Well west of the famous and busy "Cote d'Azur" area of Southern France is another busy holiday area called Cap d'Agde। Only a limited area is actually naturist, but this gated community is still quite large and includes several big resorts, a huge campground and a marina. Pools, restaurants, shopping, nightclubs, it's all here. Strictly speaking this is a private nudist location, but it is being listed here because anyone from the public can visit via the beach area. The beach, blending in with Marseillan Plage to the east, stretches for probably a couple of kilometers with perhaps tens of thousands of nudists on busy summer days.
Directions: Look for the city of Beziers on a map at the western end of the south of France। Due east is Agde and le cap d'Agde. Drive the N112 highway and take the exit south to Cap d'Agde. Keep following the signs that say "Naturist" and you will come to a dead end with a gate to the Naturist area. You will need to park here and buy a day pass. There is also parking inside which you can pay for as you buy your pass. You can also enter from the beach if you first go to the Marseillan Plage to the east, which is a different exit from the N112, but it is a long walk along the beach. You cannot get to the beach from the west because of a canal. History/Status: Completely legitimate
Environment: A crowded festive atmosphere in the summer with mostly good weather, though not as predicably "perfect" as the Cote d'Azur.
Facilities: Just about everything. Public washrooms, restaurants at the beach, shops,
Parking: The resort area has pay-parking
Accommodation: Several resorts right there। You probably have to book many months in advance
Cap d'Agde's "village naturiste" is a haven for nudists. It features all the basic amenities of any beach town, all within the confines of the village. The village does have its own rules, and quirks, so use this guide to help plan and prepare for your visit.
Arriving in the Naturist Village
You can get to Cap d'Agde by flying into Montpellier (or any major French city), or there are connections through Paris to Beziers-Agde-Vias Airport, just a few miles away. If you fly into Montpellier, take the train to Agde train station. There is a bus line that runs to the naturist quarter. There are also taxis, and the cost is about 12-15 euros for a ride to the nudist village. If you fly into Agde's airport, you can also take a taxi. Either way, you may want to highly consider renting a car, however (see my comments under Transportation below).
The village is guarded and surrounded by barbed wire, so you must enter through the gate.
There is a building at the entrance where you can purchase a card that allows you to reenter the nudist quarter as you please, which costs 9 euros. They of course only accept a credit card for a purchase 10 euros and up, so have cash. The attendants at the information office can be rather surly and frustrating unhelpful. If you will be staying in a hotel or vacation rental inside the quarter, ask for a card ahead of time or instructions on getting clearance to enter without buying the card.
The Rules
Once you are in, you will have certain rules to follow. Most of them are the law, so be careful about breaking them:
• Access to the quarter is reserved for naturists or those working there.
• Total nudity is obligatory within the quarter and on the beach, as soon as climatic conditions permit. (I have, however, seen many people dressed there on a warm day. Also, most people dress for dinner. I have heard of people being turned away from restaurants in the village because they were nude).
• Photo shots and filming are strictly limited to members of the family. (I understand that the bans on photography are strictly enforced. I have, however, come across pictures of the nudist quarter on the Web).
• There are also several laws banning any sort of lewd, crude or pornographic behavior in the nudist quarter.
Transportation
Unless you plan to spend your entire trip inside the nudist quarter, I recommend renting a car. Agde is rather spread out, and the nudist quarter is not walking distance to anything. There is a bus line, but its schedule is rather limited and it is inconvenient. Even if you just rent a car for a couple of days during your visit, it will be worth it for the ease of visiting downtown Agde, or nearby villages like Sete or Beziers.
Dining & Shopping
There are four shopping centers in the nudist area, and each features grocery stores, souvenir shops, boutiques selling revealing clothing and beach gear shops. There are several cafes and restaurants in each of the shopping centers, or "centre commercial" spots.
Nightlife
The nightlife in the nudist quarter isn't always for the faint of heart. While there are typical bars and lounges, there are some with signs pronouncing they are for "couples only." If this is not your cup of tea, you can certainly avoid these spots and your only contact will be reading the signs out front. They are very discreet.
• Ernest Hemingway Cafe in the Port Ambonne shopping center is quite mellow and offers drinks typically found in the States like Bloody Marys.
• Tantra Club, located at Port Nature, is a discotheque open from 9 p.m. until dawn. Its slogan is "Sexy Vibration," if that tells you anything.
• Le 2x2, in Port Ambonne, leaves little to imagination, both in its name and the signs on the building. This couples-only club
Cap d'Agde, France
Wide choice of self-catering studios, apartments and ‘villas’ • Suitable mainly for couples and single holidaymakers • A mile of sandy naturist beach, outdoor swimming pools, watersports facilities • Part of an international resort with casino, nightclubs and golf course • 30 restaurants and bars • Excursions available to local places of interest • Frequent public transport to Carcassonne, Nîmes, Montpellier... • Resident Peng Travel representatives. Local Peng Travel office & Clubhouse • Personally hosted dinner parties, including dancing, competitions, etc •
CAP D’AGDE is the largest naturist centre in the world and is situated on the Mediterranean coast of the South of France. It takes its name from the nearby old town of Agde. We have been working with Cap d’Agde since 1977 and over the years it has become our most popular resort. Some clients go there twice or even three times a year.
For naturists, Cap d’Agde represents total freedom. You have only to visit the resort to see why. It is so much more than just a naturist beach or a nudist resort. It is a fully-fledged naturist town, complete with supermarkets, restaurants, bars, cafes, hairdressers, boutiques, delicatessens, butchers, bakers, post office, bank, cashpoints, and doctor. You can go where you like, do as you please, without clothes.
ATMOSPHERE In early and late season, the mood is one of total relaxation and suits the traditional naturist. You can spend lazy days lounging by one of the pools or basking in the sun on the beach. In mid summer, the pace increases as the town fills up with cosmopolitan people of all ages. In the evenings many are drawn to the bars – the Johnny Wokker Pub is favourite – and nightclubs. You can enjoy the lively, almost hedonistic, atmosphere in establishments like the Villa Romaine complex, or parade at Port Nature in outlandish attire!
ACTIVITIES The local Tourist Office (www.capdagde.com) arranges many free concerts and exhibitions throughout the season covering the whole area of Agde and Cap d’Agde, both textile and naturist. For golfers, Cap d’Agde has an 18-hole championship course plus a 9-hole course, with very rarely any need to wait for a tee time. There is also a driving range. The International Tennis Centre (quite close to the naturist area) offers tuition for all grades and court hire with over sixty courts, some covered. The naturist quarter has tennis courts too.
