The Captain likes the Canaries. The islands are consistently warm, even over the winter months, being so close to the Equator. With just a 4 hour flight compared to 9-10 for the Caribbean, it is a reasonable distance, too.
He has visited Costa Calma in South Fuerteventura a couple of times, staying at the lovely BHH Naturist resort, however there is a whole World out there and he wants to explore as much of it as he can. There is only so much you can do in Costa Calma if you are not one for just sitting by the pool, or on the beach. He’s never going to be a Michael Palin but nor will he be a stay-at-home. To this end he had a look at the other Canary Islands and recommendations for naturist places to stay and landed on Petit Natura in Gran Canaria.
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is the next island West from Fuerteventura, in the middle of the Canaries. It is similar size to Fuerteventura (1,550 compared to 1,660 sq Km) and does a good impression of a circle. As with Fuerteventura, all beaches are technically naturist-friendly, however there are certain places that are recommended and a lot of places it is not advised to be clothes-free.
Beaches
Maspalomas
The most known naturist area is Maspalomas at the south of the island, just South of Playa del Inglés (not naturist). The two beaches run into each other. Maspalomas is massive, backed by sand dunes, and about 5Km of continuous sandy beach, ending up at the lighthouse at Meloneras. Apart from the first 100m and the last 100m or so it is entirely naturist-friendly.
The Captain walked the length of the beach a couple of times during his stay and as long as you time the tides fairly well you can walk on sandy beaches all the way down to just before the lighthouse. You can still walk it with the tide in, however you have to defer to the hot, stony path going around the Headland. It takes about an hour and a half to walk if you are not in a rush. Whilst the whole length is open to anyone, there is also a gay section towards Meloneras. You can’t miss it, due to the music and rainbow flags. Look for Kiosk 5 (see below).
From North of Playa del Inglés to the lighthouse there are vending Kiosks at intervals. These are clearly numbered on the sides (1 – 8) and everyone uses them as reference Markers. The naturist section starts between kiosks 2 and 3 when heading South. The Captain has added more detail and photos of this beach to the Maspalomas entry in the directory, following his visit. Do have a read.
San Agustin / Playa de las Burras / Playa El Veril
These three interconnected beaches sit to the North of Playa des Inglés and none are suitable for naturism. The are very family friendly and popular when the Captain was there. Topless sunbathing was common, but no nudity. The Captain was staying a 2 minute walk from San Agustin and managed a sneaky skinny dip early each day – and could probably have achieved the same with the others if he could be bothered to walk there. With San Agustin being on the doorstep and so nice it seemed pointless. Click on the beach links above to see photos of these beaches.
Where did the Captain stay?
Petit Natura naturist resort
The Captain prefers smaller, more boutique places to stay compared to the larger resorts. He is not a Social animal and, whilst he does make new friends each time, he is more than happy to curl up somewhere quiet with a book. He also likes his comfort – a decent bed and good shower, so no more Hostels or camping when abroad. Petit Natura fitted the bill and the feedback on both Trip Advisor and the British Naturism Forum was overwhelmingly positive.
This is a small complex (is that a tautology?) capable of accommodating up to about 30 people in one of two types of room – what they call ‘Cozy’ and ‘Comfort Plus’. The Captain was in a Comfort Plus and it was very spacious. Turns out it was on a long term rental but the renter didn’t need it and the Captain benefitted. See the main Directory entry for a fuller description and photos. It was a very nice stay. The Captain alternated between long beach walks and chilling all day by the pool. The free daytime bar was certainly a good reason to not venture too far!
Food
The Captain tried out a few of the local restaurants and they were of a good standard overall. The main Italian on the Maspalomas seafront was your standard deep-fried, tourist-friendly cuisine but served with fresh salads – and with a beach side seat you couldn’t complain about the location.
More local in San Agustin (walking distance from Petit Natura), he can recommend the Grill House San Agustin (4.8 on Google maps) and Tandoori Flavour (4.6) in the San Agustin Shopping Centre. He would dine at both again, on a return visit.
And that’s about it. The Captain had a lovely week (despite having a delayed flight due to the UK Air Traffic Control unplugging something important, grounding all flights for 12 hours). He will definitely go back to Maspalomas and he will definitely go back to Petit Natura. Perhaps for 10 days next time. A week was not quite long enough.