Palm Springs: A great gay weekend trip or a week's vacation

Original posting: surfohio [msg] 31 Oct 2011, 09:23 I'll be in Palm Springs this weekend my friends and I won a house for the weekend - super nice any recommendations fun bars? fun restaurants? cool coffee houses? any cool dives? swank cocktail lounges? & the like or any good places to hike - especially with some water or place to swim thanks all

Many of the gay hotels and resorts have some type of day pass - -although the place you're staying may actually be much nicer. It's just that some of them are clothing optional, or have 'special sex zones' (sauna, backroom, and hidden garden or sunning areas where guys cruise for sex and engage in it). CCBC (Cathedral City Boys Club) has a nice pool and jacuzzi area, and also it's own brand of sex zone, and the infamous walk. There is a day pass rate for pool only guests.
But it depends on who is there and day and time. If there's some gay event going on in PS on the weekend, then it's likely to be busy and have lots of naked men in and out of the pool.

Outside the city, there are some nice hiking areas, but I've only been led there and can't recall how to get there myself.
Use the Net to find more general info on the 29 Palms area or the Joshua Tree National Monument (I think it's about 1 hour's drive or less from PS.) Of course, there's the famous gondola up the mountain just northwest of the city.

Follow up: nakedinma 31 Oct 2011, 09:29 if you like steaks, try "the falls". excellent food. we brought our own wine, (we had just been to napa) and the corkage fee was quite reasonable.

Follow up: sunbuns99* [msg] 31 Oct 2011, 21:37

If you have more time, I recommend driving over to see the Salton Sea (I'm not sure you can swim in it since it always seems to have dead fish and smells like brine.) But there is a State park on the eastern side for the Sea. If you head back eastward from the Salton Sea (State Hwy 22) you can also visit the Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest state park in CA (and one of the largest in the US (other than national parks). It has some great hiking spot not far from Borrego Springs), and should still be plenty warm to do them naked - if you feel brave enough. (I have done so -- for at least a few miles).

Heading further east toward San Diego is Julian, a little country-style alpine town, complete with antique shops, restaurants and sort of a cowboy (hickville) atmosphere. There is Cuyamaca State Park further inland, heading towards San Deigo.

(The last few recommended spots may be completely out of your travel plan - distance wise). So do your homework ... a bit more.

Enjoy .. Wish I was there ( again)...

