So, here we are already. It’s July and another gear change – this one into the official high season. You need to smother on the sun lotion, drink plenty of fluids (preferably non-alcoholic during the daytime heat. There. Public safety announcement over.) be close to water, be it pool or sea to keep your body temperature moderated, and sit back, kick back and enjoy the wall-to-wall blue skies, sun and heat.
So with high season in full bloom, the beach and pools are teeming with Spanish families young, old and anything in between, leaving a trail of sandcastle estates along the shoreline.
It’s good to see these young families raising their children as naturists, the future generation of genuine naturists in Vera Playa is assured. It’s just all so laid-back and relaxed in Spain, nudity is no big deal here, as a rule… just the natural way to enjoy the great outdoors.
All the beach bars, street bars, restaurants, ice cream parlours and shops are open and doing good business. All the lifeguards are on duty along the beach and swimming pools. Consum (the supermarket) is now open on Sundays so you can get your fresh watermelon to take to the beach.
Yes, it’s busy and buzzing but still there are some more isolated spots to be found further from the main facilities if that’s what you prefer.
Sometimes I look up at the lifeguards in their towers and I wonder what they must be thinking about all these naked people taking in the sun and splashing in the sea. But then the other day, I noticed that during his ‘afternoon break’ the young lifeguard climbed down from his tower, and lay on the sand – naked. So, he has either been brought up in a naturist friendly environment, or he is a latter convert. Whichever it is, it was refreshing to see that one of the ‘workers’ is also ‘one of us.’
I do love swimming in the sea (well, bobbing around and daydreaming in my own world, more like), but I do have an irrational phobia. Fish. Yes reader. I love fish dishes, but the thought of one swimming past me, or worse of all – jumping out the water in front of me (as they love to do here) makes me scream “we’re all gonna die” as I run out the water. Now, I’m smart enough to know that this irrational fear is exactly that – irrational – so I try to put these thoughts out of my head and enjoy my bobbing in the water. However, a few days ago, Steve and I were in the sea chatting away when all of a sudden I saw… a fin. It flippered around briefly then disappeared. And so did I. I didn’t even bother to try and save Steve – I just exited to terra firma and fast. My natural reaction was to shout ‘Shark! Shark! Get out of the water!’ in 5 different languages but on consideration what I had seen was probably a dolphin that had drifted too close to shore by mistake – or even maybe a turtle (after all, the road down to the beach translates as ‘Boba Turtle Avenue’), Dolphins are often spotted off the coast of nearby Garrucha and Mojácar so perhaps this one wanted to enjoy effortlessly gliding alongside some nude swimming pals. Anyway, after a 10-minute sulk, I was persuaded back into the water with not a Jaws sighting to behold.
So there we have it. July speeds on. Where are these summer months going? Well I know where I’m going – to the beach! Toodle pip. Keep cool and enjoy the summer.
Steve and Chris offer two beautiful apartments to rent for the discerning naturist traveller. One is directly on the Vera Playa naturist beach, the other just a few footsteps away. See more here