Etiquette at a naturist resort or club comes down to one idea: you are a guest in a community that has built a place where people can be undressed and unbothered. Every rule below exists to protect that, and the regulars will enforce them whether or not staff are watching.
This guide covers clubs and resorts, which are private property with gates, rules and staff. Beaches are public and work differently; read the nude beach etiquette guide for those.
Check-in and orientation
Expect to show photo ID, sign a conduct agreement and, at many clubs, sit through a five-minute orientation. Some clubs run background checks on first-time visitors; Cypress Cove in Florida, one of the largest resorts in the country, has said publicly that it does. Day passes at US clubs listed in the resort directory typically run from the price of a cinema ticket to the price of a nice dinner, and AANR or Naturist Society members often get a discount. Read the listing before you go; a club's single-visitor policy, hours and whether it is clothing-optional or nude-required are all there.
Undress at your room, your car or the changing area, not in the parking lot. Most clubs allow clothing in the reception, restaurant and office; most expect nudity at the pool and hot tub when the weather allows, and a few are nude-required everywhere outdoors. The orientation will tell you which.
The towel rule
Carry a towel and sit on it. Every chair, bench, stool, pool edge, gym bench and golf cart seat. This is a hygiene rule as old as organized naturism, it is in writing at every club in the world, and it is the single most reliable way to be spotted as a first-timer. Carry a second towel for drying off after the pool so the one you sit on stays dry.
Cameras and phones
Assume photography is banned in every common area unless a sign says otherwise. Many clubs put a sticker over your phone camera at check-in; some prohibit phones at the pool entirely. Taking a photo of another guest without their clear permission is the fastest route out of the gate and onto the list that neighboring clubs share. If you want a picture of yourself for your gallery, take it at your own cabin or site with nobody else in frame, or ask staff where the designated photo spot is. Several resorts have one.
Hot tubs, pools and saunas
- Shower first. Every time, with soap, before the pool or the hot tub. Nude bathing without swimsuits is cleaner than textile bathing only if everyone showers.
- Hot tubs are for sitting, not socializing closely. Enter, nod, sit with space, talk if people are talking. Do not slide along the bench toward anyone.
- Saunas: towel under everything, including your feet, and no products, oils or phones.
- No drinks in the water. Most clubs ban glass anywhere near the pool deck; some ban alcohol at the pool entirely.
Alcohol
Many US clubs are BYOB because of liquor licensing, some have a bar, and all of them have the same rule: drunk guests leave. Naturist clubs run on trust, and a drunk person at a nude pool is a problem for everybody. Drink the way you would at a family barbecue where you are the guest.
Singles, couples and gender balance
Clubs are private and can set whatever admission policy keeps their members comfortable. In practice that means couples and families are admitted without discussion, single women are welcomed nearly everywhere, and single men face the most rules: a cap on the proportion of single male members, a requirement for prior naturist experience or a sponsor, or a limit on the number of day passes issued to singles on a busy weekend. Cypress Cove, for example, requires single men to be members or to have previous nudist resort experience. None of this is personal. The clubs that restrict single men are the ones where the alternative was women leaving. If you are a single man, the guide to finding nudists near you explains how to build the experience and the references that get you in.
Families and children
Most landed clubs in the United States and nearly all naturist resorts in Europe are family venues, and children are a normal part of the scene. Families are normal; that is the whole sentence. Behave as you would at any family pool, keep adult conversation adult-free in earshot of kids, and do not photograph anyone's children, ever. A minority of resorts are adults-only; the listing will say so.
Looking, staring and the gawker problem
A gawker, in naturist usage, is someone who is there to look rather than to participate: keeps clothes on at a nude pool, sits with a view of the entrance, follows people with their eyes or their feet. Regulars spot gawkers within minutes and staff act on it. The rule for everyone else is the same as the beach: glance, eye contact when you talk, no inspection tours of the pool deck, no compliments about bodies. Arousal happens occasionally to nervous first-timers; cover with a towel, swim, and let it pass. Making a show of it is the line between naturism and something else, and it is a ban.
Conversation and approaches
Naturist clubs are sociable, and a hello at the pool gets a conversation. What does not work is any version of a pickup: asking where someone is staying, approaching a woman who is alone, suggesting a couple come back to your cabin. Public displays of affection are limited to what you would do at a church picnic; most clubs put it in writing as "holding hands". Swinger behavior, "lifestyle" invitations and anything sexual get people removed and reported, and the naturist world is small enough that a ban at one club follows you.
What gets you banned
- Photographing or filming anyone without consent.
- Any sexual behavior in a public area, including touching your partner in a way you would not at a family pool.
- Staring, following, or repeated unwanted approaches.
- Touching anyone without a clear yes, including the "friendly" shoulder.
- Drunkenness, drugs, or ignoring a staff instruction.
- Keeping clothes on at a nude-required pool after being asked.
Clubs are private property. They can remove you without a hearing, keep your day fee, and most of them talk to each other. The flip side is that a club you have been visiting for a season will vouch for you at the next one, and that is how most people's naturist lives expand.
The short version
Towel under you, camera away, shower before the water, eyes where they would be at a clothed pool, drink like a guest, and treat every other person there as a neighbor rather than a view. Do that for a day and the regulars will treat you as one of them. Then look at the events calendar for the next open house and bring a friend.