Trip Report
Cypress Cove Nudist Resort & Spa, Kissimmee, Florida
http://www.cypresscoveresort.com/April 8-15, 2010
Summary: a clean, well-maintained and friendly family resort with many services and amenities that we will definitely visit again.
Accommodations: many permanent residences and RV sites along with 5 multi-unit buildings with motel rooms and apartment units.
Facilities: a large swimming pool and a smaller pool both with tables and chairs under four covered cabanas and chaise lounges in full sun, two hot tubs, a shaded playground, restaurant with full menu, bar and dance floor with stage, a poolside restaurant and bar, a fitness room, game room, clubroom, laundry, massage room, tennis, petanque and shuffleboard courts, a chip and putt golf area, a volleyball court, a salon, a boutique, a store, golf cart and bicycle rentals, a large lake (a few hundred acres, I estimated) with a beach, paddleboats, canoes and alligators. Much of the resort is also handicap-accessible. There is free WiFi throughout the motel, pool and RV areas.
Demographics: mostly older couples but some younger couples with and without children, and some singles.
Vibe: very family-friendly and safe feeling.
Details:
My wife and I passed on a trip to Club Orient this year due to the cost and the increasing hassle of air travel. Instead we decided to try Cypress Cove after hearing and reading many positive reports about it. This was our first trip to Cypress Cove and I can honestly say all those reports were accurate and we enjoyed Cypress Cove even more than we thought we would.
Cypress Cove, is a year-round nudist resort in Kissimmee, Florida, just south of Orlando celebrating its 46th anniversary this year. It has many permanent residences as well as motel rooms and apartments for short term guests. Pets are permitted in some rooms. The rooms are clean and comfortable but not sumptuous. The motel rooms all have one or two queen beds, a sofa (in the one-bed rooms), a table and chairs, air conditioning, free cable TV, hair dryer, telephone, and a mini-refrigerator. The apartments have additional amenities. Several motel rooms and apartments have enhanced accessibility features. There was daily maid service.
There are also numerous RV sites, most of which appeared to be occupied while we were there. I presume many of these were "snow birds" there for the winter as we talked to several people who were about to leave and return to homes in the north.
In addition to the many facilities, there are programs for members and guests such as various exercise classes, trivia contests, skin cancer screening, bridge, cribbage and euchre games, musical groups and a dance. There are also special events scheduled such as a luau weekend, Kentucky Derby weekend, a Parrothead weekend and others. We didn't visit the salon or massage while we were there nor did we play tennis, golf or take part in any of the other sports activities. We were there to mainly relax and enjoy some warm, sunny weather in the nude.
Rates for the rooms are higher than what you'd pay at a Holiday Inn or similar motel. Like many nudist resorts, you pay somewhat of a premium for the opportunity to be nude. But, special deals such as every 7th night is free and others are available through the Cypress Cove web site. There is also a discount for AANR members. Also, when you consider there are no fees for using the pool and many (but not all) of the facilities the room rates don't seem too bad.
There are two swimming pools, a large, main pool and a smaller pool. On Friday, our first full day, there were only a few people at the large pool and we had our choice of chairs. On Saturday and Sunday attendance picked up and we were advised by a member to get there before about 9 am to reserve chairs especially if we wanted to get a shady spot under a cabana. Later in the week attendance dropped off and there was no problem getting just about any spot we wanted around the pool. We were told the large pool was heated but it seemed chilly to us.
Like many nudist resorts we've visited, nudity is permitted everywhere in the resort. In the pools people are required to be nude and signs are posted near the pool stating this policy. But, as at many resorts, if the weather is cool or someone wishes to protect themselves from the sun, it is not unusual to see people wearing shirts or pareos around the pool. There was no one in the pool who wasn't nude during our visit. To help enforce the pool rules, on weekends there is a woman who monitors the pool. Affectionately referred to as the “pool bitch” by some, she makes sure everyone is nude, no large floats are brought into the pool and no one engages in what she sees as overly affectionate behavior. The rest of the week there was no one to monitor pool activities but everyone we saw followed the pool rules.
One nice thing about Cypress Cove is that you are free to bring your own food or drinks into the pool area as long as it isn't in glass containers.
The main restaurant, the Lakeside Restaurant, serves breakfast daily and dinner on Thursday-Saturday and Monday. The poolside restaurant/bar, Cheeks, offers a limited, bar-type menu at lunch and dinner 7 days a week. Prices at each restaurant seemed comparable to similar restaurants we've been to. At the restaurants, boutique and store you can charge purchases to your room doing away with the need to carry anything but a towel while at the resort.
At the Lakeside restaurant many people were fully or partially dressed for meals but nudity was common. At no time did we feel uncomfortable or out-of-place being nude. At Cheeks nudity was more prevalent. Throughout the remainder of the resort nudity was common.
At the Saturday night dance there were people dressed in street clothes, a few in slightly risque outfits and some who were nude. We saw a nude woman dancing provocatively with her fully dressed male companion. Although there were no children at the dance that we could see, apparently someone spoke to the couple about their behavior and they were either asked to leave or they left on their own.
Our only problem during the visit came on Saturday as we were moving some chaise lounges under a cabana. A group of residents told us we weren't supposed to move the chairs but didn't stop us. But they positioned their chairs intending to crowd us out. Eventually, we moved rather than spend time where we clearly were not wanted. (As it turns out, we found a better spot where the shade lasted longer into afternoon.) Other than this, everyone we met--members, residents, staff and guests--were nothing but friendly as has been our experience at other nudist resorts.
Cypress Cove hosts the American Nudist Reference Library (
http://www.anrl.org/). The library is open to the public but it is mainly a research library. It contains many back issues of nudist-related periodicals, many now out-of-print, as well as some photos and books.
We enjoyed our trip to Cypress Cove and will return again. For us, Cypress Cove is a great value when compared to Caribbean resorts, Mexico or the west coast.