WATERSPORT ACTIVITIES This holiday town has several swimming pools and offers a wide range of watersports in high season. These include windsurfing, snorkelling, boat hire and pedalos. Parascending is possible in ‘textile’ Cap d’Agde. At Port Ambonne and Port Nature there are several swimming pools charging entrance fees or giving free entrance if you use their bars or restaurants. The pools at Port Soleil and Port Venus are for residents only.
Aqualand (‘textile’) was Europe’s first leisure-pool complex. It covers nine acres with a giant winding waterslide, a straight one for super-fast rides, a river, a wave-pool and an adventure pool – remember to bring a costume!
OUT & ABOUT The old town of Agde on the Hérault River has a history going back to the ancient Greeks. Finds include the bronze statue of the mysterious Ephebus, centrepiece of the submarine archaeology museum at Cap d’Agde. Local sightseeing opportunities include visits to the neighbouring towns of Béziers, Sète and Montpellier. Inland, you’ll find magnificent gorges and mountain scenery. See the Tarn gorges, the 'causses', the Cirque de Navacelles and the villages of La Couvertoirade and Ganges. The amazingly well preserved medieval citadel of Carcassonne is to the west and the fortified port town of Aigues Mortes is to the north. Other options include Nîmes and the Camargue.
ACCOMMODATION The naturist resort is divided into sections: Centre Hélio-Marin (camping and caravanning), Port Ambonne (the oldest apartment building), Héliopolis (studios, apartments), Hélio-Village (‘villas’), and Port Nature (‘villas’ and apartments). Added later were Port Venus (‘villas’), Port Soleil (apartments) and Port Sauvage (‘villas’). Each part has been developed separately, but there are no fences and all areas are open to residents of any part of the naturist town. All the accommodation in Cap d'Agde is privately owned, therefore styles and furnishings can vary quite considerably.
Our accommodation is fully furnished. The kitchenette is fully equipped, with electric hob, fridge, pots, pans, crockery and cutlery. Some have coffee makers and microwaves. Bed linen, blankets, bath mats, tea and hand towels are provided and changed weekly. (Beach and bath towels are not included.)
We offer studios, apartments and ‘villas’ in Port Nature, Héliopolis, Hélio-Village, Port Ambonne, Port Soleil, Port Venus and Port Ambonne, giving you the widest possible choice.
'Plus' accommodation This accommodation has been totally renovated, offering a superior standard.
Cabines Cap d’Agde studios usually have 'cabines': these are sleeping areas (usually in alcoves or recesses), just big enough to take beds.
Space Space in standard accommodation is rather limited at full occupancy. We always recommend taking a larger property than actually required.
Important For space reasons, the accommodation descriptions have been condensed. You can request any particular combination of facilities (e.g. 'ground floor in quiet location' or 'top floor with lift') by mentioning it in the Special Requests section of the booking form.
Here the layout plan of the Cap d´Agde. For a daily map one pays 9 euro entrance, this is valid to the evening 20:00 o´clock, afterwards one does not come any longer (than daily guest) best purely places one its car on a visitor parking place in the proximity of the entry, gets rid of its clothes and then goes it loosely !
First one is something shocked - architecture is not addressing straight
....more but the beach compensates for it - the sand is very fine, the water is very clean.
So, now to that, why many ( I also ) it hang-drive are - the schweinchenstrand. One finds it at first attempt. At this time (approx. 17:00 o´clock ) is completly beautiful which the matter ....
At the Schweinchenstrand were only cause actions to feel. According to statements of some people was in the two first June weeks correctly which the matter. Then the police at the beach was and since then was about calmer suddenly it. On Friday, then the following happened to 20-June : A woman was busy in the front part of the water with a man. As usual a circle formed around the two. Several men were orally satisfied now in the change by the lady. The whole action dragged on already 15 minutes and was terminated straight, as approx... 8 - 10 police officers, all equipped with gloves and helmet on the beach stormed. When I still saw then, how the gendarmes reizgas carried, became me already completly differently. One there really asks oneself whether that was not somewhat exaggerated, particulary since at the beach section really only the people are, which it somewhat frivolous dear. One know that and nobody goes voluntarily the kilometer at the beach to the Schweinchenstrand, because it is “lovely” like that there. Now well - the policemen drew their circles by the quantity. They obviously looked for the woman, who had acted before in the water. One assumes the fact that there are civilian officials, who are in the quantity and which observes situation.
Thus . Caution !
Purchase-stroll times differently - completely naked one saunters by the business and shopping arcades. One gets everything here - the tomatoes lie beside the hottest dessous ! (on the prices one may not see however
there is numerous Commercial centers and each quantity to restaurants and cafes. The prices are really high. For a beer one pays 3.50 euro.
One settles simply everything naked, if one liked. If the weather is beautiful, one needed to actually bring along no suit-case, a few shoes, a few towels and a toothbrush became are enough...
However so usually there I have myself then simply put on this net, nothing under this and a bikini upper section, which flew away then however in the cafe Melrose anyway soon !
Starting from 22:00 o´clock the scene in the Melrose tifft itself. In the Hemmingway much mentioned against it nothing was the matter. But in the Melrose partly naked on the tables one danced. The ladies let themselves invite again and again to it to the bar to go and the coverings fall to let. And not ordered lady no, that was all guests. Only unfortunately, photos make are there stricly forbidden.
A Resumee is to be pulled for me with difficulty :
on the one hand the atmosphere that provokes me the failed people and the liberality - on the other side I miss the peace and the landscapes beauty.
Thus a mixture would be - where appropriate one day calmly in the Oasis resort in the sun and with a glass for wine on the terassesit in the evening - on the next day at the animated beach to be seen at the schweinchenstrand or in the dunes, in the evening enjoy the showtime in the clubs and discos of the Cap.
about the clubs I can say up to now still nothing. I do not have myself simply yet trusted to clean happen because I did not know so exactly also what me expected. One hears there also totally different statements. If someone can give information over the clubs, then I will gladly publish those here.
Clothes
In the Cap one is actually naked in principle all day long over completely, if the weather permits it. In the last years one sees always frequent people, which become encrusted when buying and when moving by the plant to something. The majority of the holiday-makers follows however the far FKK-thought. At the beach one does not see trunks. In the evening many people dress themselves frivolous. In the restaurants and bars one sees completely naked people then only isolated.