Kelly

Follow up: sunbuns99 31 Oct 2011, 21:37 Many of the gay hotels and resorts have some type of day pass - -although the place you're staying may actually be much nicer. It's just that some of them are clothing optional, or have 'special sex zones' (sauna, backroom, and hidden garden or sunning areas where guys cruise for sex and engage in it). CCBC (Cathedral City Boys Club) has a nice pool and jacuzzi area, and also it's own brand of sex zone, and the infamous walk. There is a day pass rate for pool only guests. But it depends on who is there and day and time. If there's some gay event going on in PS on the weekend, then it's likely to be busy and have lots of naked men in and out of the pool. Outside the city, there are some nice hiking areas, but I've only been led there and can't recall how to get there myself. Use the Net to find more general info on the 29 Palms area or the Joshua Tree National Monument (I think it's about 1 hour's drive or less from PS.) Of course, there's the famous gondola up the mountain just northwest of the city. If you have more time, I recommend driving over to see the Salton Sea (I'm not sure you can swim in it since it always seems to have dead fish and smells like brine.) But there is a State park on the eastern side for the Sea. If you head back eastward from the Salton Sea (State Hwy 22) you can also visit the Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest state park in CA (and one of the largest in the US (other than national parks). It has some great hiking spot not far from Borrego Springs), and should still be plenty warm to do them naked - if you feel brave enough. (I have done so -- for at least a few miles). Heading further east toward San Diego is Julian, a little country-style alpine town, complete with antique shops, restaurants and sort of a cowboy (hickville) atmosphere. There is Cuyamaca State Park further inland, heading towards San Diego. (The last few recommended spots may be completely out of your travel plan - distance wise). So do your homework ... a bit more. Enjoy .. Wish I was there ( again)... Kelly
	Follow up: budcee 31 Oct 2011, 22:33 OK Guys. Remember this weekend is Pride Weekend and the town will be packed. Make sure you make reservation ASAP. There will be lines of people waiting to get in the the gay bars. We have always enjoyed dinner at Davey's Hideaway Restaurant‎ 292 East Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA 92264-8824 (760) 320-4480 If you have never been here that the Tram to the top of the mountain, there is hiking up there and a beautiful view of PS. Just dress warm, it is 30 deg cooler up there. There are 40+ gay resorts around most have day passes and are clothing optional (LOL). Have fun
	Follow up: steelearc 01 Nov 2011, 01:04 The hot/new place in town is LuLu, at South Palm Canyon and Arenas (one block over from PS's little "gay strip"). Good food, cute waiters, fun ambiance. Koffi is always busy, both "old" Koffi (N. Palm Canyon, just north of Alejo; hang out in back by the lawn) or "new" Koffi, on E. Palm Canyon, across from the old Biltmore. Toucan's is consistently voted one of PS's best dive/tiki bars, although Sunday night is the big event (drag show...it draws hundreds, and a very mixed crowd. Get there at 7:30 for the 8:00 show, or be prepared to wait in a VERY long line). A lot of people also like Trio either for the bar or restaurant, though I think it's overpriced for what you get. The leather scene, such as it is, is focused at the Barracks in Cathedral City, or to a lesser degree, the Toolshed on Sunny Dunes. Not to be missed: Sunday afternoon at Barracks! Basically any time after about 4. Check on Adam4Adam (dot com) if you want to know about sex parties. And ask me which ones are more recommended!

Dune Discovery: Nude photo shoots, and naked cruising at Maspalomas

I also share David's (atitlan) enthusiastic memories of the Island of Gran Canaria described below.

However, mine are much more recent because I have visited it every March since 2005 (except for last year). So it was refreshing to return to the the island and its dunes this March to find it basically unchanged and just as cruisy. I also saw many cases of exactly what he describes below. There are straight (seemingly... at least) guys who go out singly or in pairs or more into the dunes away from the crowds of either clothed or nude sunbathers along the beach to take a few private naked photos. It was interesting to watch them do so - although I hesitated to take any photos of two straights taking candid nude pics of each other. Besides, there were plenty of other 'distracting' activities going on in the dunes and among the bushy stands of tree found in the low areas between them.

Atitlan's post:
These are almost certainly the dunes between the resorts of Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles on the south coast of Gran Canaria in the Spanish Canary Islands off the African coast.
We have posted many Maspalomas images here previously, nowadays a big gay destination with a vibrant nightlife and a crowded male-only nudist section on the beach.

When I visited first aged 24, the resort area was about a tenth of the size it is now and not gay at all. The 3-mile beach other than around the hotels of Playa and the lighthouse at Maspalomas was virtually deserted.

However the dunes proved to be something of a magnet for certain young men from the city of Las Palmas to the north.

Not many of them, maybe half a dozen at any one time across the huge expanse of dunes, unlike the hundred and more tourists to be found among the bushes these days. Back then I was the only tourist in the dunes. The men I would see tended to look and act like the guy in the attached photo, average age 21, dressed in shorts, speedos or nothing at all and with obvious intentions. I don't know how the image here came to be taken but
it certainly brings back happy memories!
atitlan



--------This post and the above photo were forwarded in a group email message
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I go every year to Gran Canaria in March (this year in May was my 7th trip). So when asked to give some advice about flights or accommodations there I wrote the following:

The pics show me naked out in the Maspalomas Dunes, which can be reached on foot from the Playa del Ingles beach or by walking back from the shoreline toward central Playa del Ingles (town).  The major gay nightlife is usually found in and around the Yumbo Center, a large 4-story shopping complex, with numerous restaurants, souvenirs shops, fashion stores, etc. It becomes the local gay mecca sometimes after 11pm each night and is active until 3-4am. There are also sex clubs located within the Yumbo, mostly on the ground floor level, mixed in with the gay bars, several which have drag shows and strip shows.  
You can sometimes find good bargains for flights and hotels to Gran Canaria on the major travel booking sites, but not always the most popular ones, like Orbitz, Yahoo Travel, or Expedia. 
Instead take at look at:   http://www.alpharooms.com     http://www.booking.com

[Note:  Several of the photos is this blog post are of the author's vacationing nude on Gran Canaria.]

