In the world of nude recreation, singles usually get the short end of the stick. Several nudist resorts limit singles in some way and others ban single men altogether. Why?

Well, you can thank a few bad seeds that have had a negative impact on the other 99% of singles who are true nudists. This is very unfortunate.

That's why I was glad to see Cypress Cove promote an upcoming singles weekend...not just a dance, but an ENTIRE WEEKEND.

Yes, you heard that right: an event specifically for nudist singles. Cypress Cove, in Kissimmee, Florida, near Orlando, is a good, safe place for this kind of event. A long time AANR member, I've heard many nudists recommend the resort.

Cypress Cove's Singles "Toga" Weekend runs Aug 17 - 19, 2007. A toga party themed singles weekend, here's the details from Cypress Cove:

"It’s a great time to come and meet other single nudists.

We start the weekend off on Friday, August 17th with a special extended happy hour, cracker-barrel discussion and icebreaker games, and then that night a Toga Streak at Cheeks with DJ Xavier.

Then on Saturday at noon we will have a pool party with DJ Xavier once again. He will be playing music and games that are great for singles to get to know one another. At 4 pm we will have another Cracker-barrel discussion at Lakeside Lounge that will coincide with an extra hour of Happy Hour.

When the sun goes down, the fun really starts to heat up with the Toga Party to end all Toga Parties with live music by Cove favorites, The Love Bugs, playing the tunes at Lakeside Restaurant that will help you get a little closer to your new friends. There will also be a toga costume contest at 9pm.

Make reservations now for what is sure to be the best singles weekend yet."

Learn more on the Cypress Cove website.

Disclaimer: To readers new to nudism, nudists are normal people y'all.

Contrary to the title of this article, nudists come from all walks of life. AANR-affiliated nudist resorts focus on providing good, clean fun for all kinds of people - the most fun you can have without your clothes on, in a safe, non-sexual (but not sterile) environment.

Alright, let's git-r-done y'all. Redneck Weekend is coming and it's gooder than grits.

Founded in 1964, Cypress Cove Nudist Resort in Kissimmee, Florida regularly organizes themed events for nudist residents and guests. Redneck Weekend is amongst the more unique.

Redneck Weekend is planned for June 22-24. The redneck-themed, clothing-optional activities at the popular nudist resort event include Hillbilly Games, the Good Ol' Boys parade, a redneck costume contest and, of course, an old fashioned hoedown. Yeeeee-hawww!!!

From the Cypress Cove website:

"It’s that time once again for a party weekend you won’t soon forget! Y’all get ready because REDNECK WEEKEND RETURNS!

It all starts off Friday afternoon with a right good pool party with DJ Xavier spinning all the redneck music you can handle That night keeps the good times rollin with a good old fashioned Redneck Karaoke Party with Regis in the Lakeside Lounge. Sing all your countrified favorites or come down and sing any song as long as you come and sing.

Saturday has yet another pool party with Xavier, a Good Ol’ Boys Parade, and the now legendary Hillbilly Games on Lakeside Lawn. Saturday night, Snafu, will take the stage at Lakeside Restaurant for a big hoedown with all your friends. It all builds up to our Redneck Costume Contest where you can win a free night stay in our beautiful Villas. I hope to see y’all here real soon."

Besides the themed weekends, Cypress Cove grounds and facilities are quite nice. The 300 acre property has a 20 acre recreation area, 50 acre lake and 130 acres of wetlands. There are two restaurants, bike rental, paddle boats, petanque, tennis courts, and other activities.

Now you git yourself on down there, you hear.

Today we hear about a nudist costume contest followed by river tubing in Dominica. These nudist cruisers sure know how to have a good, wholesome clothes-free time.

For those just joining us, 1,200 nudists (a.k.a. naturists) are aboard a Bare Necessities Nude Cruise for a February 3 to 13 Caribbean tour. Using an onboard wireless Internet connection, nudist traveler Mike has been able to provide a look inside the nude cruise.

Be sure to read Mike's previous nude cruise reports: February 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Report:

Roseau, Dominica, Aboard The M/S Holland America Maasdam (February 9, 2007) -- Nobody knows how to dress up better than a shipload of nudists.

