Deni lets go in Mexico (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

I never thought I’d find myself being chased around a pool by a naked man in his sixties with a can of squirty cream.

And yet, here I was.

Picture the scene. It’s 11pm on the Riviera Maya. A pool party, tables of decadent desserts dotted around – marshmallows on sticks, mini millionaire shortbreads, chocolate sauce, and – yes – oodles of squirty cream.

Chocolate station and live band at the nude party (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

I am at Hidden Beach, a nudist resort in Mexico, where I have been invited by international party firm Social Exposure to try out their new concept for evening entertainment.


The resort had been nudist from the onset but the parties – one, a chocolate-themed party, the other UV body painting – were new.

(Picture: Deni Kirkova)

When I found out the resort itself was nudist, I was kind of excited to try it out.



The experience of removing clothes could really accentuate the feeling of having an ultimate break from reality, I thought.

Just ask Orlando Bloom, who only last week was paddle boarding naked in Italy with girlfriend Katy Perry, or Justin Bieber, who two days later was skinny dipping in a Mexican waterfall.

(Picture: Deni Kirkova)

Their free and easy form of naturism, though, is quite cost free and spontaneous, while this sort of dedicated nudist resort is generally quite expensive.

Many clients are high-powered professionals who wear a uniform of suits and spend their lives presenting a professional image – so they come to these places to let that all go.

As a result, they are older, and tend to be in couples – in fact, Natasha and I were the only ones not in a couple.

Natasha and Deni (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

Even so, it was quite the unnerving proposal to go stay somewhere so… liberated… when I’d never tried nudism before.

Unsure if we were ready for the fully immersive naturist experience, I decided to organise to stay next door at El Dorado Seaside Suites (owned by the same hotel group, Karisma) and visit Hidden Beach for a day spent by the pool and for the two themed parties.

All guests from El Dorado can sample the Hidden Beach experience if they wish for a daily rate, and if they only want to attend the evening parties they can do so for the same. Only guests from one or other of the resorts can go to the parties to make sure everyone is known to the hotel group.

Hidden Beach guests can go back and forth between both resorts as they please, and they tend to do so, especially for the restaurants.

After breakfast by the sand at El Dorado, my nervous Natasha and I, wearing bikinis and towels, walked all of 10 steps to Hidden Beach.

We observed the private scene: a large pool with a bar in the middle with volleyball set up next to it; six couples playing a game, a couple more propped up sipping cocktails, cheering on their friends and chatting to staff.

On the beach at El Dorado (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

Everyone at Hidden Beach seemed so sociable, chatty and confident. They really got along with each other; it was like a holiday for a bunch of extended friends with the only twist being that everyone’s naked, and they’d just met. It was quite surreal, but fun and lighthearted, and we immediately felt at ease.



Most people were in their fifties or sixties whereas Natasha and I had just broken into our twenties, so after all of about two minutes sitting on the sun loungers we felt confident enough to whip off our bikini tops and bottoms.

Aside from partying in the nude, Deni and Natasha went salsa dancing all night in Playa Del Carmen clubs where professional dancers go for fun (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

We had a feeling that we might feel more uncomfortable actually wearing clothes, and it was true.

Soon we were in that pool playing game after game of volleyball with our new naked friends. It was then we realised that, funnily enough, while we felt like we’d instantly made friends at Hidden Beach, we’d hardly said a word to any of the guests back at El Dorado.

Deni explores a cave in Mexico (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

After breaking the ice with the day at the pool, the UV party was even less daunting. There was a band, free bar, black light and dancefloor, as well as a UV spray paint artist who came to decorate everyone’s bodies with beautiful designs; Japanese flowers on the women and wild animals on the men.

The chocolate body painting party had a live band – as well as lots of chocolate desserts, a bucket of chocolate sauce with paint brushes – and that squirty cream.

I guess when you’re already naked you may as well get creative – and as Ancient Mexicans were of one of the first people to discover chocolate, drinking cacao beverages as far back as 1900 BC, this celebration of chocolate felt fun and crazy but kind of authentic to the location.

The edited version of the photos from the UV body painting night (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

Natasha and I began painting sugar skulls and floral scenes on each other’s backs with chocolate sauce – but a couple of hours later squirty cream was getting sprayed around with wild abandon and the party had escalated into a full blown food fight – which was when the squirty cream chase happened.


It was great fun, but definitely spelled the end of the party for us – it was time to shower.

Also, by this point we’d eaten too much cake.

Deni at Chichen Itza (Picture: Deni Kirkova)

After my experience, all I can say is nudist resorts are actually so much fun.

But, perhaps try to convince a big group of open-minded pals to go with you – unless you don’t mind spending your holiday with people your parents’ – or even grandparents’ – age.

Alternatively, just do what Orlando and Justin did: find a beautiful natural spot where nudity won’t offend anyone and whip it off.

MORE: 10 reasons you should go to a nudist beach at least once

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