My wife and I are not just committed naturists for over 25 years of being together, but committed people watchers, and amateur students of body language and other outward signs of what people are truly saying. Now this can be a little tougher in the naturist world as we have no clothes that make statements about who we are but we all give things away about how we feel or are reacting to a situation, by some mannerism or tone of speech. My wife and I often discuss these things amongst ourselves at length after some interesting encounters.

From a holiday at a resort in Jamaica not too recently we recall with amusement two different episodes of nervous new comers to naturism. We relate this only so those wishing to take the plunge can hopefully do so without having to endure the same mild embarrassment, or at least suffer it with the same endurance and good humour these people did.

* * *

First the adventurous thirty-something couple enjoying a week away from the kids and looking to try something they, as we later found out they had read about and researched but were unsure of.

So on our first day, the weather is warm but a little breezy and to get to the naturist area we had to cross a bay on a boat to an island, however the boat was not running due to the breeze. My wife and I had taken our morning pitch on two loungers, on the pier on the mainland like a few others to start our sunbathing. We enquired if the loungers were free and laid out by a nice couple, from New York state, who happened to be a bit younger than us, she was topless as were two other ladies nearby, so my wife duly joined in. The rest of the people sunning on the beach were fully textile. Anyway, at various suitable intervals, us guys went for the all inclusive drinks at the bar and carried them back until it was lunch time, but we had witnessed a growing sense of revelry at the pool bar and joined in some banter while waiting to be served. Separately we headed for a mid day snack at the restaurants and we returned, to the same loungers, roughly about the same time as the other couple at around 1:30.

Ten minutes later the launch attendant comes down and starts to prepare the boat, he was duly followed by a crowd of about five or six couples from the bar. Sensing the boat service to the island was about to resume all the sunbathers on the pier pack up books and towels, and the ladies strapped their tops on. My obvious conclusion: most of the pier folks were also naturists in waiting and hence like us had camped out on the pier for two reasons. The ladies could get away with being topless and we could wait for the boat service should it resume, this would be a regular occurrence, we found out, if it were a day when the boat service may not start early due to the weather.

What we quickly found out was that the boat attendant was still reluctant to start the ferry service but had been pressured into it by the crowd at the bar threatening for the men to skinny dip in the pool or the ladies take their tops off. How real the threat was, was highly dubious but it had the desired impact. So after the first two runs about ten people had crossed over to the island, some more people had joined the queue and we are idly chatting with our new acquaintances. We were discussing favourite cocktails, when we also engage in the conversation this other couple in their thirties, who are obviously a little nervous and had earlier been sampling a lot of cocktails at the bar with the group of revellers.

Just as we await the launch to come alongside the pier the lady of the couple, rather too loudly, asks a question, “What is it like over there?” then she adds, “This is our first time going naked in public.” Well the general hubbub from the rest of the waiting crowd suddenly silences and my wife and I are looking at our friends from this morning and we are all thinking who is going to answer, when a voice from behind calls out “We have some virgins here”, fortunately the newbies took it in good humour and my wife and the other lady were able to calmly reassure the couple that it was nothing to worry about and to ignore the teasing.

On the rocky boat we all get onboard, and to fill the young couple in we suggest they just go find a suitable set of loungers and strip off in their own time. This was no time to be nervous or suffer from sea sickness, but it was only a two to three minute journey. As we cross there were lots of jibes and baiting, which was meant to be in good humour, but maybe fuelled by too many cocktails, things like; all new comers had to strip on the pier, or as a virgin you had to serve all the regulars with drinks, or if you chicken out you have to swim back to the mainland.

When we land again the newcomers sensibly head off to a quieter slightly more remote area, if there truly was one, as the island was very small. Like most of the people we settled in and had a siesta or something to quieten down a bit. After we spent about three to four hours in the island sunning and were a bit restless, we could hardly go for a long walk but we did watch some folks feed a shoal of fish off the rocks, we gathered round with the remains of the revellers and our new acquaintances at the island bar. We were chatting about other resorts and beaches, as naturists do, when at this point the new couple wandered across to our group or to the bar to get a drink, I am not sure. So of course somebody asked how they were getting on and if they were enjoying it. Now I would have thought as they had stayed over three hours they were either stubbornly braving it out or really enjoying it. As it happened it was the latter case, but of course they had a lot of questions.

