Clothes Free Travel

A-Z TRAVEL — Naturist Edition: C is for Charco del Palo, Canary Islands

Have you ever wanted to get naked on the moon?

If you fancy a unique nakation, Charco del Palo on the Canary Island of Lanzarote should definitely go on your bucket list.

TEXTILE TIP: While their are several clothing optional beaches on Lanzarote, we chose to stay in the nude village of Charco del Palo. The locals made it clear that as more tourists have swamped this smallish island, tolerance for nudity — even on the beach — has become less the norm. For those who don’t wish to bare all, that means there are loads of seaside villages with charming tavernas and expansive beaches to enjoy where you’re not likely to come butt-to-butt with a naked person. Despite the moonscape, it’s charming and unique vacation destination.

“You didn’t tell me we were taking a vacation on the Moon!”

Such were the words my wife uttered as we drove our tiny rented Fiat out of the airport parking lot of the Lanzarote airport — the most easterly of the Canary Islands.

While this cluster of small land masses still fly the Spanish flag, when you look at the map, you’ll see they are located off the coast of West Africa, essentially due west of the Sahara Desert. That’s particularly noteworthy when the infamous Calima winds pick up tons of sand and deposit that in the airspace of the Canary Islands. When that happens, things like seeing the road and breathing become something of a challenge. They say it doesn’t happen often, so I guess we were just lucky to experience this 17th wonder of the world first hand — adding to the general sense of a barren moonscape.

We have long known that the Canary Islands are a favored naturist destination, though we really didn’t know what to expect when we first visited. Each island has a distinctly different character. Gran Canaria feels heavily commercialized with big hotels and urban sprawl. Fuerteventura — our favorite, but that’s for another story — is more colorful with more greenery and multi-hued houses.

Lanzarote, on the other head, is essentially a black and white image set into the frame of the deep blue see and azure sky. The custom on the island is that all structures are white stucco, which is particularly striking against the black volcanic rock that defines the terrain of the entire island.

Charco del Palo takes its place among a handful of other naturist villages scattered about Europe — such as Vera Playa, Cap d’Agde, or Ile du Levant — where the initial objective was to cater to those who don’t want to get dressed in the morning, or after lunch… or ever.

In its present form, that’s a bit hit and miss as you can most certainly walk through the neighborhood completely starkers, but most shops and eateries require some sort of textile covering. That’s a relief to some and an annoyance to others.

Just another quirky thing to navigate in the world of naturist travel.

We had a terrific apartment with a stunning sea view operated by a German tourism company. (Remember — nobody loves getting naked like the Germans love getting naked!) Our visit was in August, which is off season for this part of the world as most travelers are taking advantage and the warm temperatures farther north on the European continent at that time of year. With the strong breezes off the ocean, we found it almost chilly at times, especially in the pool. Not what we had expected given the proximity to Africa.

Once outside of the naked village, there are many typical villages to be explored, some with street markets and unassuming little eateries where a nice meal can be had for a reasonable price. We also took the ferry to La Graciosa, a small landmass off the southern tip of Lanzarote. We were headed to the world famous nude beach on the opposite side of the island — about a 30 minute walk from the dusty port village of Caleta del Sebo.

Indeed, when we arrived mid-morning, we had the beach nearly all to ourselves, making it a naturist paradise. We set up the umbrella and took a snooze, only to wake up an hour or so later to a beach packed with people in swimsuits!

Sort of like that dream you have about showing up to school in fourth grade and you suddenly realize you’re naked. Word has it that the nude beach thing all but vaporizes during the mass tourism months of July and August. We can attest to that.

Other than driving to and from the airport, we didn’t spend any time in the main city of Arrecife, though intuition tells me that if you’re looking for a wild and crazy party scene, this is probably not the island for you. The prevailing vibe everywhere we stopped vacillated between fishing and farm villages that cater more to the locals than to tourism. Despite the moonscapes, we enjoyed the culture of the island. Seems the high-rise urbanization thing that has overwhelmed the Spanish coast has yet to find a foothold here.

Would we go back to the Canary Islands? Yes, I think so. Though we have yet to check out Tenerife, and I could live a good life without returning to Gran Canaria. Charco del Palo is quiet and quaint and I could easily see settling there for a writing retreat overlooking the sea. That said, our wifi connectivity in the village was poor, and our one bar of cell connection seemed dependent on which way the wind was blowing. Usually, it was blowing the wrong way.

If you fancy a unique nakation, this should definitely go on your bucket list. Or if you want to keep your clothes on and visit a place way off the beaten track with gorgeous beaches and whitewashed villages, you could be happy here as well.

Suffice it to say, we’ve been to a lot of places that begin with “C” and this one made it to the top of the list.

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