It’s the naked truth. Rarely a week goes by that we don’t get a question about whether our property or pool is clothing optional. While it is not (Allen says, “submit pictures and we will decide on a case-by-case basis”!), it is obvious that no-tan-lines swimming and sunbathing opportunities are increasingly in demand.
No doubt, Key West’s popularity in the international tourism market has something to do with this. You’ll see nudity at most any beach along the Mediterranean–or at least toplessness, where the lifestyle is not only accepted, but downright mainstream. So why not in Key West? Isn’t that in keeping with the funky, live-and-let-live nature of our community?
Until the demise of local icon, Atlantic Shores, which fell victim to the rising real estate market and is now an upscale condo hotel, it was, for roughly 20 years, Key West’s own haven of counterculture. A veritable institution, it held the clothing-optional market niche. The laid-back pool bar was a hangout for locals and tourists alike, where naturists, strip club performers, next door neighbors, and the just plain curious populated the pool and pier daily to sip cocktails and get an allover tan. It was the type of place that personified the One Human Family philosophy of Key West, where no one cares if you are rich or poor, gay or straight, clothed or with nothing to hide.
Now there’s a movement afoot to designate a clothing optional beach in Key West. The Key West Innkeepers Association recently took a poll of its members and found overwhelming support. Such seems to be the prevailing opinion, at least of the tourism-related sector of the community.
Don’t count on The Tropical Inn going “clothing optional”, but we’ll be backing the movement to designate a beach especially for our guests who prefer birthday suits to swimsuits!
Tags: clothing optional, nude beaches