Clubs
There is each kind of clubs in the Cap d´Agde. From the swingerclub into also individual gentlemen to go can do over the couple club, over the Disco up to the tavern with Gogo Dancing is present everything. To the individual clubs experience you learn more on my special side to the different clubs. Only as much - the Swingerclubs are not for everyone taste and is not compare with German swingerclubs. It concerns here really only one. Usually it is very dark. One must be hardsimmered already something, in order to feel there well.
Shopping
In the Cap one finds nearly each kind of business. Of the supermarket over the butcher up to the baker. There are a Sexshop and numerous mode fashion shops.
Here one findsthe most failed clothes, real, if also not completely cheap. Which is demonstrated can buy in the evening one during the day. The condoms are offered beside the food. This is completely normal in the Cap.
Frivolous going out
Most people drive exactly therefore to the Cap d´Agde - because of the possibility their inclinations here to realize. Frivolous going out in the evening is here usual. The ladies carry net dresses without underwear, lacquer and leather, dessous and open bras or also once only one wear belly chain and boots. - Simply everything is allowed. The gentlemen hold back themselves there usually. In the majority sportly clothed ( Jeans and shirt ) are announced. Isolated one is the men also in Club-outfit. Thus your suitcase can be packed meagerly. Thick clothes can leave you at home. Packs your most generous part in.
Money
nearly everywhere one can pay with usual credit cards. Attention in the beach bar above the “schweinchenstrand”. They accept only cash. An ATM machine is e.q. opposite the gas station.
Intimate shave
Smoothly and blank is complete “inn” In the last years the number of the people, which are shaved, increased constantly. I estimate the portion of the completely brightly shaved people in the Cap on over 80 per cent. Women with full hair splendour are noticeable and are to be hardly still seen.
Children and yound people
One can be here split opinion. I personally would spend no vacation with children in the Cap. The beach is beautiful and drops flat. One would have to be on the camping site and to avoid the range of the actual Caps in the evening. I think that for children the walk in the evening is not possible.I did not see many children also except at the beach. That may be in the main season much different. Most people drive evently because of the sexual liberality to Cap d´Agde. With children I would drive 45 minutes further to the Oasis, to the Aphrodite or into the neighbouring Serignan. In any case ones one should avoid it to undertake with the children a beach walk beyond the beach restaurant lying above.
Criminality
Like in many places in the south of france the criminality is quite high also in the Cap. Housing departures and theft from vehicles is at the agenda. That cannot prevent also the security agency in the plant. One must pay attention already quite well to its valuable articles it applies, the safe in the apartment uses, no valuable articles in the car leaves.
Nudity
In principle one should be always naked in an FKK plant, if it permits the weather. One can do that in the Cap d´Agde also. One goes nake into the supermarket, runs naked by the roads and the curchase passages and goes during the day also completely naked into the bars and restaurants. In the evening it was however meanwhile in-patriated that most people tighten somewhat. The naked ones are then in the minority.
Piercing
Who has a piercing, no thoughts must make themselves over it whether he can carry it in the Cap. The portion on the pierced people continues to increase always. One sees all kinds of piercings, also very many intimate piercings.
Police
In the months july and august a police-container is stationed above the Schweinchenstrand. During the presence of the police the actions at the beach are strongly reduced. In addition, outside of the police operational readiness level I experienced employments at the beach. For a out-curving action of a woman with several men stormed suddenly 8 - 10 policemen with helmet and gloves the beach and looked for the document urine. One heard of hard punishment und unpleasant exhausting actions opposite people which had too violently done at the beach - This Caution !!!
Prices
The prices are, as high actually everywhere in France. For a beer one pays between 2.50 and 4.00 euro. A menu with 3 courses gives it starting from 15 euro. A pizza costs starting from 10 euro. Naturally, the more exclusively the restaurant, the more highly the prices. One can be able to be served also the beverages at the beach to its couch pays naturally according to more.
Schweinchenstrand
The Schweinchenstrand lies if one looks on the sea to the left, approx. 500 meters from the actual plant removes. One recognizes it completely easily. If one goes at the sea along : the people lie together there completely closely. At the Schweinchenstrand there are sexual activities of any kind.
Tension adjuster
Tension adjusters are pervasive in the plant. That comes probably by the multiplicity of the single gentlemen those on the way is. At the beach one on 30 - 40 such spectators must count, if one becomes active. If one goes as a woman into directly behind the schweinchenstrand the dunes, one immediately pursued by a herd of such gentlemen, whom expect, to the course coming. A woman goes into the dunes is considered this as invitation for a gentleman. One sees more frequently pairs, also many older pairs, which go into the dunes and several younger gentlemen there into activities to include. For my taste there are too many tension adjusters. The number seems to rise still further
Tip 1
For short journeys to the Cap d´Agde I recommend to you the hotel Eve. Travel it not in the high season. Then you receive a mansion for the same money as a hotel room also. That is really worthwhile itself. The mansions are many more generous and lie calmly in the garden of the hotel plant.
Tip 2
Flies instead of with the car drive. Particularly for short journeys a flight with Ryanair offers itself. For example from Bruxelles to Carsasson or from Frankfort or London to Montpellier one flies 90 minutes already starting from 19 euros. At the airport one already rents a car starting from 130 euro for 5 days. Thus one arrives stress-free and rested in the Cap. Straight one for short journeys is this a reasonable alternative.
Tip 3
Into the suit-case do not pack too much - in the Cap one is nearly always naked. In the season one does not have carry anything forward theoretically except toothbrush and comb. It became generally accepted however meanwhile that one carries generous clothes in the evening. That is not so simple, if one stands at home in front of the wardrobe. Because one cannot at all imagine oneself there, how naked the ladies go there really in.
No swinger should die without experiencing Cap D'Agde। Tens of thousands of sexual adventurers migrate there from all over Europe every summer for wonderful weeks of sunbathing and sex. There is nowhere like it in the world, by day a naked city focussed on a fantasic beach, by night a constellation of swinging clubs thronged by cosmopolitan libertines.
There are 8 swingers' clubs in and around Cap D'Agde and two of them are among the very best in the world। In the summer the resort becomes the world's only nudist city with a population of 40,000, many of them couples seeking sex as well as sunshine. British nudists and swingers have been migrating there since it opened 30 years ago. With recreational sex booming among young people in the UK, more Brits in their 20s and 30s than ever before are fibbing to friends and relatives and sneaking off for a holiday that they truly will never forget.
Anyone who has ever surfed the net for info on Cap knows that there are lots of barren naturist sites and travel agents but nothing that explores its reputation as a swingers' paradise. Feverparties.com's Beginners' Guide to provides a comprehensive 19-page swingers' guide including 4 pages of maps and plans; specially drawn diagrams showing the layouts of the most amazing swingers clubs; details of what it's like by day and night, where to stay, where to eat and drink, what to wear, who to book with and how to get there. Everything, in fact, that horny young couples need to know before visiting swinging's summer capital.
