After buying my first bathing suit in my adult life to take to The Yucatan, I wasn’t sure why I might need it, I just thought it might be polite to take it. Never having traveled in the jungle, it didn’t occur to me until I got there that I might use it while swimming in the hotel pools or cenotes. But on the beach, I wanted to sunbathe and swim the same way I do in California – naked. The swim suit was (and is, I still have it) a cheapie Speedo one piece that will do when needed.

Skinnydipping and sunbathing au natural in California is not weird or perverted, or mandatory. It’s just something some of us do. No biggie. It’s also no biggie in a lot of other places in the world, like on the beaches in The South of France. Although there it is more of a general rule that women can go topless, rather than completely naked, on public beaches.

In Mexico it’s a different story.

In Mexico it is generally known that being naked, or partially so, on a beach is illegal, and you can get arrested for it, although it is up to the judge who hears the case as to how illegal it is.

Culturally you will probably never find a naked Mexican on the beach. It is not something they would even consider doing. Most of the people of Mexico find nudity in public to be very offensive. Maybe it has something to do with Catholicism? Remember the old saying Do as the Romans do? Well, that applies to Mexico too.

Now, with all that being said there are a few places along the Riviera Maya where clothing is an option on the beach. Optional being the key word. Most of them are in Tulum and clothing optional is defined by the cabanas and limited to that particular beach front property.

If you are unfamiliar with clothing optional beaches, there are a few things you might want to consider:

** Clothing optional is just that. Optional. Even if people are naked on the beach, you don’t have to be. The only requirement is that you are not offended if other people are.

** That also goes the other way around. Don’t expect every one to be naked. It’s not a nudist camp.

** The term clothing optional usually applies to the beach. Not the cabana area or the restaurant if there is one. Especially not the restaurant. Even if the cabana area is also clothing optional, it’s nice to be respectful of the other guests and wear your sarong when strolling down the jungle paths, or going to or from your cabana and the beach.

** Being intimate with another person, no matter how close of a relationship you have, on a public beach is a big please don’t do that. No matter how beautiful you think you are, no one wants to watch you and no one thinks it’s hot.

** Not everyone is a super model. So don’t think that only outwardly beautiful (as defined by you) people get naked at the beach! People of all types and all ages get naked on a clothing optional beach.

** Staring really isn’t cool.

** Taking photographs of other beach goers is really not cool! It’s one thing to take photos of your friend on the nude beach, but taking them of strangers, or without someone’s permission, is a huge don’t do that.

** People tend to have a wider area of personal space on a clothing optional beach, so don’t set up your space right next to someone if there is a lot of space left on the beach.

** Remember, for some people, it’s not about having to be naked on the beach, it’s only about not having tan lines.

** If you go for a walk on the beach, you might want to put on your sarong, or beach cover-up. It’s one thing to lay around naked, or to play in the water naked, but, if the beach is clothing optional and the neighboring beaches are not, well, again, it’s just being respectful.

** Sarongs look really hot on guys. So don’t be afraid to use them when you are walking around.

** Clothing optional is just that. Optional. It’s a relaxed way of being at the beach, not a mandatory way of being at the beach. It’s also not about breaking societal rules, because in a clothing optional environment you aren’t breaking any rules.

What you do is up to you. Feeling the sun on your body from head to toe is a wonderful sensation and healthy in very small doses. So don’t forget your sunscreen and enjoy your time on the beach!

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