younger people are not doing nude. All nudist facilities are having a demographic problem of aging. Now, that's not all bad, since older demographics tend to have more money to spend. However, with few younger people, those populations start to age out and no longer travel as much. I read that AANR has about half as many members as it had a couple decades ago, which is sad.

Still don't understand how they can fill those cruises, though.

Older nudist with money is how they fill them.Already a bunch of people, us included, signed up for 2017 cruise. The Mediterranean cruises aboard clipper ships sold out in days.

Have to agree with the Captain on this one. Once the construction is completed on Orient, it is just a matter of time. Furthermore, nude recreation is being marginalized everywhere and the NAC and AANR no longer can help as long as there are lawmakers who refuse to listen to the concerns of the common people. Sorry for the cynicism.

The nude demographic is older because it's much tougher for a younger family to go on a nude vacation when you have children. If we were headed to SXM with our kids, we wouldn't stay at Club O. We would need a family atmosphere. My kids are now teenagers and they would probably enjoy Orient Beach. 10 years ago, we were taking them to Orlando or all inclusive in Jamaica.

Hidden probably succeeds because it is a smaller resort and is more expensive. I think Braco and Negril tried to lower their prices to attract a bigger client base but lost the revenue from it's existing clients.

Younger people are doing this, they just can't get away as easily.

No clue what the future holds but I do agree that nude vacations are difficult to accomplish with young children. It wasn't until our were old enough that we could get away without them that it was an option for us. In our home, we see each other naked most every day, so it has nothing to do with comfort within our family. It is just that there isn't a level of social acceptance for nudity that makes taking kids on that kind of vacation as easy as it might be.

When we 1st went to St. Martin 30 years ago, nudity was common on practically all of the French-side beaches, including the whole of Orient. Now it's pretty much restricted to the area directly in front of Club Orient. Even outlying, uninhabited Tintamarre now has restrictions. Let's keep supporting Club O, and hope that it stays just the way it is for a long, long time.

This was our experience too. We bought a boat for the family to enjoy, but when the kids were in school mom and dad were out on the lake with their clothes off. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> It's all we could manage with 4 kids, no way we could/would have taken them all to a nudist destination. Now that they're mostly out of the house, we can take off for a few days to our favorite resort, and periodically go further afield and try out new places.

In Europe, we don't seem to have problems taking kids to nudist places. Go to most nudist beaches or resorts in France or Spain and you'll find loads of families with kids enjoying themselves.

It does seem that only in the US is nudity (even partial) is a "forbidden sin". Breast feeding infants (even discreetly) in a mall results in the mother being thrown out of the mall, and makes National News. Remember the "nip slip" during the Super Bowl half time show years and years ago? It was mentioned AGAIN on the news the other night, when referring to Ms. Jackson on a totally unrelated story.
When all the top stories in the news is the Kardashians showing this or that in a "selfie" or transgenders demanding tolerance (reference Mr/Ms Jenner), Gay rights, etc. something Natural like someone wanting to lay nude on the beach with no sexual activity involved, people in the US go crazy and want to shut the Beach down and throw that "Horrible Person" in jail and label them some type of pervert. I guess the everyday citizen gets No tolerance.

Well said o2 and if someone could explain how that can be it might help.

I was just at Pilot House in March and I (and others)was able to be nude around the pool without issue.

Cherish the memory...

Here is an article titled: The Business of Being Naked.
From Marketplace.org

Nude tourism is an industry worth about $440 million every year, according to the American Association for Nude Recreation. Author Mark Haskell Smith saw — and bared — it all to write his new book "Naked At Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World."

Hi Mick. Sorry, I deleted most of your post. You can't copy and paste in toto copyrighted material. You can copy a short snippet, but then just post the link.

Just started the book and am enjoying it, funny!

We've gone to SXM each of the last 3 years and each time have never had any issues at Happy Bay beach. It's been very common there each trip, as late as Dec '15. Also still commonly seen at Cupecoy.

We also enjoyed Happy Bay with no tan lines. It was one of the highlights of our trip to St. Martin (once we found it).
We are looking forward to one last trip to the Pilot House in October before they close down.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /><img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Maybe Mr. Peabody has invented the Way Forward machine.