 

The idea of a gay clothing-optional camping resort

Part of a discussion on another phpBB forum discussion board. The topic was discussing the idea of male-only clothing-optional RV park, camping center, or gay resort. I spent a lot of energy thinking about this kind of project --probably because I really like the 'seed' of the idea. My advice was to approach is a vision - one that needed a real (and well-researched) business plan.

lilcowboy I flash underneath my clothes Joined: 11 Aug 2008 Posts: 3

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 1:23 am Post subject: Male only clothing optional I have been in a debate with people about an idea i had and hoping the readers of this forum can help me. I would like to open a clothing optional private RV park for men only. I am being informed that it wouldn't be a hit and i am being told yes it would. I would like to know if other men would possibly be interested in such a park as a get away to relax and play in the sun. For the relaxing side i was thinking of a pool with a couple of hot tubs, with indoor/outdoor showers, maybe putt-putt golf. Of course the ideas could be endless and maybe you can suggest some relaxing activities. Would this be a good investment? This would be open to all men that are of legal age 18 and up.

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toras

Desperately flashing Susan

Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 128
Location: Toronto

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:59 am Post subject:
Depends on where you are located; if you are near a sizeable gay population it might attract enough clientele. Hear in Southern Ontario/Northern New York area there are 1 or 2 similar places I think. _________________ Naked and Shaved Toronto asian male

 [ The photo below on the left is one of this blog's author: hardtwoholed (alias sunbuns). ]

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TightGearShowoff

I flash underneath my clothes

Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 4
Location: Bay Area, California

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:49 am Post subject:
I agree, it does depend on your location. RV camping can be done all year, but I'm not sure how many gay RVers there are these days, but if you were to combine it with camping (seasonal) and choose a private location..that has a wooded area..hot tub/pool/showers etc..I think you may be onto something. It might be a good idea to have a day use policy too so guys can come and relax, use the facilities and romp with the campers and guys in RV's. You might do beer bust or bbq on weekends..stuff like that. Make the food free (build it into the costs) but charge a flat fee for the beer. If it were near a river for swimming...even better....but you may get traffic floating by. Good luck!

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Phlasher
Flashing Specialist

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 86

[The photo at the right is one of this blog author:  hardtwoholed (alias sunbuns / sunbuns99 / sunbunz ) at Black's Beach, San Diego (La Jolla), California, USA.

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:14 pm Post subject:

If you are marketing towards gay guys, then you may have some success. You will also have guys banging and sucking each other all over the park -- especially at night. Not sure of the laws, but that may lead to the police getting involved.

There is a difference between a clothing optional RV park and a gay sex club.

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sunbuns
Desperately flashing Susan

Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 123
Location: Hawaii, San Diego, travel a lot US,Asia, Europe, etc

Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:06 am Post subject:
You'll need to do more market research .. than ask the infrequent and random member of this site. How many (such RV and camping sites with 'resort' facilities) can you find in your area? Statewide, provincial (CA), nationally (or internationally - CA/Mex)? Visit or talk by phone the owner/operators of several. I think you should not be fixed on just doing a 'RV' gay camp site. With the price of gasoline, fewer people are rushing out to buy huge RVs. Some important things have already been said. But are you limiting the idea too much? males only, RVs only, 1-person operation? On what kind of scale are you thinking of making this? Enough for 5 RV (parked on 1-acre or less, or a 20 - 200 acre spread? Do you expect to run it alone or are you going to have employees? (opening yourself up to the possibilities -- also - opens you up to a lot of liabilities too. I'm not nixing the idea - just asking and advising you to think and also gather more information. You need a business plan and also have a vision of how the vision might grow (change) in the next 5 - 10 - 20 years. The male-only requirement seems a little drastic -if not downright discriminatory (not in the legal sense) - although it might be (needs checking). By doing so, it seems you aren't really thinking about it as a money-making business. So you need to sort out what you're really trying to do: have access to your own 'private' sex club, make extra money, create a business (investment, capital expenditures, employees, taxes, accounting, etc), If you make it a gay camping resort, then it's likely that 85% of your customers will be men, 10% lesbian couples, and 5% would be wives, girlfriends, fag hags, daughters, sisters, because some gay men are married or travellng with female companions.or family. If you make it simply a clothing optional instead of 'gay', I honestly don't think these basic numbers will change a whole lot -- for example 70% would be gay men and male couples, 10% lesbian, and 20% mixed. You should be able to confirm these numbers by surveying some current owner-operators.     You're also likely to get more year-round guests, and have more men who don't identify themselves as 'gay' but who want to be with other naked men (maybe seems a contradiction - but I think it happens a lot). Only RVs? That's too limiting. If you have the right amount of land and a good location, then why limit it to RVers? Generally, they are retirees, reasonably well off financially (esp if they are not retired), they travel in couples and they tend to herd (many RVs want to go where their nomadic RV 'friends' go). They stay a long time, too, esp if the weather is warmer in winter where you are. It would be good to have a multiple-use type of camping resort: RV sites, tent camping sites, small cabins/A-frames, a lodge with dining facilities (the restaurant alone could draw in people), day-use passes, etc. If you can't do it all at once, then at least plan with the idea of possibly growing the business in mind. Also, there are any number of other expansion possibilities to bring in guests who want a vacation, or those who want to spend a day-two out of the city (and like being naked to do so), by having the resort be MORE than just a place to sleep and sit in the sun. Location is your biggest obstacle - are you going to move to the best location for such a place or are you going to build it in your backyard -- Build it and they will cum (pun intended). Is your area conducive to such a place? In every sense ....? Still it's been done before -- who would have thought a small rural community 40 miles outside of Knoxville (TN) would support Timberfell Lodge All of these places have a central type of clientele that makes them successful. Try to find out what the clientele will be in your area? RVers only (aging baby boomers - which are still a forced to be reckoned with) or a mix of gay and gay-tolerant YUPs (young urban professionals). My impression is that today's affluent gay baby-boomers can afford and want more from an outdoor (camping resort) type vacation. Having stuff (eating / activities / consumer-oriented (shop/gifts,classes/culture, etc or even entertainment) for guests that could also be used by passers-throug or short or day-time visitors and local residents might generate income -- of course, it makes the business larger and somewhat more difficult to manage -- In that case then, you cannot do it alone. These might include: a shop for local artisans or locally made food products/souvenirs), a museum of "___", a theater (for performing arts, music, gay plays, film festival, or not... ), classes and seminars (yoga , dance, bodywork, massage, spiritual training, arts/crafts, artists-in-resident, etc), gym-workout facilities, with sauna/jacuzzi Staffing them becomes your second biggest problem -- (not always a problem since if you pay well and have good working conditions and know how to manage people effectively, your resort could become a very nice place to work. You would be able to recruit instead of just taking any Tom, Dick or Harry who needs a job. Well ... I've given you the $2500 lesson in business planning ...  send a check (LOL) to Sunbuns Consulting, Inc. -- just kidding. But you might have a great idea -- do you have the stamina, energy, vision, and drive to accomplish it? Do you the money or the source of funding for such a project? (Note: More of the first three qualities are needed than the latter.) Hey... I've been to several such outdoors-oriented camping resorts in many locations (internationally and in the US). A couple of examples are: Timberfell Lodge in Tennessee and Kalani Oceanside Resort (kalani.com) - they are representative of the kind of place that I would build if I were doing this business. _________________ The spirit is willing but the flash is week day and weekend!

Sincerely,
Kelly