Lanzarote-Charco Del Palo
It is a group for all friends of Lanzarote- nudist village Charco del Palo
- created by Ludwig48
Looking for a holiday in CdP - advice please.
Return to DiscussionsHi,
Thank you for adding me to the group.
I am looking for a short holiday this January and am considering Charco del Palo, and would welcome comments from anyone who has visited there.
I want somewhere where I can relax, wander down to the beach and spend the day without having to keep putting clothes on.
So the questions I have are:
Can I wander about the village naked?
Can I walk from the villas down to the rock pools naked?
How much of the commercial area (bars, supermarket, cafe etc) is clothes optional?
How good is the supermarket, i.e. does it just hold basics or does it have a full range of vegetables, tinned foods, ready meals, spices, bakery products etc?
What is the night life like?
Is there a cash machine in the village?
How good is the mobile 'phone signal?
How fast is the internet in the area? It will vary from property to property but I may need to do some work (unfortunately that is life nowadays) and I would like to stream some films.
Are the locals friendly?
How far along the coast could I walk until I needed to go textile?
I had a virtual drive around on Google Streeview and noticed that everyone visible were fully clothed. Of course Google may have edited the pictures, but it raised the question in me as to how much of a Naturist Village it really is.
Any comments on how good a place Charco Del Palo is for a Naturist holiday would be most welcome, even if they don't answer the specific questions above
Best wishes
Adrian
Hi Adrian
We love CdP, particularly because it is a fairly quiet place. I'll try to answer your questions:
"I want somewhere where I can relax, wander down to the beach and spend the day without having to keep putting clothes on.
Can I wander about the village naked?"
- Sure, you can spend all day naked. There is no beach in the normal sense, you wander around on sandy cliff-tops and can venture into rock-pools and into the sea, with care.
"Can I walk from the villas down to the rock pools naked?" - Absolutely.
"How much of the commercial area (bars, supermarket, cafe etc) is clothes optional?"
- This is something to review on an individual basis. The new Lili's hadn't yet opened when we left on 11th November but the understanding was that it was to be naturist, unlike the previous Reiner's / Peter's Pub. In Cueva Paloma, they prefer clothing but we have been nde on the upper level. Our favourite place is Jardin Tropical, where, not only on the naturist Thursday evenings, they are OK about one being nude, indoors or out and using the indoor pool at any time. One will see some textiles around, these being workmen, maids, tourists coming to see what the place is like and people dressed to go out for the day or because they have just arrived. Most folk wear something of an evening if it is chilly.
"How good is the supermarket, i.e. does it just hold basics or does it have a full range of vegetables, tinned foods, ready meals, spices, bakery products etc?" - It is very limited, so one does well to stock up at Eurospar or Lidl between airport and CdP.
"What is the night life like?" - This is not the place to go if you want noisy night life.
"Is there a cash machine in the village?" - No
"How good is the mobile 'phone signal?" - There are places where one can get a signal. I think the cellular masts are on the defunct La Tunera restaurant, so if you have line of sight, that helps.
"How fast is the internet in the area? It will vary from property to property but I may need to do some work (unfortunately that is life nowadays) and I would like to stream some films." - This depends on where you stay but be aware that the internet depends on the router being connected to a phone line and many people say that the phone service is poor so I guess overall bandwidth is very limited. My own experience is that the service is poor and one often loses service.
"Are the locals friendly?" Yes, as too tend to be other naturist visitors.
"How far along the coast could I walk until I needed to go textile?"
Technically, since it is legal to be naked in public anywhere on Spanish soil except where specific by-laws or exceptions are in place, one could say there is no need to dress at all, but most people tend to restrict their public nudity to more generally accepted areas. We walk a good hour to an hour and a half in the N direction and somewhat less to the S. Although we have driven nude around the island, I believe there is a law that a shirt must be worn at all times when driving.
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions / concerns, please feel free to PM me.
Cheers, Chris. (We are booked to return for 18 nights April/May and 2 weeks in October.)
Hi Chris,
Good to here from you again.
Many thanks for such a comprehensive answer. Knowing this I am now sure that CdP is the place to choose for my trip, so I can get on and book accommodation and transport.
I don't want to hire a car while I am there so the limitation of the supermarket is probably my biggest issue, so I'll need to think a bit about that.
Best wishes to you both
Adrian
Without a car, I presume you'll use a taxi, so why not take the taxi to either the large Eurospar just off to the R (then up a bit and on the L) near the split of LZ-1 from the LZ-3 or the Lidl which is just off to the R at the next (LZ-18) roundabout? You could then arrange to be picked up after half an hour or an hour or just phone when ready. That way, you can stock up with all the food and drink you need for your stay in one fell swoop. We've not done that when staying in CdP as we've always had a car but we've used the same technique when in Greece and provisioning the yacht for a few weeks. Also, a lot depends on whether you are wanting to eat out a lot or to prepare your own meals.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for this I can see those on Google Maps, and I can now see that there is only one other of any size nearer. Given that hiring a car is not much more expensive than the taxi from/to the airport I might as well hire a car. That way I can spend as long as it takes in the supermarket and I'll have flexibility later. Not only that but I can keep the tip and buy myself a drink!
Tempting though it is, I'm not sure I'll drive naked around the island - knowing my luck I'll get stopped and have to put on insurance renewals for the next 5 years that I have a conviction for not wearing a shirt while driving!
Best wishes
Adrian
I stayed ther in November with a big group from British Naturists (BN). Yes you can walk around the entire village naked. There is a sign at the entrance telling everyone to respect nudism. We stayed in one of the Obana resorts It has a smallish caf where some cover is preferred. There is a large, French owned, restaurant (Jardan Tropical) in which we have dined and drank naked regularly. It has an indoor pool for skinny dipping between courses. They do a nude feast on Thursdays (set meal, music, dancing and a free drink) when everyone is expected to be naked. There is a third bar which used to be textile. It closed and is expected to reopen under new management.The supermarket will supply all your basic needs. We hired a car (at less cost than the airport pick-up for two) which gave flexibility to explore. Usually we get essentials (malt whisky, coffee breakfast) near the airport and then strip off for the journey to CdP. (One time we were told off by the tour organiser for arriving naked only to get a big naked hug from the Obana receptionist - we've been there many times before.) We drive naked everywhere around the island and have had no problems. The Spanish are very nude-tolerant. We did cover up when going round the various tourist attractions. We have also walked naked up into the nearby mountains and alongside the main road. You will have seen that the coast at CdP is rocky - no beach. There are three natural pool for swimming and you can walk naked for about an hour each way along the cliff top. It is sandy. There are good sandy nude beaches at the south end of the island.
Hi Adrian
On our last trip, we used Top Car and were very pleased. We paid the 500 Euro deposit in cash and it was refunded immediately at the end.
(Do not use Gold Car - they make up any excuse to take money off your credit card after you've gone home, like saying the car was dirty - they don't respond to emails and we have later realised were were not the only ones to have had bad experiences with Gold Car.)
With a car, you can also visit other things on the island like the Csar Manrique Foundation house and the Timanfaya National Park, where you can have your meal cooked on a volcano.
Many thanks for all the good advice to all who replied to this.
I am now all booked up at Finka Del Mar (next to Obona) and car hired through Booking.com and Interrent (avoiding Gold Car). 10days from 12/1/19.
Trepidations now are 8hrs flying on Jet2, driving after dark on the wrong side of the road, and buying food for 10 days when I don't know how good the kitchen will be.
But looking forward to a lovely time relaxing in the sun (and nothing else).
Best wishes
Adrian