Shangri-la Ranch, New River

Shangri La Ranch I made my fist ever visit to a clothing optional resort last Sunday, August 28th. It ended up being a really good experience; I’ll be heading back to visit again this Saturday during the Labor Day weekend. Here are my general thoughts and comments… I arrived a few minutes after the office opened at 9:00. The resort is kind of in the middle of nowhere and you won’t get through the gate unless someone on the other side wants you to…so it’s plenty secure. Gi Gi (spelling) checked me in at the small office and was pretty much all business. The first visit is free which provides a great way to test the water. I went to the pool area and was the only one there. I picked out a chair for some tanning, took off my board shorts and put sunscreen on the areas that have never seen the sun. I’ll be honest, being naked out in public felt a little weird at first. Pretty soon, very tanned naked people started trickling in and they came in all sizes, shapes and ages. It was very easy to engage in conversations after the initial good morning. I was really surprised how quickly that fact that everyone was naked became perfectly normal. I’m a fairly good looking guy in very good physical shape but that didn’t matter anymore than someone being eighty pounds overweight…no one really cares. Being nude is somehow an amazing neutralizer and puts everyone on the same playing field. I had great casual conversations with a number of different demographics…here’s a quick recap of a few. A 60ish year old retired construction worker, another 60ish year old semi retired couple, a 40ish year old couple from the bay area, a 40ish guy from the UK and his 30ish female friend, a 50ish year old single woman and another 40ish year old single woman. All the conversations were easy and sincere and other than being naked there was nothing sexual at all about the place. By the time I left around 1:00 there were about 30 people there (all adults) between the volleyball pool and the regular pool with about a fifty fifty split between men and women. Finally, this is not a luxury resort and it’s not full of “beautiful people” it is a quiet place full of really nice people that are perfectly comfortable being nude no matter what their age or body type. I personally though it was a very cool and relaxing experience. Quite honestly I can’t wait to go back….

This is a great, friendly place, but I think it only fair to state prominently that this is a naturist resort. That means clothing is optional, and there will be lots of naked people around. Plan accordingly! I took swimming lessons there when I was a little kid in the early eighties, and it was a bit of an education.