So like any good cocktail party, my wife and I, champagne in hand, (it was now after 3:00pm so it was called for), are standing talking again with the couple from the pier and the new couple. Very soon in the conversation we got into meant the more experienced of us, were offering advice and tips to the newcomers. Now there are some regional variations on what is good etiquette at beaches and the like but it was almost all universal. So the lady who had obviously now sobered a little and her nerves had subsided a little started by stating, “It has been great here, we were scared that everybody would be swingers and it was all a big orgy.” So after the four more experienced naturists had finished choking, I said “That is generally a huge misconception, if it does happen, it would not be likely to happen on the island in front of everyone. If they wanted to look for that it would be their choice but probably here was the least likely place.” “Oh. Thank God” was their simultaneous reply, and the man firmly affirms their position “Oh we were not looking for anything like that, but wanted to find out what it would be feel like to just be naked in the sunshine.” Soon they relaxed and the six of us carried on chatting like old friends and at least four of us related some of our past experiences, to the avid listeners, on subjects like where to find beaches and how we all learned about the etiquette and some of the dos and don’ts of public naturism. Unlike the new couple the other couple were like us and through work and leisure had travelled extensively around the world and enjoyed naturism in a few different locations, as well as our home area beaches.

We carried on chatting for another drink or two, and the couple remarked that they found the current scenario a little surreal, one day earlier they would not have believed, that they would ever enjoy standing chatting and sipping a cocktail with other people and feel so completely relaxed and casual, especially while we were all completely naked, and even more there would be other groups of naked people doing exactly the same thing around them and nobody there seemed to find the situation unusual. Shortly another question was raised by our now enthusiastic lady, “I am still not sure where we should look when we are so close to other naked persons, especially of the opposite gender”. That did make our little group giggle slightly again. I said, half in jest half in serious reply, “Where have you been looking for the past ten minutes when you have been here?” She replied, “Mainly at your face, like I would probably do at any gathering at home, where folks wear clothes.” “So why should it be different here?” commented the other man in the group. After a pause the lady’s husband asks “Well I was not sure if I could look at somebody else at all without being rude or something…” Then either my wife commented, “Oh everybody looks, but be discreet and make sure you never stare, then you will be just fine. We are all human after all. Just remember your manners as my mother used to say”. That raised another giggle in agreement all round. After that, we guys changed the subject to boats, that none of us had but we all yearned for trying out, and the ladies all started to converse about cheap beach sandals and sarongs on sale in the shop at the front of the resort. Even on a naturist holiday, my wife and some other women still get involved in shopping for clothes even if it is only a sarong or sandals to wear on the way to the beach.

All too soon we all had to dress and go back to the main resort for dinner, but we were a regular group sunbathing and hanging out for the next three days until the new couple had to go home. By then all of us had learned not to drink too many free cocktails so early in the day. We enjoyed each others company and hung out chatting and getting to know each other generally in our little temporary clique. Each afternoon there seemed to be the same cocktail party atmosphere on the island with most groups standing around enjoying the late afternoon sunshine before heading back for dinner. The now more experienced young couple did say that they thought they would look for a resort near their home and take their two kids, who on this trip they had left with some grandparents, as they were only five and seven. They had enjoyed the resort but living in the mid-west of USA they were a long way from any beach and they had no idea where a nudist beach would be. However they thought, after some advice from our other acquaintances that they could find out about a resort or group through the AANR, and said they would look into that, for the coming summer, when they got home.

We hope they did, or at least we hope they tried to carry on enjoying some social nude recreation.