Proof positive of that fact was in spectacular evidence last night aboard our floating city of nudists for the gala "Under The Sea" costume contest / parade, and no one on the ship who saw the hundreds of simply amazing costumes cooked up by the nudists will ever forget the evening.

On a typical cruise, on a theme night, there might be a half-dozen passengers in costume or dressing up in accordance with the announced "theme" for the night: i.e., Country & Western Night, Mardi Gras Night, etc. On our nude cruise, being a bunch of people who haven't forgotten how to have fun without any hang-ups or pretension, we had well over 300 people in costume last night. And the costumes were spectacular.

There was a very strong invertebrate category, with many variations of jellyfish costumes and even some elaborate electrified outfits for an electro-luminescent look. We had sharks, sea sponges, many types of lobsters, wharf rats, some amazing sea anemones, fishermen and their catches, and a good assortment of King Neptune and mermaids / sea maidens. We all assembled on the aft pool deck at 10:00 PM for prelim judging, and it was just amazing to walk around and see so many of our fellow Maasdam passengers in their elaborate costumes, each one more inventive, original and fun than the next.

The photos I am sending for John to post don't begin to do justice to the immense variety and novelty of the great costumes on board last night. Some are simply inexplicable, and no one who wasn't there last night will ever know how amazing they were. The ship's photographers were trying to capture it all on film, and we'll be able to see our photos tonight in the ship's photo gallery. Of course, many onlookers and contestants as well also took their own photos (with the permission of their subjects, of course), and so I am attaching a few to give a small glimpse of the hilarity and imaginativeness of the various creations.


Mermaid on stage with David the emcee


Electro-luminescent jellyfish having fun


A couple in jellyfish costumes


Wearing crazy sea anemone costume

Our favorite was the SCUBA diver and mermaid couple. He was dressed in a full wet-suit, with mask, snorkel, SCUBA BCD vest, and he carried the mermaid over his shoulder...she was his wife, topless of course and with long blonde hair, strewn with seaweed and seashells, and with an impeccable set of mermaid fins covering her from the waist down. So dressed, she couldn't very well walk anywhere, but she did crawl, hop and beg to be carried around the festivities, even "making a break for it" once as they neared the aft pool. Once on stage, she crawled across the stage to our Cruise Director David Martin, the emcee for the contest, and managed to distract him endlessly during the proceedings. The shot I'm sending was taken from onstage and shows her sprawled on the floor making for David's leg gives an idea of the scene. They were fabulous, and neither one ever "broke character" -- he had to be dying of heat inside that wet suit, but it earned them one of the three Honorable Mention awards!

The kind of fun we all had last night is simply indescribable to anyone who hasn't been there themselves. The costume contest is always one of the highlights of the nude cruise, and last night's ranks among the best we've ever seen. It is so amazing to be among so many fun, happy, carefree people who just like to have fun, playing as children do and enjoying just being human. As I say, it's inexplicable, but inimitable and certainly unimaginable to all the textile-compulsive folks out in the rest of the world.


Dominica Layou River Valley
Today we arrived in Dominica, the green rainforest island, which has 10 volcanoes, 365 rivers, dozens of freshwater lakes, and a lush and gorgeous ecosystem of palms, ferns and every other kind of green, living thing. If you didn't know better, you'd say you were on Maui -- except Dominica is even more densely forested and with a more diverse climate. Many people from our ship went river tubing down the island's longest river, the Layou, while others took island bus tours. We did the 12-mile downhill bike ride through the rainforest, stopping for a cool dip in the Layou (with a skinnydip in the adjoining hot spring as well!) before arriving back at the beach. Our 3-hour ride took us down 2,200 feet in elevation through the beautiful and lush Layou rainforest valley. Spectacular.

Shortly Maasdam will push off the pier and head on to St. Thomas, where we will be in port Saturday until late afternoon. Tonight we'll enjoy another great clothes-free night of fun aboard the Maasdam, which seems to be gaining the acclaim of many of our fellow cruisers as the best ship and crew ever chartered by Bare Necessities.

I don't know about you, the reader, but hearing about all of this fun is getting me thinking about my own vacation plans for this year!