Cap d'Agde is a purpose-built holiday town on the French Mediterranean coast between Sete and Beziers. It was developed from scrub in the 1970s and belongs to Agde, a traditional walled town just a few miles inland. There are over 8 miles of beaches in the area. The resort comprises ten neighbourhoods arrayed around a large man-made harbour with several marinas and is used almost entirely by holiday-makers from France itself.
When swingers talk about Cap D'Agde or Cap they mean just one of these neighbourhoods - the Naturist Quarter. Sealed off from the rest and only a tenth the size of the textile (clothes-wearer) area, this Quarter is nevertheless practically a town in itself. It accommodates 40,000 people, has a magnificent 2,000 yard long beach, its own shops, boutiques, banks, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, swimming pools, a marina, a doctors' surgery and a police station. From now on forget about the textiles' town, when we say Cap we're using swinger parlance and talking about the Quartier Naturiste.
There are 6 swinging clubs in the complex and there are two others nearby - including the legendary L'Extasia, widely believed to be the best swingers' club in the world.
Most English-speakers mispronounce the place as cap dag but if you want to impress the locals, say cap dagd (certainly not the ludicrous cap daaj. The nearby town is agd. Any French you have will help too. Most of the people in Cap are French and German, with smaller numbers of Italians, Spaniards, Scandinavians, Belgians and Dutch. There are very few Brits and the Central Europeans haven't discovered it yet, so there's less English heard and spoken than in most holiday resorts - which only adds to the exoticism (and the anonymity)!
Leading international woman's magazine Marie Claire sent a reporter to stay at Cap in the summer 2003. Her 6 page article gives an insight of what the place is like for first-time visitors.
Thanks to Hugo & Marie, Graham & Eva, Eric & Lisa, John & Karen and especially Dave & Anna of La Rochelle for reviewing clubs in 2003.
DRESS CODE
In Cap you see people doing all the things they would do in a normal town centre: eating in bistos, taking money out of the bank, choosing clothes in shops, eating and drinking in cafŽs, moving around and driving cars - while completely naked. What's more, they may well have children with them, from toddlers to teenagers.
The etiquette is to carry a towel with you and put it on any seat before you sit down - for obvious hygienic reasons.
Technically, nudity is obligatory. In practice you often notice the odd woman wearing a thong or some people wearing T-shirts but not bottoms to give their shoulders a repite from the sun. Occasionally children are more modest than their parents. Most people wear clothes when it is cold and everybody wears clothes in the evening to go out to dinner or clubbing.
Although there is public nudity on a vast scale in the daytime, the evenings are more astonishing. People wear their sexiest gear and can walk around in leather, straps, chains, lycra or PVC creations that often reveal their piercings both above and below - and they may still be with the kids. If you don't have the stuff don't worry, there are plenty of shops in the complex.
WEATHER
The season is from the end of March to the end of September. There is a good chance of good weather for most of that time - but this is still Europe and there can be rain, overcast days and the sea is pretty cold compared with the tropics.
The main time for swingers was traditionally August and the two weeks before and after because that's when the French took their holidays. However, the introduction of the compulsory 35 hour week in France has meant the French taking longer holidays. This has lengthened the high swinging season at Cap to cover the whole of July, August and September.
ACCOMMODATION
There are four types of accommodation in Cap - apartments, villas, the campsite and the Hotel Eve. You could also choose to stay off-site and commute in daily.
The complex is dominated by 3 very large concrete apartment buildings called Heliopolis, Port Nature and Port Ambonne. Each has at least one outdoor pool (costing £2-£3 to use if you're not a resident) and one or two "commercial centres" with shops and restaurants
Heliopolis is three quarters of a circle 1 kilometre in circumference; Port Nature (pronouced the French way as na-choor) is long and slightly Y-shaped; and Port Ambonne has a semi-circular residential block above a circular shopping parade, all curling around a central swimming pool. These are far bigger than any structures in the textile part of Cap and make the Naturist Quarter much more densely populated than the rest of the resort - which in turn helps give it its buzz. There is also the much smaller Port Soleil.
Apartments vary in size but tend to be small. Some are studios with pull down beds and tiny galley kitchens, most others have just one bedroom. Some companies maintain their apartments better than others and rooms can show their age with yellowing plastic sinks etc. On the other hand they all have balconies and the views down the coast can be very good.
The villas are found in Helio-Village, Port Nature Village and several smaller locations on the other side of the marina and generally all called Port Soleil because they are tucked away behind it - Port Venus, El Pueblo, Cap Sauvage and Le Jardin de la Palmeraie
Villas tend to be bigger than apartments and are more viable for self-catering. They are usually 1 or 2 bedroom and have a small patio area attached so you can eat outdoors. There are some bigger ones in the Port Soleil vicinity, including a few with two storeys and one with a private pool. For detailed plans of the different types of apartments and villas available we thoroughly recommend a look at the Resid agency's website.
The campsite is huge and was the original Cap d'Agde nudist location before any of the resort was built. It runs in "Allees" parallel to the beach. Nearest the beach is Allee Mer, then Plage, then Dune, then Nature, before the alphabet starts at A and runs through to O. Many of the plots have mobile homes or caravans permanently sited and there are also chalets you can rent. There are over 2,500 plots on the site which has its own secure swipe-card access procedures for vehicles and entry checks after dark
The owner is the Rene Oltra company, whose founder owned the original farmland. It keeps the site immaculate and well secured. You can actually buy plots in the campsite, they change hands at £3,000 - £6,000 or more if there is a mobile home in good condition on them. Empty plots can sell for less than £1,000 although the service charge on all plots is about £100 a month
The Hotel Eve is the only hotel on the complex and is tucked out of the way in the Port Soleil/Port Venus area on the other side of the marina. People tend to use it if they arrive the night before they book into their accommodation or have a spare night before their flight. Others have been known to spend their whole holiday here.
THE BEACH
Cap d'Agde's naturist beach is a mile and a quarter long, up to 100 yards wide and kept in very good condition. This photo shows only about half of it.
In front of Port Nature and Heliopolis there are restaurants, bars and cafes with steps leading down to the beach. In this part of the strand there are enclosures where you can pay £15 a day for a sunbed and parasol. The beach then stretches out in front of the campsite. A long man-made dune runs behind the beach, sheltering the campsite from sea breezes and ends at a dune-top cafŽ, where an area of natural dunes begins.