* * *

Then soon after our little sunbathing clique had broken up and the other couples departed my wife and I went out sightseeing for the day and on return that evening were queuing for dinner at one of the limited access silver service restaurants. The restaurant was willing to release the remaining tables only to foursomes. As two couples had already agreed to go wait in the bar after putting their names on a waiting list and there was only one couple left in front of us. With strong a Quebec accent they enquired how long the wait might be. While the waitress debated with her boss about the estimated wait, I enquired “Are you looking for a romantic dinner for two? Or are you feeling adventurous and open to making some new friends, at least for as long as dinner lasts?”

Quick to the thought the man then asked the returning waitress, if we had to wait as we were a foursome, “Oh, no sir you can come straight in”… job done. As we wait for the menus and order our first drinks we introduce ourselves and find the Canadians had just arrived the previous night, quite late and spent most of the morning sleeping and settling in. During our rather sumptuous dinner we all drank some wine, starting with white of course and moving to red as we all enjoyed some steaks, we found out we were getting on like old friends, he like me worked in an engineering field, while his wife did a lot of charity work and worked at home looking after their hobby farm and the animals. My wife of course was thinking of retiring from her local government administration job and looking to help out at some charitable organisations. So to make way for further diners we agreed to take our desserts and coffee in the adjoining bar. After coffee the ladies moved onto brandy while we guys took to beer, confirming we were truly similar in taste, personally it was because I wanted to slow down on the alcohol intake as we had become used to late nights on this holiday and by now experience told me, a gentle pace was everything, unless you liked a morning headache. We went on quite late in conversation and talked about the resort a bit, our new friends had been to some similar resorts to this in the same chain before so knew the lie of the land so to speak, but not the detail of this resort. During the conversation Mrs. Q blurts out “I heard there is even a nudist section somewhere here.” I laughed and said “We heard that too.” while looking over her shoulder at the four people standing behind her looking at us, we knew them as the revellers from the island. In truth we had come to know them reasonably well as a group of close friends and long time naturists from Tennessee, who all came to that resort each year. I could see the big guy, who was designated as the ring leader was itching to come across and get in on some teasing or baiting, sensing some new sport. My wife who had spotted me making eye contact and smiling at our island compatriots soon took up the game, so they could listen in.

“So do you want to go to the island then?” my wife asks the Q’s from Quebec. “Oh we have never tried that kind of thing before.” Says Mr Q. “I am not certain I could, well err… relax in that kind of environment anyway, I do not know how they can.” “Why?” says my wife, “What have you got that others do not?” By now the revellers are chatting quietly but moving closer and clearly listening in. So it goes on, “Well I do not suppose I have anything different.” says Mr Q. “It is just well…”. “You have two of everything on the sides and one of everything in the middle like the rest of us?” I venture. “Yes, but mine are different to yours.” Replies Mrs Q. “Oh gosh I hope so” I respond. So the teasing goes on for a while and we find that our new lady friend is a little body conscious but no prude, while her husband is definitely a little braver and obviously not in the slightest vain. Alcohol definitely relaxed the conversation. After a while the revellers are giving up on listening and have resisted any inclination to join in with any teasing they could have had, and Mr. Q finally gets an idea and says “So have you folks been across to the island, for you know… a look?” “Oh we did not go to just look.” says my wife, “If you go across, you have to strip off, you can’t just look.” “Well what are the people like over there?” asks Mrs Q. “Like you and me and all the other normal people that come on holiday here. Looking round the dining room earlier or the bar now, can you tell who are naturists and who are not?” I repost. The Q’s are looking around the bar by now, not very discreetly either, but then it is near midnight and we had been drinking all evening, albeit at a gentle pace. So later we break up and go to bed but our new friends definitely seem like their interest is piqued.

