"WHERE TO GET YOUR KIT OFF " 

MIKE GERRARD 
reports:

NAKED VIRGINS IN CRETE

The most noticeable thing was not hundreds of naked bodies but the colourful plants and flowers all around. The gardens were lush with hibiscus and bougainvillea, and palm trees fringed the pool.



We were two naked virgins, about to be sacrificed. 

Taking our first nudist holiday had seemed like a good idea at the time, and someone recommended  the Vritomartis Hotel

 in Crete as being a great place for being broken in gently. 

Nudity was not allowed within the hotel buildings, and you were asked to cover up at the café by the swimming pool and in the little gift shop nearby.

 Otherwise, around the pool and in the grounds, being in the buff was the norm.   
It was sound advice that we wouldn't otherwise have considered. I think I would have found the sight of bums at breakfast a little too much, though it would have given a whole new meaning to the term 'sunny-side up'.

Thanks to the flight times and 2-hour transfer, we arrived in the early hours of the morning, when all was dark and still. When we awoke and peeked out the window, the sun was blazing and the most noticeable thing was not hundreds of naked bodies but the colourful plants and flowers all around. 

The gardens were lush with hibiscus and bougainvillea, and palm trees fringed the pool.

We were more concerned at how we would fringe ourselves, as we ventured out to breakfast, but the sight of people making their way to the main hotel block dressed in t-shirts and shorts reassured us.

At least we knew the food would be good, for our week's adventure as a novice Adam and Eve. 

The buffet breakfasts and suppers, and the poolside taverna, could mean we'd be fighting the flab as well as watching it.

Back in our room, and after lots of giggles and peeking through the windows, we made our first naked venture and tanned ourselves by the pool for an hour or two. We quickly agreed that erotic it was not.

Most people there were not potential Miss Worlds or Mr Universes. On the other hand, this was very reassuring. Any doubts you might have about your own physical imperfections start to melt away when you see, actually, you don't look too bad after all.

It is also interesting to see that people can be so comfortable with their own bodies. The fact that the fat granny or the skinny old man can strut about starkers with not a care in the world seemed to indicate some kind of contentment. 

This is me, they're saying, for better or worse, take it or leave it, I don't mind.

Naturists mostly seem very nice people too. We quickly made friends with an English couple, visiting Vritomartis for the second year running, and they pointed out that there were no noisy radios by the pool, and the place was spotless. This was typical of nudist hotels and resorts, they said, and was one reason they liked staying in them.

Meeting these regular naturists, was an eye-opener in more ways than one. It made me realise that naturists can't be lumped together as people any more than, say, motorists or shoppers can. They're all different, and came from all walks of life. Most seemed to be very easy-going and would chat to strangers much more readily than perhaps non-naturists would.

They came from all over, too, in search of that all-over tan. There were many Germans, some Dutch and French, a few English and an American couple who found the hotel on the internet. The hotel manager later told me they got the bulk of their bookings now from the web.

As a hotel, Vritomartis (the only nudist hotel in Greece) couldn't be faulted. The rooms were clean, modern and spacious, and ours had a balcony overlooking the Libyan Sea. 
It was a short walk from the village of Chora Sfakion, where you could have a beer or a bite to eat at one of the tavernas lining the fishing harbour there. 

There were activities in and around the hotel (volleyball court, nudist beach), as well as excursion options. 

We walked the nearby Imbros Gorge
 (fully clothed, of course!) and if we'd had the energy to get up at dawn could have spent the day walking the 
Samaria Gorge. 

This, the longest gorge in Europe, is just along the south coast from Chora Sfakion, giving some idea of the spectacular scenery in this corner of Crete which is forever naked.

                                   FACT FILE

Vritomartis UK:  www.dune.uk.com 

Outside UK:       www.naturism-crete.com 
                            http://www.naturistholidays.com/Vrito.html 

Nudist beaches http://www.creteisland.gr/naturism/

Cap'n Barefoot's Naturist Guide to the Greek Islands