Croatia is the most nudist friendly area in Europe, according to Gerard van de Weerd, who sells nude cruises to the country that boasts 1000 islands along its Adriatic coast. Our first guess would have been France! “In many bays we swim happily mixed with non naturists, and nobody cares!”, says van de Weerd , who’s based in the Netherlands near Amsterdam.
For van de Weerd, the Croatian connection first began in 1996, when he and his wife met the director of a travel agency from that country that offered cruises. “They knew all about Croatia, we knew all about naturism, so this was a good base for a cooperation”, van de Weerd recalls. The next year, their first nude cruise sailed. The boats used for the nude cruises are chartered from that same travel agency, Riva Tours, with offices in Rotterdam, which also provides the boat’s staff, and transfers from airports, among other things. Demand for cruises in Croatia is very high, and even though Riva Tours has 30 boats, it’s proved difficult for van de Weerd to get enough charters to meet the also increasing demand for nude cruises to the area.
Cruise passengers can be naked aboard ship at all times while at sea, even for meals, whereas most nude cruise companies require diners to be clothed. Nudity isn’t appropriate in any of the cruise’s ports of call, thus requiring passengers to dress when the captain sounds the horn, the “pants up” signal. The “pants down” signal is heard when it’s okay to undress again upon leaving a port, van de Weerd jokes. An English couple even got married on one cruise, which van de Weerd claims might have been the first nude wedding in Croatia. He also confesses he played a practical joke on the pair, telling them the bishop from the city of Split would perform the ceremony, only it was him dressed-up as the aforementioned cleric!
The boats chartered for the nude cruises are generally small, with a capacity for just 20 to 35 passengers, making it an intimate and definitely fun-filled adventure under van de Weerd’s guidance. At first, van de Weerd’s clientele came mostly from the Netherlands, but now they come from all over the globe. He recalls one particular Canadian professor who shared a cabin with a Dutch patron. The Canadian insisted on keeping the key with him at all times, forcing the Dutchman to seek him out anytime he needed to get into the room. The Dutchman, none too pleased with this arrangement, complained to the ship’s Croatian captain, who instructed him to get the Canadian to open the cabin door once again and then bring the professor to him. The captain proceeded to take the key away from the Canadian and immediately tossed it overboard, exclaiming “problem solved!”.
The cost per passenger for a 15 day summer, 2007, cruise is 1498 Euros ($1947 US). This price includes all meals, taxes and the added benefit of a bus tour to Montenegro, the world’s newest country. Only drinks are extra. For an additional 300 Euros (390 dollars), van de Weerd offers a return flight from Amsterdam to Split and the land transfer from there to Trogdir, the cruise’s departure port. An attractive option, either before or after the cruise, is to spend time at Koversada and/or Valalta, which are naturist venues in northern Croatia. Note that Croatia enjoys a Mediterranean climate with summer (June-August) temperatures ranging from 26 to 30 degrees Celsius (79-86 F). The Adriatic’s water temperature averages 24 C (75 F) for the season.
Should you be wondering about the effects of the vicious civil war that raged in the area not so long ago, van de Weerd assures us that it’s a distant memory with few visible reminders. The northern part of the coast was spared by the conflict, and while in the southern part many houses, such as in Dubrovnik, were damaged, they’ve since been repaired. Inland, he tells us, “…you will see more destroyed buildings as souvenirs of the war”, but of course you won’t get to see that on a cruise (!).
Van de Weerd’s plans for the future include expanding the number of nude cruises on offer in Croatia. In order to achieve this, he reckons he’ll have find another charter company. van de Weerd and his wife also manage the well-known “Nudest Nudist” web site as well as host a number of local naturist events such as nude swims at public pools and saunas.

Related Stories:

• Croatia’s Naked Adriatic Coast

Related Links:

• Croatian nude cruises web site
• Downloadable brochures