Until the mid-1990's the dunes were a popular swinging and exhibitionist spot especially in the early evenings. Now however they are covered with fences and strictly out of bounds while mounted police patrol from a hut next to the café to prevent sexual activity on the beach.
A hundred yards beyond the police station, in front of the dunes, remains the 'adult beach'. It is easily identified because it has no children and people's towels are rather closer together than on the rest of the strand. It comes to an end with the much smaller 'gay beach'. In the early evenings after about 6pm, when it is still warm but the police have knocked off, you can occasionally see crowds gather around couples determined to make an exhibition of themselves before the sun goes down!
Apparently the police only patrol in the main season, from 1 July to 15th September. Before and after these dates the adult beach returns to its former glory
The beach is the last place you would expect to receive a flyer inviting you to a non-conformist event but do not be alarmed. Non-conformist is a French euphemism for swinger, comparable to the English-language lifestyler. The usual French word for swinger is libertine and swinging is libertinage or l'Exchangisme.
The beach is an experience of a lifetime because it holds tens of thousands of naked people on a sunny day. Those who want to show off walk up and down along the shoreline or disport themselves on the adult beach. Here there is the intense feeling of being watched, as couples eye each other up for later. Couples often meet new friends on the beach and go off together for drinks, something to eat and some fun. However, this is a lot easier if one of you speaks French or German because almost all the conversation is in these languages. However, the language of love can sometimes overcome all barriers, as several Fever couples can testify
LIVING AT CAP
SHOPPING
There are two "commercial centres" in Port Nature, one each in Heliopolis and Port Ambonne and a small cluster of shops, restaurants and tourist offices outside the entrance to the Quartier Naturiste. There is an ATM (cash dispenser) in the Port Ambonne centre and a cybercafe in Port Nature 6 with another in the Place de la Marine in Agde. For personal supplies you get better variety and cheaper prices at the Hyper-U supermarket on the right hand side of the road into Agde.
The one retail area that Cap excels at is sexy/S&M/fetish clothing. There must be a greater density of shops here than anywhere else on Earth and although prices are not cheap they are not astronomic either. The choice is fantastic, the quality very good and it is almost impossible to resist buying something new for that second week in the clubs when your tan is looking up.
EATING
If you are used to eating in France then the Quartier Naturiste will be a disappointment. Although there are thirty or more restaurants the menus are usually international - you could be anywhere - or limited and bad value. Many of them cater for Germans with heavy, plain dishes. For classic French cuisine and value you will need to travel into the textile part of Cap, into Agde or (even better) further afield to towns such as Sete or Carcassonne.
There is a fairly good Chinese restaurant over Le Loft nightclub above the beach in Port Nature Village that we would recommend if you like oriental food. L'Horizon overlooks the beach in front of Port Nature itself and is good for breakfast, elevenses, lunch and tea. We have been told Le Grange in Port Ambonne is reasonably priced. But for your main meal the one place we recommend above all others is Gymnos in Heliopolis. It's big and has a bustly rather than a bistro atmosphere but there is a very wide choice, the food is all good and the prices are as low as you can find in Cap. Beware, it's very popular and unless you come early or book you are likely to end up queueing. Its phone number is 04 67 26 06 09.
DRINKING AND NIGHTLIFE
There are bars as well as restaurants in Port Ambonne and Heliopolis, in particular 1664 the karaoke bar in Heliopolis for those who like that sort of thing. Heliopolis's L'Hemingway is now the second most swinging bar at Cap.
However, the nightlife centre of Cap is undeniably Port Nature 5. This stubby part of the Y-shaped building has a row of bars and sexy clothes shops that becomes crowded in the evenings with young people seeing and being seen. Biggest of the bars and setting the tone for the others is the Melrose, right at the end of the building. It has a dancing platform although customers and barmaids are just as likely to dance and strip on the tabletops. The place has such a reputation that people come in from outside for the evening and French pornstars and film producers hang out, keeping their eyes open for new talent.
This is just about the only place where single men could in theory be a problem, as they can come into the complex without a woman and don't have to strip off after dark. However, surprisingly few people take advantage of this and the crowds in the Melrose are always good natured and usually mixed-sex even if they are from outside. Many women enjoy the chance to make the textile guys salivate.
From the Melrose the corridor runs through Port Nature 5 - past other bars including one gay one - to the space in the angle between the two longer arms of the Y. The picture of Cap at night on the intro page overlooks this area. It is often called Waikiki after a prominent restaurant there and in the evening it is the nearest thing Cap has to a town square. There are open air restaurants and shops and street theatre sometimes takes place after dark. This is another popular place for couples to promenade if they want to be noticed. The entrance to Le Juls is here and the facing restauranr "Le Bistro" is run by the same management. Later on people stream through on their way along the walkway down the side of Port Nature to Le Tantra.
CLUBS IN CAP
There are five good things about Le Glamour, Cap's premier swingers' nightspot since 1998: there are lots of attractive people; it has three bars, two of them outside in the cooler air; it is very lively on the dance floor with a live DJ catching the mood and getting people involved; it has two networks of cellars downstairs that have been turned into playrooms; and the doors to the cellars are guarded to make sure nobody enters or leaves who should not (one route is couples only, the other allows single men).
You come into Le Glamour from the outside bar area of the Villa Romaine restaurant, perched above the beach between the arms of Heliopolis. Sometimes there is a crowd hanging around the bar checking out the outfits (and the people) going in. Le Glamour is curently the most expensive club at Cap, €35 with just two free drinks. This is standard, but most clubs offer you a €45 with six drinks option. Once your tokens have run out drinks are expensive - our reviewers paid €12 (£8) for a vodka ice.
You arrive in an outside bar area with stools perched around barrels for seating. On the right there are steps going down to a lower bar area, still outdoors but covered with an awning. There are more tables and chairs here and in the far left corner is a small raised marble dancing podium. In front of that there are steps leading inside and people hang around on them because they are a good place to be seen.
From the outside bar you can walk into an anteroom and turn right into the disco area. There is a cage immediately on your left with a woman, or women, or a couple cavorting - these are holidaymakers like yourself, not professionals. The dancfloor is almost always full and sometimes the dancing stops for a competition usually involving exhibitionists showing off. Against the wall on the right are stools and chairs and if you continue past the bar there are more on both sides until you come to the broad staircase that takes you downstairs.
