A naturist resort owner has said she celebrates Christmas with Twister and dinner cooked in nothing but a napkin.
Karie Jane, 57, a former theatre producer from Derbyshire, first visited a nudist beach in 2000, inspiring her and her then-husband to embrace the lifestyle and purchase a property in Costa Calma, Fuerteventura, the following year.
Following their divorce in 2013, she relocated permanently to the island, moving into one of their five apartments on the property while running it as a regular holiday destination, and in 2020 she transformed it into the BHH Naturist Resort.
At Christmas, Karie loves hosting guests and this year will be her largest festive celebration ever with 10 unclad guests – with whom she plans to have a picnic, sail and go dolphin-spotting, all in the nude, before a New Year’s Eve midnight skinny dip.
Karie believes being a naturist is a “simple lifestyle” that has made her less materialistic, particularly over the festive period, helping her realise “it’s not all about gifts”.
Karie told PA Real Life: “I might don a Santa hat at Christmas if I’m lucky, but I won’t be wearing anything else!
“I don’t wear a Christmas jumper, my skin is more than suitable!
“When I go back to England for Christmas, having to put on so many layers of clothes, I feel restricted.
“Here, we might have a couple of napkins on us so we don’t get gravy in places where gravy shouldn’t be.
“One year guests even made a Christmas cake shaped like a penis for me, which was absolutely hilarious.”
Karie first visited a nudist beach in Spain in 2000 and fell in love with the naturist lifestyle, quickly deciding clothes were “overrated”.
In 2001, she and her then-husband snapped up a holiday home in “nudist’s paradise” Fuerteventura.
After their divorce in 2013, she relocated permanently to the island, moving into one of the five apartments on the property while running it as a regular holiday destination.
Seven years later, she transformed her and her ex’s holiday home into a naturist destination, capitalising on Fuerteventura’s reputation for nudist beaches and creating a “relaxing and safe community” for like-minded naturists.
Her friends and family were hugely supportive of the decision, including her ex, and many have even visited and joined in the naturist fun.
Karie loves hosting guests, often putting on optional events for them, and finds that she forms a bond with them due to their shared outlooks on life.
“All the guests usually are like-minded people, so it’s great,” Karie explained.
“In the summer I had ramblers week – I had 10 men here and you just don’t even realise they’re not dressed.
“All the stuff I had organised was optional and they came to everything.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from or anything like that, it’s irrelevant – we just have lots of banter, and that’s my favourite thing.”
Over the years when not visiting family in the UK, Karie has hosted Christmas for guests.
Her celebrations are full of quirky traditions and festive cheer, minus the knitwear.
In 2022, she and two guests whipped up a traditional British Christmas dinner while stripped off.
She said: “I drove up to the British shop in the north and I bought all the stuff, and one guest brought over crackers, another guest brought over the Christmas pudding.
“We did the whole traditional thing.
“We ate and cooked in the nude – we even ate sprouts when naked!”
Games are also a Christmas staple at the resort, whether it be card games or naked Twister, which Karie said is always “so much fun” and “hilarious”.
Every year she even receives care packages of Christmas crackers and stollen from previous guests.
Karie added: “At one point, I think I had about 27 mince pies!”
This year, she has added two eight metre by three metre pods to the resort, complete with an ensuite, wet room, double beds and kitchenette, as well as a bar and barbecue.
This will be her biggest Christmas yet, with 10 guests, and Karie has pulled out all the stops – on Christmas Eve, she will take her guests stargazing stark naked.
Christmas Day promises more naked adventures, including a beachside picnic, sailing and dolphin-spotting.
“We might end up doing a more traditional English thing again, it depends on what the guests fancy,” Karie explained.
“We’ll definitely be in the pool skinny dipping and I always do a New Year’s skinny dip at midnight!”
Karie is also hoping her staff, who are all nudists, will act as butlers in the buff in the evening, serving cocktails.
Her loved ones “don’t even think twice” about her quirky plans as they are “so used to them”.
“They’re so proud of me and my business and being a nudist,” she added.
“They love it when I send them a photo of me swimming naked in the pool with a Santa hat on, they find it hilarious.”
On the whole, she believes being a nudist has made her less of a materialistic person, especially over the Christmas period.
She also finds that the biggest difference in celebrating Christmas in Fuerteventura and the UK, is that it is “much more relaxed”.
Karie said: “It’s a simple lifestyle… we don’t care about what brands people are wearing or anything like that.
“It’s made me think Christmas isn’t all about the gifts too.
“I used to feel quite a lot of pressure at Christmas time in the UK to go overboard, it’s all very commercial.
“Whereas here there’s none of that, it’s about spending time with friends or family and feeling grateful for everything that’s happened that year.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Karie is planning a ladies-only week and an LGBTQ+ friendly week in partnership with British Naturism.
