Clothing optional resort a darn good eye opener
Sandra Thomas
Van. Courier
Photo of the pool at Desire Resort and Spa would be X-rated if taken during peak hours.
“Well I’ll be darned.”
That was my first thought as my partner and I wandered out to the pool area of Desire Resort and Spa, located 30 minutes outside Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
We had arrived at the couples-only resort just minutes before and, champagne glass in hand, we toured the resort while our luggage was being delivered to our room. Although I was aware the resort was “clothing optional,” seeing an entire pool full of naked people caught me a little off guard. We had previously been to a clothing optional resort on the Mayan Riviera, but there it was a mixed bag of full-on bathing suits and topless women with a sprinkling of naked folk.
Here the dress code was pretty much straw cowboy hats and earrings for the women and baseball caps for the guys.
We had only been standing for a moment when we heard a friendly “Hi y’all, you must have just arrived. I can tell by the champagne glass.” (Champagne and cold washcloths are handed to new guests as they check in.)
I looked over and saw that our friendly greeter was a naked woman lounging in a deck chair. Introducing herself, Reana told us in a soft southern drawl that she and her husband had also just arrived.
Reana pretty much set the tone for the next 10 days because never in all our travels have we met such friendly people. It seems the shedding of clothes was a metaphor for the shedding of attitudes, despite the Manolo Blahnik shoes I saw strewn casually on the pool deck. For the record, I kept my bathing suit on and there was never any pressure to do otherwise. This adults-only resort is all about relaxation and having fun and we did plenty of both.
Guests can take part in (naked) water aerobics and beach volleyball, but it was “Desire Time” at about 3 p.m. each day that got everyone laughing. Desire time was when the entertainment staff would get volunteers from the pool, usually newcomers, to take part in sexy activities like body painting competitions or naked twister. “Left foot on blue” takes on a whole new meaning when the participants are starkers. Hats off to the entertainment staff Sylvia, Russell and Rocio, who do a great job, while ignoring the fact everyone around them is buck-naked.
The only clothing-optional areas of the resort are the swimming pool and rooftop hot tub, where everyone congregated in the evening before dinner to watch the sunset and enjoy a cocktail. Palapa beds with flowing white gauze curtains surround both the pool and hot tub, adding to the luxuriously tropical d‚cor of Desire. The outside courtyard between the pool and the Melange Lounge is landscaped with cacti of all kinds, paying homage to Cabo’s dry climate.
Speaking of the Melange Lounge, each night as the sun goes down, small fire pits are lit and marble sculptures are filled with ice and champagne for guests to help themselves. There are several bars and restaurants located within the resort and unlike our last trip to Mexico, when I lost weight, the food was so good it was a real effort not to pack on the pounds.
In fact, we were enjoying ourselves so much that in the 10 days we spent at Desire, we only went on one tour-the naked boat cruise. Because the catamaran left from the very public harbour at Cabo San Lucas, boaters were asked to keep their clothes on until we were out of sight.
Cabo San Lucas is located at the southern end of the Baja Peninsula where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. Its most southern tip is called Land’s End, which is home to a large sea lion colony. After slowing down to let us take pictures of the spectacular scenery, our captain headed further out to sea and in no time everyone, except me and the crew, were naked and drinking mai tais. As we cruised along, I saw a fin clear the water near our boat. My partner suggested it had to be a dolphin, but having grown up on the West Coast, I know my dolphin fins. Soon another fin appeared and this time we all got a good look at the shark it was attached to. In total, we saw about a dozen sharks, and being absolutely addicted to Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, I was thrilled. It cut short my plans for an ocean swim, but the sacrifice was worth it.
After several hours, our boat turned and headed back to shore, and my shipmates reluctantly donned their shorts and T-shirts. Arriving back in Cabo, it became clear just how much my time at Desire had affected me.
“Well I’ll be darned,” I thought to myself. “All those people have their clothes on.”