At the bottom are the loos and two doors guarded by staff - each leads into a long twisting darkened passage which winds through playrooms and past cubicles. The door on the left leads to the couples only playzone while singles are permitted in the zone on the right. Everything is wooden and there are lots of jailbars and occasional curtains hiding things from view. In one or two places there are whipping frames or other S&M equipment.
The chances are that it will be absolutely heaving, with crowds on absolutely every bed and couples or groups having action against walls and on couchettes. The gangway will also be congested as couples look to find somewhere to join in or just hope to rub up against some new friends. It is a quite incredible atmosphere.
Le Glamour has downsides too. Apparently the French call it 'un usine' (a factory) because although it has the most attractive people, many of them are voyeurs and block the entrance and alleyways of the underground playrooms without contributing to the action; the air-conditioning is very good but makes the place almost too cold; though the music is undeniably excellent some of the people in the bar areas are there to see or be seen and not partake; and it shuts early, at 2am. So if you want to carry on you either have to go back somewhere with some friends or go on to Le Tantra, where you have to pay (reputedly the same firm) all over again to get in.
Nevertheless most of the couples who reviewed for us in 2003 thought Le Glamour was still the best club on site.
LE TANTRA
You enter directly onto the wall-to-wall dancefloor which is 20 feet square. The music is said to be very good and sometimes there are live acts - when this club was called Le Loft the dancing in fact took precedence over the swinging.
There is a circular staircase leading off the right-hand side of the dancefloor up to the restauarnt and main playroom above. Behind the dancefloor the club gets narrower, with a bar along the left and tables and chairs on the right. There is a jink where it gets very narrow then there is a quieter bar along the right and a playroom at the back.
Upstairs the dining area becomes a relaxed chill-out zone after about midnight, spoiled only by the waitresses not clearing away the tables properly. The main play area upstairs has clean, new and nicely done rooms.
Le Tantra is open the latest of all the clubs, so people who haven't had enough migrate there from Le Glamour when it closes at 2am. In 2003 several of our reviewing couples felt it was now a more enjoyable evening out than Le Glamour and all of them prasied it highly.
LE JUL'S
This is the prominent couples-only club on the square at Port Nature 5. Entrance is €45 with 6 drinks or €35 with 2 drinks. The club is open from 11pm-6am every night of th week during the season (1 May - 30 September) and Friday and Saturdays off-season.
Le Jul's is on one floor and mirrors all around make it seem bigger than it really is. The decor has a roman feel and there are lots of comfy sofas around low coffee tables. There is a small platform with two poles backed by mirrors where the efforts of visitors are supplemented by occasional professional dancers.
The bar staff are very friendly. The play rooms (to the right as you go in) are small though clean and could do with some work to improve the atmosphere. There are showers with towels next to the playrooms. The music was alright but considered a bit dated by our reviewers. There is lots of action on the sofas around the dance-floor.
LE PHARON
Still the smallest club at Cap, Le Pharon allows in single guys and its clientele is believed to include bi and gay men.
NAT HAMMAM
As a sauna club Nat Hammam has no dancefloor. You enter at one end of a narrow bar room, with the bar on the left. There are barstools and a few low chairs. At the back you turn right and find a large playroom on the right with matresses laid out against the right hand wall. Further in the saunas, steam rooms etc are on the left and you can follow the corridor even further to an isolated playroom.
When Fever's reviewers visited on couples' night several years ago the club lacked atmosphere and wasn't too full. The couples in the playroom were lying side-by-side and not interacting much. Nat Hamman is a 'mixed' club i.e. allows in single guys but it has a couples night on Sundays between 9pm and 1am. In fact it is believed to be patronised mostly by men. Le Jules, now couples only, was a gay club for a while and Le Pharon and Nat Hammam may now be serving the people who used it.
2 ET 2
Pronounced as in French (Deux et Deux) this is a new couples only sauna club next to Nat Hammam in Port Ambonne. No review yet.
PROS AND CONS OF CAP
OK, nothing is all good. There's always a downside as well as an upside. So what's the catch with Cap?
WEATHER
The sea is not as warm as in the tropics or Greece and there are usually a few off-days in an fortnight.
On the other hand...
It beats Blackpool.
NUDISM
If you don't actually like being naked in the sun or in front of lots of other people, then obviously you're not going to get as much out of Cap as most visitors do.
On the other hand...
You can live outside and come into Cap in the evening, when people are wearing sexy clothes, for the clubs and that louche vibe. There are plenty of other beaches in the area. For Les Quai des Anges and L'Extasia you never have to come into the complex at all.
LANGUAGE BARRIER
It's a very friendly place but if you don't speak French or German it severely limits the number of people you can chat up.
On the other hand...
If you really only want to go on holiday where people speak English then maybe you should stick to North America, Australasia or Spain. In the playrooms of the clubs there are plenty of circumstances where not understanding each others' language doesn't matter or even adds to the excitement.
CONCRETE JUNGLE
The complex itself is a bit like a vast 60s campus university, all glass and concrete and not very beautiful. Walking to and fro over tarmac ratruns between huge buildings and through carparks and ugly service areas is not uplifting. The corridors through the "commercial centres" are very utilitarian.
On the other hand...
The place is clean everywhere and the "commercial centres" and most of the residential areas apart from Heliopolis are pedestrianised and designed to human scale. The campsite is different and you can stay there for that Garden of Eden feel. Alternatively you can live outside and come in when you feel like it. For those of us who live in concrete jungles anyway, doing so in blazing sunshine with the incredible Cap vibe is a big improvement.
ACCOMMODATION
The big blocks were built in the 70s when space allocations were less generous than they are in modern hotels. Some have not been kept in tip-top condition.
On the other hand...
Everything is clean; you usually have a private patio or a balcony; many of balconies have now been roofed in to make the flats bigger and where they haven't there is still an excellent view; you can self-cater in every type of accommodation; you haven't come to hide away from the sun and other people anyway; and you could choose to stay in a pension, gite, hotel or villa in textile Cap, Agde or somewhere else nearby and commute in.
FOOD
Cap is not a gastronomic experience.
On the other hand...
Few of us eat royally all the time on holiday anyway and if you have kids you probably don't want to; all the food available is perfectly edible particularly at Gymnos in Helipolis; you can self-cater when you wish; and proper French cuisine can be found in textile Cap and other nearby towns. A regular bus service connects the Quartier Naturiste with the other Cap d'Agde neighbourhoods.
LUXURY
Even taking out the nudism, Cap is an unusual experience. It is a firmly mid-market location so you wouldn't go there for that luxurious, upmarket feel. However, the campus format inevitably transmits echoes of Butlins with its downmaket associations to British people.
On the other hand...
