10 Best Gran Canaria Hotels with Naturist Areas

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Want to sunbathe naked without trekking across the dunes first? Book a hotel with its own naturist area. You’ll find them along the south coast, from Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés east to San Agustín. German tour catalogues mark the naturist zones FKK, so look for those three letters when you compare packages. Here’s where I’d book.

Clothing-Optional Resorts

Hotels with a Naturist Terrace

Whole Complex or Naturist Terrace

At the clothing-optional resorts, naturism covers anything from the whole grounds to the pool area. At the terrace hotels, naturism stays in set zones, most of them on the roof.

• The grounds are clothing optional: Vista Bonita lets you go naked everywhere except the bar and reception, roof included. At Seven Hotel & Wellness, the clothing-optional rule covers the common areas, among them the pool and the garden.
• At the pool, at least: Atlantic Sun Beach keeps naturism to the pool area, which the hotel itself calls its nudist area. Paso Chico Gran Canaria describes itself as clothing optional on its own site, and its pool is clothing optional too.
• Naturist from gate to pool: Artika Natura, in Maspalomas, calls itself a 100% naturist resort, and it’s adults only. Its suites sit around a heated pool.
• Roof zones in the adults-only hotels: HL Suitehotel Playa del Inglés sets aside part of its roof terrace as a nudist zone. Bull Costa Canaria & Spa puts its naturist section in the top-floor solarium.
• Look upstairs in the family hotels: Seaside Sandy Beach limits naturism to its terraces on floors 7, 8 and 9. Bull Eugenia Victoria & Spa has a nude section in its rooftop solarium, and Gloria Palace San Agustín Thalasso & Hotel has a separate naturist area on its roof. Bull Escorial & Spa keeps its nudist zone in the solarium.

Men Only, Gay and Lesbian or Mixed

Check who a hotel takes before you compare rooms, because most of the clothing-optional resorts are for men.

• Gay men only: Atlantic Sun Beach and Seven take gay men only, and Paso Chico describes itself the same way on its own site. Women and mixed couples can’t book any of the three.
• Women can book Vista Bonita: Vista Bonita takes gay women as well as gay men. It’s adults only, like the three men-only resorts.
• Bring the kids to a family hotel: Seaside Sandy Beach, Bull Eugenia Victoria, Bull Escorial and Gloria Palace are mixed hotels that take families. Gloria Palace runs a kids’ club, and Bull Eugenia Victoria has indoor and outdoor mini clubs.

Getting to the Naturist Beach from Your Hotel

You reach the naturist stretch on foot, either across the dunes from Playa del Inglés or along the shore from the lighthouse.

• Cross the dunes from Playa del Inglés: The classic route starts at the Riu Palace Maspalomas, where a sandy path crosses the dunes. Allow 15 to 30 minutes on foot, and stick to the signposted path.
• The lighthouse end skips the dunes: A taxi to the Faro de Maspalomas saves you the dune crossing. From there, you walk along the shore towards Playa del Inglés to reach the naturist stretch.
• Hotel buses and shuttles: Bull Eugenia Victoria runs its own hotel bus to Maspalomas beach, from a stop 20 metres from the hotel. Artika Natura runs a shuttle to the nudist beach for its guests.

Kiosk 7 and the Naturist Beach

Nine numbered kiosks line the beach between Playa del Inglés and the lighthouse, and the naturist stretch sits in the middle, in front of the big dunes.

• Look for the rainbow flag: Kiosk 7, roughly halfway along, marks the clothing-optional gay section, and its beach bar flies a rainbow flag. It sits inside the wider naturist stretch.
• Naturists spread out from Kiosk 4 to 8: Counting from the Playa del Inglés end, Kiosks 4, 5, 6 and 8 are naturist zones, with the dunes behind them. The kiosks there serve drinks and simple food.
• Family zones at both ends: Kiosks 1 to 3, by Playa del Inglés, are the family stretches, with lifeguards and sunbeds. So is Kiosk 9, at the Maspalomas end.

Naturist Sunbathing in Winter

The naturist beach is especially popular in the cooler months, with plenty of German-speaking FKK visitors.

• Pools heated through the winter: Bull Eugenia Victoria heats its outdoor pools in winter, the paddling pool included. HL Suitehotel heats its outdoor pool for the season too.
• Pick the heated pool in San Agustín: Three pools sit at Bull Costa Canaria, and one of them is heated in winter. There’s an outdoor jacuzzi as well.

Getting There from Gran Canaria Airport

The resort coast is a straight run south down the motorway from the airport.

• Take a taxi from the rank: Taxis line up outside the terminal. The ride to Playa del Inglés takes 20 to 30 minutes.
• Global’s line 66: Global’s line 66 leaves from the airport and runs to Playa del Inglés and on to the Faro de Maspalomas. Line 90 stops at the airport on its way south too, so check the stop name printed on the timetable against your hotel’s street.

FAQs

1. Which Playa del Inglés hotels have a nudist area?

Atlantic Sun Beach and Paso Chico Gran Canaria are gay men’s resorts with clothing-optional pools, while Seaside Sandy Beach, HL Suitehotel Playa del Inglés, Bull Escorial & Spa and Bull Eugenia Victoria & Spa keep a naturist zone upstairs. Seven Hotel & Wellness and Vista Bonita sit west of the resort, in Maspalomas and Sonnenland. To the east, Gloria Palace San Agustín Thalasso & Hotel and Bull Costa Canaria & Spa are in San Agustín.

2. Are there adults-only hotels with nudist areas in Playa del Inglés?

Yes: HL Suitehotel Playa del Inglés takes adults only, men and women alike, and keeps a nudist zone on its roof terrace. Atlantic Sun Beach and Paso Chico Gran Canaria are adults only as well, but both take men only. For another mixed, child-free hotel, Bull Costa Canaria & Spa is adults only too, a short drive east in San Agustín.

3. What does FKK mean in a hotel description?

FKK is short for Freikörperkultur, German for “free body culture”, and in a tour catalogue it marks the naturist zone. German tour operators use it for the roof areas at HL Suitehotel Playa del Inglés and Gloria Palace San Agustín Thalasso & Hotel, and for the 7th to 9th-floor terraces at Seaside Sandy Beach. Search the English descriptions for “nudist” and “naturist” as well, since the same zone goes by all three names.

4. Is nudity legal on Gran Canaria beaches?

Spain has no national law against nudity on the beach, and local councils set their own rules. In Maspalomas, naked sunbathing belongs on the naturist stretch between Kiosks 4 and 8, and the resort fronts at either end are more built up. Keep a sarong handy for the walk in and out through them.

5. Are there quieter nudist beaches near Maspalomas?

Montaña de Arena, near Pasito Blanco to the west, is the local nude beach, and it has no kiosks or lifeguards. Further along towards Arguineguín, Triana is a stony beach with no facilities at all, and you’ll need a car and a hike down from the road. Pack water and shade for both.

6. Can you sunbathe naked in the Maspalomas Dunes?

Keep it to the naturist beach in front of the dunes, since the Dunas de Maspalomas are a protected nature reserve. Walkers stick to the marked trails, because parts of the dune system are closed. The island council watches those zones with cameras, drones and sensors, and evening is when most people stray into them.

7. When is Pride in Maspalomas?

There are two: Maspalomas Pride in May and Winter Pride in November, both centred on the Yumbo Centre in Playa del Inglés. The May parade finishes at the Yumbo with an open-air party, and Winter Pride runs a week of nightly acts on the main stage there. Rooms across the resort fill up fast in Pride week, so book your room before your flights.