mayaflya
16th April 2007, 04:37 PM
I was more than satisfied with our time at SOP, and I know that the wife liked it there very much....but I need to give you a little backstory to the rest of this report. Also, for reasons that should become clear later, the remainder of this report will be a little light on photos :-)
I mentioned at the outset that we had returned to the Tulum area partly because of the clothing optional beaches in the area. Our visit in June 2006 was our first experience with “social nudity”. It had an extremely profound effect on me…I found the practice to be an overwhelmingly relaxing way to shed stress. The wife did not have exactly the same reaction. She was supportive of the positive benefits she observed in me, but it was something that she had a difficult time understanding or enjoying for herself.
And so, we have been on a journey of sorts, in the last year, experimenting with different venues and options for nude recreation, trying to find some common ground. I appreciate more than I can say her willingness to do this. In the process, we have had quite a few adventures…there’s something about being naked around strangers that is funny as hell…but I was looking forward to the last two days of this trip, to one of the world’s top “five star” nude resorts, as a rare opportunity to try a venue that would definitely be unique........
Continuing,
We had not been able to book the last night of our vacation at SOP, and therefore needed to relocate. Neither of us had stayed at an all-inclusive before, and so this would be a first as well. A week at Hidden Beach Resort (HBR) was a bit too many $$$, particularly if we discovered that we didn’t care for the experience. Adding two days to the end of our trip seemed like a good compromise….
Ok, so I'm trying to be cool....not get overexcited about the part of this trip that I had been most keenly anticipating. I had told HBR, and also the wife that we would be checking in around "noonish". Official check in is 3pm, so I didn't want to push HBR too hard, but I also knew that our flight out Sunday from Cancun would require a departure soon after breakfast. With what we were paying, I didn't want to leave any of that on the table, (so to speak) so I figured we'd get a lunch out of the deal, even if our room wasn't quite ready yet.
So here I am, wide awake at 5am....looking at 7 hours to drive the 20 minutes to HBR....sigh. The wife absolutely hates to be rushed....so I knew that me getting all perky about packing and getting to HBR early....Oh, I don't know, by 6am would likely backfire. More than I wanted to be there, I wanted this to be a positive experience for the wife. She has been more than a good sport about following me through this C/O journey...and even beginning to warm up to the experiences herself. I noticed on this trip, that it was taking much less time for her to get into a comfort zone with nudity. HBR was going to be a real test though. It would be much more intense in terms of interacting with people than the first part of the week.
We had only two days.....but the last day was her BIRTHDAY....I felt like the world's biggest jerk dragging her to a nudist resort on HER birthday!
So, I decided, early on that morning, that the rest of this weekend would be about her, rather than about me. I would follow her lead and support whatever path through the weekend made her most comfortable. M*** and C***, our neighbors had left early, early, early that morning having a 7am (arrgghhh!) flight out of Cancun. We were alone again at SOP. Our continental breakfast had been arriving about 6am, as I had requested it at sunrise. Sometimes the wife would be up and about by then, and sometimes a little later. I'd usually get a first cup of coffee, and then wait for the wife to join me before eating the pastry du jour.
Today however, I think the wife was just as tried of those wretched mattresses as I was, so she joined me on the beach just as the sun was topping the palms. We were both ready to start packing by 7am and largely done by 8am. I suggested we make another stop in Akumal on the way to HBR, where we could do some shopping, trying to use up our remaining pesos. This was an agreeable idea, so off we went for the short drive. I also wanted to check the Super Chomak there for lime squeezers....I was bound and determined to get practical “souvenir” gifts rather than the usual bric a brac.
I was afraid if I didn't find one today, I'd have to allow time to stop in Playa del Carmen on the way to the airport and that I didn't want to do!
Long story short, the Super Chomak came through (a surprisingly bigger store than it appears) and I bought all three squeezers hanging on their shelf. The wife did a little more bric a brac shopping, and then we decided to get a drink at the Turtle Bay Bakery. The wife ordered a fruity drink, me coffee. I got the coffee right away, but it was about a thirty minute wait for the wife's drink. She began to get more antsy than I was (I was coooool). I think they must have screwed up her order, as when we finished, the waitress said no charge. So, about 11am it's off to HBR....
It's only about ten minutes from Akumal to the HBR/EDSS gate on the 307. I have to say that the whole massive gate and guardpost theme for all of these AI's along the coast was a little intimidating. I didn't understand what they were keeping out (or in), and why the places weren't more open. (I mean, I could get HBR's reasons...but everbody else?). It dawned on me later, when no one tried to glue a wrist band on the wife and I, that this was how they monitored who was a paying guest or not. I guess there are places along the Riviera Maya where they use wrist bands, but we didn't need them at HBR....which I liked.
The friendly guard at the gate, asked our name, checked his clipboard, raised the gate, and waved us through. He also must have made a call on the radio, as by the time we made it down the landscaped lane (about a half mile) there was staff there waiting for us.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/462099587_7069f2b420_o.jpg
The entry drive ends up in a circle drive in front of the El Dorado Seaside lobby, but the HBR entrance is off by itself to the left. There had been a tour bus unloading in front of EDSS when we drove up, so we had detoured around the main drive and pulled up to HBR from the "wrong" direction. I think this threw off the staff that were waiting for us, but they quickly directed us to pull up alongside a pair of heavy wooden doors in the stucco wall separating HBR and EDSS. The service started even before we got out of the car, with several guys unloading our luggage and another parking the car. We were escorted through the gate, and led to the reception building, a short walk to a freestanding, enclosed (and A/C) palapa, across a landscaped area from the gate.