If your primary concern is for material excellence in every single holiday then you shouldn't go to Cap. The luxury comes from the combination of the sun and the scintillating sights and scenes of nudity and swinging on an unimaginable scale that cannot be found anywhere else in creation. If you are swingers, you have to give it a try.
CROWDS
At meal times the restaurants are full, the bars are full afterwards and the clubs are full after that. The playrooms are jam packed and some of the people are just tourists.
On the other hand...
The popular restaurants do fill up so it's best to eat early, or late, or book. The less popular ones almost always have places. You can travel off-site to eat sometimes, especially if you have hired a car. The very popular bars such as the Melrose fill up too but people move out into the corridor and onto the grass. There are bars literally across the corridor from the Melrose that can be almost empty when it is overflowing, so you can always get a drink.
Le Glamour is often packed because it is so convenient and has so many playrooms. It is also where people tend to head excitedly on their first night. Crowds are lighter earlier on in the week and the off-site clubs are never so overcrowded. The playrooms at Le Glamour fill up amazingly early but thin out a lot after about 12.30-1am as people start to leave. There's no doubt that playrooms become too overcrowded at points but overall the sense of crowd is essential to Cap's amazing vibe.
TOURISTS
People can come in from outside at night without ever having to take their kit off and move straight into the clubs for a good gawk.
On the other hand...
There are hardly any tourists in the smaller clubs. All the tourists have to be in couples both to get in at all and then again to get into the playrooms in many clubs, especially the bigger ones. So tourism doesn't equate to single male pests. Showing off with a flagrant exhibition to tourists can be a thrill, especially as you know they wish they had the guts to swing too, but it is annoying if there are so many that they clog things up.
UNREALITY
You can have too much of a good thing. After a while living in a closed environment with tens of thousands of naked people, wearing fetish gear every evening and swinging every night, you can actually start hankering for a dose of reality.
On the other hand...
This is a holiday and you're only there for a few weeks so enjoy it while you can. If you rent a car you can live outside or escape to explore the area whenever you feel the need for a reality check. British newspapers are sold a day or two late if you need that big a dose of reality.
Nudism is a family activity and there are thousands of families with children of all ages at Cap, bringing in a strong air of healthy normality. Small children move around with their parents while adolescents make new friends and hang around together in friendly crowds. Only on the adult beach and in the clubs do you find a sensual ambience.
This was the second year we've been and it was even better this year. We travelled with Peng Travel again and would certainly recommend them. We stayed in the naturist quarter and personally would recommend anyone to do this - it's very liberating being able to dress, or not, exactly how you want to whenever you want to. And after having been naked all day you'd be surprised at how sexual you feel when you do put on some clothes and how much of a thrill it is to catch a glimpse under someone's skirt etc. Amazing really considering you've probably seen them naked but somehow being naked all day seems to heighten your senses. Just to be clear although everyone will tell you Cap D'Agde is compulsary nudist this is definitely not the case in our experience - you can do pretty much what you want and there are plenty of people that don't go nude - in fact most of the French swingers we met wear full makeup, jewellery, immaculate hair, high heels and skimpy diamonte thongs to the beach lol! Majority of people are naked or almost naked during the day and mostly dressed in the evening (as dressed as most people are in swingers clubs here lets put it that way!).
The other reason we would recommend staying in the quarter itself is that you can easily walk down to the beach (and it's a lovely beach by the way with gorgeous sand and gently sloping shoreline into very clear and clean water with only a few little waves - very safe to swim) and you're within easy walking reach of all the shops, restaurants, bars and clubs - no driving needed anywhere!
We had a great time this year and thought a few notes might help other people to make the journey - onto a few hints and tips we've picked up that hopefully will help anyone new and a few updates for this year including prices to help you budget.
toptop
Firstly, the beach. When you walk along the nudist beach from the end of Heliopolis you'll first be walking past families. When you reach the lifeguard boat you'll start to see less children and more couples or groups and everything gets a little bit more intense - this is the swingers beach. You won't get any serious action going on as there are police around to stop that (apart from in June apparently!) but trust me it can get quite hot anyway ;). If you carry on walking you'll find a lot more guys around so now you know you're on the gay beach! And if you carry on a bit more you'll start to see families again and then you leave the nudist beach. The swingers beach is a great way to check everyone out during the day and generally get 'fluffed' up - if you get the right mix of people and a fairly secluded spot you can end up feeling pretty wild by the end of the afternoon! And you can meet people down there as well - especially if it's someone you've played with the night before you'll often bump into them the next morning and who knows if you're lucky you might meet some of their friends ~wink wink~. Generally most people hit the beach around 2 or 3pm and stay until about 5 or 6pm. There's probably quite a lot of sun worshippers in the morning but we wouldn't know being night owls ourselves ;)
Next, shopping. The food is probably a bit more expensive than it should be since it's a captive audience but it's good quality and there's a fair amount of variety. All the shopping centres have slightly different offerings so it's definitely worth wandering around to check them all out. One hint if you're going to buy wine our advice would be to buy from the supermarket rather than a wine shop - much cheaper and just as nice in our opinion. Shopping for 5L water, small btl olive oil, btl red wine, salad, 1L coke and 2 steaks will set you back about €32. 2 fresh pork steaks €3.41, 6 cooked tiger prawns €3.71, a cooked prepared lobster €18.20. Shopping for 2L water, 6 beers, 1 btl sparkling wine, 1 btl chardonnay, 1 btl lemonade, 12 loo roll and 1L orange juice will cost you about €23.00. Oh yes and there are plenty of places for bits and bobs, beach towels, sun cream, etc etc etc but all probably a little pricey. I won't go into the evening clothes shops as it's already been mentioned - nice clothes but expensive! There are at least 2 cash machines on site as well by the way and we've never had trouble getting cash out either on credit card or on debit card.
The restaurants. Pretty much all the places we've eaten have been fine - nothing particularly spectacular but nice enough. To give you an idea of some prices a meal for 2 of Mussels&chips and steak hache&chips with 1L water and a coke at the beach bar overlooking swingers beach was €25.00. L'Horizon seafood salad, steak, chips&salad, white wine and cokes was €31.00. La Tantra a la carte 2 courses, wine and coffee (and entrance to the club included) was €88.00. To be honest we weren't all that impressed with the food at La Tantra although if there's a group of you it can be quite fun because you're pretty much still dining while all the swingers arrive. And of course it does give you the possibilities of fun along with the meal (use your imagination!). And it is a beautiful setting with open air terrace overlooking the beach and the sea.
