Just returned from six days at Cabanas Copal and Tierras del Sol. For those who haven't heard of it, Cabanas Copal a low-key resort on a beautiful white sand beach in Tulum, Mexico, a little less than two hours from the Cancun airport. Copal has a clothing optional policy, which means you can be nude on the beach and among the cabanas, but not in the main restaurant and bar, which is close to the road. About half the men and a quarter of the women on the beach were nude when I was there, with perhaps another quarter of the women topless. Although allowed, almost nobody seems to go nude among the cabanas or in the beach bar.

By ordinary standards, the beach is fabulous -- white sand almost like flour, never hot in the mid-day sun, sloping gently into the turquoise Caribbean. My only gripe is that the sand extends into the water only about waist to chest deep; beyond that, there are rocks. This makes body surfing less practical than at the long, long beach to the south, which begins at Maya Tulum resort and extends for miles into Siaan Kaan. If you haven't tried nude body surfing at this beach, you haven't lived.

The cabanas at Copal, and all the facilities at the resort, are quite basic -- think camping, but a step up. Cabanas are made of wooden sticks stuck in a low concrete base wall and covered by a thatched roof. There are spaces between the sticks, so the breeze and the bugs, if you come in the rainy season from June to November, blow right through. In my unit, the floor was sand. There is no electricity in the cabanas, so lighting is from candles, flashlights and headlamps -- the latter work well for reading or just moving about the cabana at night. Water for showers is from a well and is brackish (partly salty), but seems to get you clean enough. Bottled drinking water is supplied free in the cabanas. Beds are comfortable, with regular sheets and blankets, which are needed in December, since the night temperature falls to the high 50's or low 60's. But the days are sunny and warm, in the high 70's or low 80's, with virtually no bugs (mosquitoes) this time of year, although the cabanas all have mosquito nets. The food is merely OK, but there are really good restaurants (I liked Zamas and Mateo's) only a ten minute walk away, or in the Tulum pueblo (try Charlie's and Don Cafetos), about a $4 taxi ride from Copal. Service was friendly and responsive, and the whole place has this laid-back, relaxed, do-what-you-want vibe.

My impression is that there are relatively few people there who regard themselves as nudists; most seem to be couples on vacation who are taking advantage of the clothing optional policy on the beach. The guests range in age from twenty-somethings on up; the average is probably 15 to 20 years younger than in a typical nudist resort.

I also spent two days at Tierras del Sol, a more finished small resort on a spectacular beach about five kilometers south of Copal, near the entrance to the Sian Kaan biosphere. Tierras del Sol does not have an explicit clothing optional policy, but according to reports in TripAdvisor, accepts nudity at its beach area in front. My experience confirms this; the owner/chef Alexis was doing some clean-up and organizing of lounge chairs in the beach area while I was sunbathing nude and didn't pay any attention. I don't know whether going nude among the rooms would be acceptable, although I would guess that going between your room and the beach without clothes would be OK. Again, the ambience is one of relaxation and do what you please. However, this is a very small resort, with only a few rooms, so you might be the only person using the beach nude.

One advantage of Tierras del Sol is that it is one of the last resorts going south before you enter Sian Kaan, where development has been more or less prohibited. I walked nude for about three miles down this beach, feeling like Robinson Crusoe. Near the southern end of my walk, there was an opening out to the road, and about a dozen people were swimming and sunning, all in bathing suits. There was one guy at the far end of this area sunbathing in the nude, and while I was chatting with him, two guys in polo shirts with Siaan Kaan logos, presumably rangers of some kind, came up to us and informed us that nudity was illegal and not permitted in Sian Kaan. Fortunately, I had my towel and was able to cover up. Once I walked ten minutes back toward the hotel, the beach was again deserted and I was able to go nude again. The lesson is, if you walk nude in Sian Kaan, carry a towel or bathing suit in case you encounter a ranger.

The rooms at Tierras del Sol have concrete walls, tiled floors and thatched roofs, but are of a higher grade than those at Copal, with very nice bathrooms. The restaurant has a very good reputation. Alexis is Argentinian, and reportedly does wonders with grilled meats and fish, although I didn't eat there. I ate breakfast each morning, and really enjoyed it. There are a few other restaurants just north of Tierras del Sol, but there are not as many choices or as much activity as further north. I found getting a taxi very easy just by walking out to the road, but when I come back here, I'll rent a car.

Both of these clothing optional resorts are less expensive than Club Orient or Hidden Beach, and offer beaches that are as good (Copal) or better (Tierras del Sol) than Orient or Hidden Beach. The other difference is that Club Orient and Hidden Beach are branded primarily as nude resorts, although they are actually clothing optional. Neither Cabanas Copal nor Tierras del Sol are positioned primarily as nudist hotels, although both have clothing optional beaches. This means that nudity isn't as prevalent, but also that the folks that go there are more likely to be experimenting with nudity for the first time, or only go nude when on vacation. So if you are a dedicated naturist, you might find more people like you at Club Orient or Hidden Beach. If you're new to nudism and not sure about the whole thing, or if you want a lower-cost vacation, you might be more comfortable at Cabanas Copal or Tierras del Sol.