To be continued….
I mentioned at the outset that we had returned to the Tulum area partly because of the clothing optional beaches in the area. Our visit in June 2006 was our first experience with “social nudity”. It had an extremely profound effect on me…I found the practice to be an overwhelmingly relaxing way to shed stress. The wife did not have exactly the same reaction. She was supportive of the positive benefits she observed in me, but it was something that she had a difficult time understanding or enjoying for herself.
And so, we have been on a journey of sorts, in the last year, experimenting with different venues and options for nude recreation, trying to find some common ground. I appreciate more than I can say her willingness to do this. In the process, we have had quite a few adventures…there’s something about being naked around strangers that is funny as hell…but I was looking forward to the last two days of this trip, to one of the world’s top “five star” nude resorts, as a rare opportunity to try a venue that would definitely be unique........
Continuing,
We had not been able to book the last night of our vacation at SOP, and therefore needed to relocate. Neither of us had stayed at an all-inclusive before, and so this would be a first as well. A week at Hidden Beach Resort (HBR) was a bit too many $$$, particularly if we discovered that we didn’t care for the experience. Adding two days to the end of our trip seemed like a good compromise….
Ok, so I'm trying to be cool....not get overexcited about the part of this trip that I had been most keenly anticipating. I had told HBR, and also the wife that we would be checking in around "noonish". Official check in is 3pm, so I didn't want to push HBR too hard, but I also knew that our flight out Sunday from Cancun would require a departure soon after breakfast. With what we were paying, I didn't want to leave any of that on the table, (so to speak) so I figured we'd get a lunch out of the deal, even if our room wasn't quite ready yet.
So here I am, wide awake at 5am....looking at 7 hours to drive the 20 minutes to HBR....sigh. The wife absolutely hates to be rushed....so I knew that me getting all perky about packing and getting to HBR early....Oh, I don't know, by 6am would likely backfire. More than I wanted to be there, I wanted this to be a positive experience for the wife. She has been more than a good sport about following me through this C/O journey...and even beginning to warm up to the experiences herself. I noticed on this trip, that it was taking much less time for her to get into a comfort zone with nudity. HBR was going to be a real test though. It would be much more intense in terms of interacting with people than the first part of the week.
We had only two days.....but the last day was her BIRTHDAY....I felt like the world's biggest jerk dragging her to a nudist resort on HER birthday!
So, I decided, early on that morning, that the rest of this weekend would be about her, rather than about me. I would follow her lead and support whatever path through the weekend made her most comfortable. M*** and C***, our neighbors had left early, early, early that morning having a 7am (arrgghhh!) flight out of Cancun. We were alone again at SOP. Our continental breakfast had been arriving about 6am, as I had requested it at sunrise. Sometimes the wife would be up and about by then, and sometimes a little later. I'd usually get a first cup of coffee, and then wait for the wife to join me before eating the pastry du jour.
Today however, I think the wife was just as tried of those wretched mattresses as I was, so she joined me on the beach just as the sun was topping the palms. We were both ready to start packing by 7am and largely done by 8am. I suggested we make another stop in Akumal on the way to HBR, where we could do some shopping, trying to use up our remaining pesos. This was an agreeable idea, so off we went for the short drive. I also wanted to check the Super Chomak there for lime squeezers....I was bound and determined to get practical “souvenir” gifts rather than the usual bric a brac.
I was afraid if I didn't find one today, I'd have to allow time to stop in Playa del Carmen on the way to the airport and that I didn't want to do!
Long story short, the Super Chomak came through (a surprisingly bigger store than it appears) and I bought all three squeezers hanging on their shelf. The wife did a little more bric a brac shopping, and then we decided to get a drink at the Turtle Bay Bakery. The wife ordered a fruity drink, me coffee. I got the coffee right away, but it was about a thirty minute wait for the wife's drink. She began to get more antsy than I was (I was coooool). I think they must have screwed up her order, as when we finished, the waitress said no charge. So, about 11am it's off to HBR....
It's only about ten minutes from Akumal to the HBR/EDSS gate on the 307. I have to say that the whole massive gate and guardpost theme for all of these AI's along the coast was a little intimidating. I didn't understand what they were keeping out (or in), and why the places weren't more open. (I mean, I could get HBR's reasons...but everbody else?). It dawned on me later, when no one tried to glue a wrist band on the wife and I, that this was how they monitored who was a paying guest or not. I guess there are places along the Riviera Maya where they use wrist bands, but we didn't need them at HBR....which I liked.
The friendly guard at the gate, asked our name, checked his clipboard, raised the gate, and waved us through. He also must have made a call on the radio, as by the time we made it down the landscaped lane (about a half mile) there was staff there waiting for us.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/462099587_7069f2b420_o.jpg
The entry drive ends up in a circle drive in front of the El Dorado Seaside lobby, but the HBR entrance is off by itself to the left. There had been a tour bus unloading in front of EDSS when we drove up, so we had detoured around the main drive and pulled up to HBR from the "wrong" direction. I think this threw off the staff that were waiting for us, but they quickly directed us to pull up alongside a pair of heavy wooden doors in the stucco wall separating HBR and EDSS. The service started even before we got out of the car, with several guys unloading our luggage and another parking the car. We were escorted through the gate, and led to the reception building, a short walk to a freestanding, enclosed (and A/C) palapa, across a landscaped area from the gate.
To be continued….