WILLEMSTAD — The naturists’ resort ‘The Natural Mini Resort & Boat Trips’ located on Kaminda San Sebastian, will welcome the first guests on January 27^th. Last June, couple Paul and Helen van den Boomgaard began building five bungalows on their property measuring one hectare. These have now been completed. The resort will eventually have fifteen bungalows and already has two smaller apartments.

Helene states it’s a small-scaled resort, where clothing is optional and naturists can enjoy the peace and nature at a private location. The resort maintains a minimum age of 16. “Nudism is not a compulsory issue at our resort. We respect the choice of our guests to wear (bathing) clothes or not”, says Helene. Naturism is characterized by communal nudity with the purpose to improve self-respect, respect for others and respect for nature and environment. As apposed to nudism, a philosophy of life lies at the root of naturism. Many nude swimmers are therefore rather nudist than naturist. The location and situation are not important to nudists although most would stick to nudist beaches, saunas, nudists’ camping and such.

The resort has all permits and wants to start building the other ten bungalows soon. The detached bungalows are meant for two persons, but are also suitable for four if the sofa bed in the living room is used. They have a separate bedroom and are fitted out with all modern conveniences, such as air-conditioning, bathroom with warm and cold water, fully-equipped kitchen, free film channels, high-speed internet and a safe. They also have a spacious terrace with benches with a view of the abundant nature environment. “The plan is to start the construction as soon as 60 percent of the bungalows are sold on paper. For this we have called in a real estate agent. We are now busy with ‘landscaping’ to optimize the atmosphere”, says Helene.

The Natural Mini Resort lies within a stone’s throw of the village Willibrordus. The resort’s website www.thenaturalcuracao.com also mentions ‘many beautiful beaches in the neighborhood of the resort, such as Daaibooi, Porto Marie and Cas Abou’. The guests can also choose for a sailing trip of several days via Natural Mini Resort, offering sailing and snorkeling trips with a motor-catamaran along the south coast. “The beautiful empty beaches of San Juan, only ten minutes from the resort, are sometimes visited by nudists although public nudism it not allowed on Curaçao. The beaches are usually visited at times when others are not likely to be around. Of course, as soon as other visitors arrive, we will act accordingly and get dressed. We will clearly mention this to our guests during their stay on Curaçao”, says Helene, who emphasizes they wish to avoid any form of inconvenience for the neighborhood.

Objection

The Van den Boomgaard family does not have any specific experience in the tourism sector and moved to Curaçao in March last year. In the past, the couple managed gas stations, automatic car washes and a taxi company. “Of course, this is something entirely different, but we had planned everything well in advance in The Netherlands before making the change. We were especially attracted by the warm mentality of the people and the island’s beautiful nature. After we arrived, we explained our plans and floor plans to the neighbors and talked to the people” says Helene.

On inquiry from the Amigoe it appears that only one family had objected to the resort. “Several neighbors had even come to take a look and thought it wouldn’t be a problem because there’s no view from the outside”, says Helene. The owners chose this location ‘because of its privacy’.

“Nudism is only possible in and round the swimming pool and on the sun terraces. This area is screened off and people cannot look in from the outside, not even with binoculars. There will certainly be no inconvenience for the neighborhood because the guests will not be walking around in their birthday suit”, says Paul. Minster of Economic Development Abdul Nasser el Hakim (MFK) was not aware of the development of the new resort, but emphasized he would ‘not work with labels’. “Just like the recent discussion on a possible development of a gay resort on Curaçao which discussion I will not enter into because I don’t want to place any labels. A resort is a resort. If the permits were granted and there’s no inconvenience for the neighbors, it’s up to guests whether they walk around dressed or otherwise in the private atmosphere of their own property”, says Minister El Hakim.