The next day is warm but too windy to even think about starting the launch service, despite threats of skinny dipping in the pool or ladies going topless at the bar. My wife and I went out to the falls where the first James Bond film was shot and enjoyed that trip with some other guests we had come to know over the previous nights at various entertainments. Later we wandered down to dinner in the larger buffet restaurant and found a table, on sitting down the Q’s came to the next table with their starters. So after greetings we pulled the tables together and we went for our starters. The pace was a little slower tonight and some fruit juices may have been consumed early on but later we returned to beer and brandy as we sat together and watched a local singer and band entertain us. I think we even ventured to dance along a few times, which is rare for me. After the act has finished we are sitting chatting about our events earlier in the day and the Q’s inform us they spent to much time in the sun or did not use a high enough factor as they had sore shoulders and foreheads. At this point Mr. Q takes out his mobile phone to show us some snaps he had taken of the breeze in the trees and how hot it was around the pool earlier. At this point he hands it to my wife and tells her to scroll through. As she is flicking through the pictures, she says comes across a more personal picture they forgot about. Mr Q. in his room lying naked on the bed red as a lobster except for the white band of his trunks, suddenly they were embarrassed as my wife reassured him he had nothing the likes of she had not seen before. “Good job we did not go to the naturist area. Anyway there was no boat” says Mr Q. “So if there was would you have gone?” asks my wife handing back the phone to a completely beetroot coloured Mr Q. “Ah probably not.” Q replies, to which his good lady adds “It is not that we disagree with it, well it is, I just don’t think I could ever do that kind of thing.” Seeing that the evening was coming to a close and to avoid my wife teasing them relentlessly for another hour or more, I just ask “So why not? What is your biggest fear?” then add “I am willing to bet you dinner tomorrow, it is not real.” “Ah good question.” states Mrs. Q and Mr. Q is just looking puzzled. At that point we all decided to retire for the night. The next day the Q’s went on a sightseeing trip and we enjoyed sunbathing on the island in the morning and went shopping in the afternoon.

In the evening as we headed for a late dinner in the restaurant, we again bumped into our now usual dinner friends. We sat down together and as the waiter came to serve us some wine, Mr. Q blurts out “We did it this afternoon, we went and got naked for the first time.” Obviously a little excited as he almost shouted it and quite a few people looked over and chuckled at us. So over dinner we chatted and they told us how they had talked about it and decided the previous night, no one they knew would know if they went to the island and had a look and tried going naked. “You got in my head about facing my fears…” Mrs Q. went on, “Good” I laughed back at her, “And what was you biggest fear? You may owe me dinner.” “Not sure” said Mrs Q. anyway dinner is inclusive here, “I know, that is why I bet you, I am Scottish, after all.” So we went on and they told us how it was not what they had expected but Mr. Q had rubbed cream all over as we had advised previously but he forgot a small patch on his left buttock and it hurt. We told them we always help each other with a good all day cream, so as we do not miss any bits like shoulders or middle of the back.

After another couple of days we had to leave, but the Canadians had become big converts, Mrs. Q had told their daughter, how relaxing and free it was to sunbathe naked and suggested her daughter and son in law book a vacation and try nude sunbathing. We spent some time with them on the island as well when it was not too breezy and we became good holiday friends if nothing else, even if like anything recent converts can be very enthusiastic. On the last evening they even asked if it would be unusual for families who enjoyed it, to barbeque on their patio naked with the family during the hot summer months, as they lived on a farm which was quite remote and away from other any areas where others might see them. We suggested they slow down a bit and find out if her daughter and son in law would be interested or embarrassed. “Ah, I have already phoned her a few times, she would do it if I did.” said Mrs. Q, she was pretty sure the daughter would persuade her husband and her two year old granddaughter was a foregone conclusion as they had difficulty getting her to wear clothes when she was warm anyway. “Well it is a dangerous activity to do that with the family.” I warned, “You must be careful of hot barbeques, you know.”

We have kept in touch as we very occasionally exchange emails, and I can report the Q’s have been back to another naturist resort and they have barbequed with the family au naturel, maybe not quite as often as they originally thought. However they are definitely now apparently all affirmed naturists, although the son in law joins in he is less enthusiastic as the three ladies and Mr Q., but the Q’s think because he is rather large in frame, he just needs to meet a few like minded people and come to realise, we are all the same. Good luck to them all, long may they enjoy it.

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