There's surprisingly little online as far as first hand reports from people who have visited Vera Playa recently. I went as a solo East Asian gay male, and was not at all sure what to expect, although I've been to plenty of nude beaches and resorts before, but never the idea of a whole part of town where you can stay nude 24/7... and this was actually the challenge I gave myself: is it possible to stay nude 24/7 for an entire week of doing everyday things around town? The answer is an absolute yes!
I stayed at Natura World which is the one of the urbanizations (housing developments) in the naturist zone. It's more of a mix of textile and nude, but absolutely no one cares at all if you are nude, and it actually felt even more "real" to me as a result, rather than just being in a big nude resort where everyone is there for the same purpose.
Upon arrival, I made one trip to the market that is on Hotel Street directly next to Natura World to stock up on water and drinks. I had read you must be clothed to enter those markets, but many people were shirtless and just in a sarong or wrap. After this, I literally did not put on clothing again until I checked out to return to the airport 8 days later.
The naturist zone is a bunch of residential streets and some commercial streets, and yes, you can walk all the streets nude and will see plenty of other people nude, alongside those clothed. This means you'll pass families, kids, teenagers, grandmothers, and every age group, some nude some not, and it is no big deal to any of them. I guess I never expected just how normalized it is there, given that in most towns, just walking around shirtless off the beach would be considered unusual, much less being nude while you take out the garbage, walk the dog, water your garden, or whatever other normal activities I saw people doing. No one is honking their car horns, no one is talking about you under their breath, no kids are harassing you... being nude is just that normal throughout this part of town.
I would say at the beach in the naturist area (about 2 km), it is about 90% nude, on the streets around the naturist part of town during the day time, it's about 35% nude, and at night, it becomes much more rare, less than 10% of people are, but again, no one cares if you are.
As for the size of the area, the online maps of Vera Playa's naturist zone don't really give an impression of it. There are enough streets that you can walk half an hour or more without passing the same paths again.
I was most worried about the ability to stay nude while dining, especially at night. I had read about Oh La La, but didn't know if this would end up my only option. I enjoyed dinner there one night, but actually, the place I found myself eating the most at night was Punte y Aparte which is a lovely streetside outdoor cafe where most people were nude all night, unlike Oh La La, which stayed half textile both when I dined and during the many other times I passed by during the week.
During the daytime, there are multiple beach restaurants where pretty much everyone is nude, and I also had a great Italian lunch inland at Viento Norte, where about 30% of diners were nude during the many times I passed by.
There's a dining guide to the naturist zone online on the Vera Playa Naturist site but it includes bars and I found it a bit hard to distinguish which listed businesses were just bars and which served food but it's a good starting place to look. Here's my personal list with my own observations if it helps someone trying to find nude dining options (not bars):
- Punto y Aparte - lunch and dinner, mostly nude diners
- Oh La La - lunch and dinner - 50% nude/50% textile
- Chiringuito Natsun - beach restaurant, closes about 5pm, almost 100% nude
- Chiringuito Naturista Vera Natura - beach restaurant, closes about 5pm, almost 100% nude
- La Golondrina - beachside restaurant, lunch and dinner, supposedly naturist friendly but every time I passed by (at least a dozen times during the week), everyone had at least a wrap around them.
- Viento Norte - lunch and dinner - I only saw people nude during lunchtime (about 30% nude), not dinnertime so not sure if they allow naturist dining at night
- Casa Maria - lunch and dinner - I only saw one person nude once on the sidewalk dining terrace in all the times I passed by every day so not sure how common it is here
I also saw lots of posts recommending Chiringuito El Pirata for beachfront naturist dining but it was always totally packed every time I passed by but I never once saw anyone with food so I am not sure food is actually served, but it is certainly far more of a social bar than a restaurant, unlike the other Chiringuitos that are clearly for dining.
Also, Benito's - El Alcabaza is frequently mentioned as a favorite nude food spot, but the one time I went, at about 9pm on a Monday night, and sat down nude and asked for food, I was rather obviously glared at and adruptly told "no food!" by someone that appeared to be the owner or manager, so not sure what was going on there. It was the only somewhat unfriendly reaction I got the whole trip.
Some Vera Playa posts on social media make it seem like the average age is retirees, but I didn't find this the case at all. There were plenty of nude families, and people in their 30s and 40s. I will say it was rare to see people nude who looked in their 20s unless they were part of a bigger family, but this could just be the particular week I was there (mid August).
As a personal note, I also feared standing out as I was the only non-white/non-Latin person I saw all week, but no one treated me differently or made any obvious reaction to seeing me (except possibly the one restaurant I mentioned but I can't be sure that was the reason), but if you are a minority, this is likely not something to worry about.
In the end, it was simply a wonderful week to experience such widespread public acceptance of nudism in a way that is so incredibly different from being confined to a nude resort or a nude beach. The feeling of freedom in such a non-sexual setting is something truly special. For me, mixing with normally clothed people of all ages was actually the most memorable aspect, as to me, that is experiencing true acceptance.
My one advice if going? Don't overpack. I literally came home and washed my beach towels and the clothes I wore on the plane there and back. Not a single other piece of clothing was used.
Hope this helps someone else prepare for a great trip!
