FKK

I sensed a few raised eyebrows when I mentioned the nudist beach.

Croatia has the most nudist beaches in the world (or we could call them Naturist Beaches), that is, official ones. And some of the most beautiful.

In fact the only beach around Makarska which isn’t nudist is the main one, the one that is jam-packed with up to 10,000 people in the sezona, and who wants to swim there (that’s a rhetorical question). All of the other beaches in walking distance are clearly marked with FKK.

I had worked out that that sign spray painted on a rock delineated the ‘with clothes at your option’ from the main stream beaches.
I didn’t however know what it stood for, so merrily looked it up on Google with my (and your) education in mind. FKK - Freikorperkultur - German for Free Body Culture. Which comes as no surprise because it is the Germans and the Dutch (apart from the Croatians) who are very comfortable wandering around the beach bez kostim za kupanje.

The main beach at Tucepi makes it really clear with a big sign with FKK, with a line crossed through it, but the ones at either end are FKK – the one at the Podgora end even has cafes to sit at.

And to be honest, I admire the fact that the people on the beach just don’t care about their body shape, or whether others will judge them for being overweight or no longer sylph-like – because most of the bodies are over 50, and our bodies don’t look like supermodels, and do have some mileage on them at that age.

I guess it fits in the same basket as my comments regarding the over 60 year old bakas (grandmothers) that I sometimes join on the beach in the morning after rowing (although they have disappeared now that the weather has cooled a bit). They are all in bikinis, and completely comfortable with themselves. And correct me if I am wrong, but that would raise an eyebrow in New Zealand. I know, because I have raised an eyebrow at myself still wearing a bikini, telling Danica to please tell me IMMEDIATELY it is time for me to stop wearing one, and I ain’t 60 yet! Here, I have even bought a smaller bikini – who would have thought!

So there it is - the positive side of beach culture here in Croatia.

Still not completely sure about those boxer speedos on the men, but guess I have a couple of weeks left to get used to them if I really put my mind to it.