Three-quarters of a century after a “royal skinny dip” made it a pioneering nudist destination, Croatia is striving to attract more of the world’s growing army of “nakationers.”
“At Kandarola, nudists can find their own piece of paradise, with peace and a little space just for themselves without being disturbed,” said Nedjeljko Mikelic, head of the tourist board on the northern island of Rab.
The Kandarola rock and pebble beach, on the Croatian Island of Rab, is where Britain’s King Edward VIII and his future wife, US socialite Wallis Simpson, famously went for a nude swim in 1936.
Nudists had been known to visit Rab as early as the turn of the 20th century, but the royal couple’s dip sealed the spot’s global fame as nudist resort and is considered the founding moment of Croatian naturism.
Kandarola has also been known as English Beach ever since and nudist beaches have mushroomed along Croatia’s Adriatic coast and its myriad idyllic islands, National Naturists Association head Davorin Zugcic said.
Now local tourism professionals feel they can do more to cash in on less high-profile but more frequent clothes-free holidaymakers.
Europe’s first commercial naturist resort was Koversada camp, which opened on the northwestern Istria Peninsula 50 years ago, when Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia.
Originally located on a tiny eponymous islet with a thick tree cover and secluded nudist beaches, Koversada is now a sprawling naturist complex.
Guests used to be accommodated in so-called textile camps and hotels, but they can now bare all 24/7 and enjoy various clothing-optional activities.
“Naturism means freedom. We are completely relaxed in this wonderful, peaceful place,” said Katalin Reigl, a 63-year-old doctor from Hungary who has been a devoted visitor for three decades.
Sitting with her husband Endre outside their camper, she said that Koversada had become like a second family home.
“Our son and our two grand-daughters learned to swim here,” Katalin said, admitting that the two girls, now teenagers, no longer want to take part in the family holidays on Koversada.
Slovenian administrator Mojca Likar and her husband, Zmago, have also been regulars for more than 20 years.
“Naturists are different, rather easygoing people. We made a lot of good friends here,” Zmago said.
Primoz Grasic is one of them. The 43-year-old Slovenian musician was not familiar with naked recreation until he met his naturist wife and quickly got used to it.
“I believe it was a very good and a very healthy choice,” he said while having a drink with the Likar family.
The camp now covers 120 hectares and has five kilometers of beaches. Most people walk around in their birthday suit, but they are requested to put on clothes when going to a shop or a restaurant.
“Naturists are usually loyal guests, they come to the same place for years and generations,” camp manager Nenad Skuflic said. “They have only one wish, that this remains a purely nudist camp.”
Most of the naturist tourists in Croatia are Germans, who account for around 40 percent of Koversada’s 4,700 guests. They are followed by Slovenians, Austrians, Hungarians and the Dutch.
While many Croatians enjoy the occasional dip in the buff, few visit naturist resorts, making up less than 1 percent of Koversada’s visitors.
The movement’s heyday in the Mediterranean country was the 1980s, though global naturism is picking up, according to the National Naturists Association.
However, Croatia has lost its top spot as a naturist destination to France and Spain, Zugcic said.
In Koversada, Skuflic remembers the days when the resort used to accommodate 10,000 guests and believes the industry has a chance to adapt and grow.
“Nudism is the first step toward naturism. The issue is how to attract nudists to become naturists,” he said, explaining the nuance he makes between people who strip on the beach and those who go to special resorts.
Croatia currently has 11 naturist camps, but also dozens of nudist beaches both “official” and “informal.”
The Web site of the Croatian tourism board proudly boasts that the Island of Rab is “the birthplace of nudism” and reports that US cable news channel CNN recently included it in a list of top ten world islands for tourists with alternative tastes.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
RSS