Onto the bars. As already mentioned the Melrose is the liveliest bar by far. The others are really pretty quiet and just places for a drink while watching people go past. The Melrose can be a night in itself and you can definitely meet people there. And of course you can dance on the tables - as far as we could tell you can get up on any of the tables with poles on them although probably doesn't do any harm to check with the waiter in case they have their own show planned. Not sure about the poles on the bar itself though - generally seems to be their own dancers there! Oh yeah and if you're on a table with a pole and there's a chain pull next to you it's a shower just so you don't get a nasty surprise! None of the bars cost anything to get in and drinks vary a lot - for example 2 vodka & orange or 2 champagne will set you back about €16 in Melrose. On the other hand you can get 2 Smirnoff ice at the gay bar (next but one from Melrose - the one with mostly blokes in it lol!) for €11.
Now for the clubs. The clubs really are fantastic - generally pretty good club music (sometimes a bit cheesy and sometimes quite weird but usually pretty good), lots of gorgeous sexy people. La Glamour is the best club in our opinion and certainly the most popular with the younger crowd (we're 32 by the way and do consider ourselves to be part of the younger crowd lol!). It'll cost you €35 per couple to get in which gets you 2 free drinks or €25 with no free drinks (although this generally only seems to be allowed if you already have a bottle in the club). The best deal though is to buy a bottle. This will cost you €110 (vodka, gin etc) or €120 for 'premium' (JB for example). The catch is though that gets 2 couples in (or if one couple you can ask for a ticket for the next night I think - we got given one one night anyway so assumed you could probably ask). Once you get your bottle they'll write your name on it and keep it behind the bar for a month. You can then choose 2 mixers and you get those topped up all night every night (and of course if the jug is empty you can get it filled with a different mixer so you don't get bored!) - typically orange juice, apple juice, coke, lemonade, Perrier etc. About the only thing you can't get (annoyingly!) is still mineral water (which will set you back €5 per bottle). So you get your bottle the first night and then assuming you don't drink loads you'll just pay €25 in each night and have all your drinks covered.
Le Glamour opens at about 10pm and closes at 4am. It doesn't get busy until about 11/12 most nights but actually it's quite nice while it's still a little bit quiet and you can get yourself a good place to watch everyone coming in ;) Oh yeah and if you're leaving make sure you let them know if you're coming back - they let us do that a couple of times (we had an apartment very close which was handy for private parties then back to the dancefloor!). And if you're going to La Tantra make sure you ask for a pass.
La Tantra is a restaurant up until about 11pm and then opens as a club but it doesn't usually get really going until much later - around 2am. The prices are basically the same as Le Glamour but if you come from there you can get a free pass to Tantra. Again you can do the bottle thing although it'll still set you back €110 inside the club even if you got free entry :(. La Tantra stays open until about 6am I think although we never stayed that long. Upstairs at Tantra the music and vibe is pretty chilled and sexy. Downstairs it's pretty hard dance but still gets sexy.
We didn't go to any other clubs but just for completeness on site there is also Le Juls (a smaller club and mostly for a slightly older crowd as far as we could tell - none of the people we met in Glamour or Tantra had actually been there!) and there is also a fetish club now called La Feline. Again we didn't go and didn't meet anyone who had been so can't really comment whether it's any good or what opening times are etc.
Generally speaking, Fridays are busy, Saturdays very busy, all other days quieter unless something special is on (like on one night we were there they had girls dancing in water tanks at Le Glamour and on another they had a striptease show from Paris so those nights were also quite busy). In many ways we actually prefer the quieter nights because those are the nights you can be fairly sure most people are up for it and you can actually find couples and not lose them in the crowd!
Some comments on 'Playing the French way'! Firstly it does help to speak some basic French at least so we do advise you brush up on some basic phrases. But it isn't essential - you will meet quite a few people who speak enough English to get on with. And anyway the French swinging style is more physical in our experience - if you like someone check them out, make sure they see you checking them out, give them a smile and if you get one back move in for the kill and the rest of the night usually flows from there - don't be afraid of getting touchy feely fairly early - as long as you're getting the right vibe it's fine. Dancing up to people and getting touchy feely is also fine as long as the vibe is there. Really the rules are the same as here - no means no and if your hand is pushed away take the hint - equally if you don't want someone else's contact make sure they know - push their hand away. Also, they are all very aware of cleanliness and nearly always shower regularly while playing - often before and after but certainly after. All the clubs have showers with products and regularly replaced nice fluffy towels. So use the facilities - it's usually pretty nice to shower down in the hot Cap D'Agde nights!
Also pretty much the same as here you'll find some couples like to play in the club - either in the playrooms (not our choice as they're very dark usually) or in the club itself (pretty much anywhere is fair game in our experience so don't hold back!). Others prefer to retire to an apartment for a private party. The mix of full swing to soft swing to girl-girl to same room to just plain tourists (ie just people come to gawp at 'The Swingers') is about the same as here although on weekends you definitely get more tourists there because you don't have to be members to get in the clubs or anything. Don't worry though they're always very nice and no photography is allowed without permission (no cameras at all in the clubs - in fact mostly you'll be stopped even taking a bag in - certainly into the play areas). The French for full swing is 'Exchangiste' (Eh-shaange-eest), soft swing is 'Melangiste' (May-laange-eest). Not sure about girl-girl although they always seem to understand 'Femme-Femme' (Fam-Fam) while pointing to the two girls lol!. If you'd like to complement someone on their appearance a good phrase is 'tres joli', if someone was good in bed they normally seem to say 'Chaud' (hot). And of course for Men, this will possibly be the only occasion you can say 'Enchante' to a girl and not look a complete dick!
So... hope that all helps people... we had a good time last year, an unbelievebly fantastic time this year... and will be going back as frequently as we possible can for as long as we can! Long Live Fever for giving us the guts to go in the first place!
Oh yeah and finally if someone invites you for an aperitif it may not be just drinks they're inviting you to so be prepared - we ended up in a full on 10 person orgy in the afternoon at someone's villa - a fantastic way to start the evening I can assure you! Actually same goes for Dessert, Digestive or most other fairly innocuous sounding events - just be prepared for anything in Cap D'Agde!
DIRTY WEEKEND June 2004
By S & D
We’ve just come back from a fabulous swingers weekend – made easier thanks to the Fever’s Beginners Guide to Cap D’Agde. Although there are numerous websites, mainly in French, for the Cap D’Agde area this one certainly is the easiest to read, understand and plan for a short trip. As the local guides were all in French, printing all the pages out before we left certainly helped.
Although we have been to many clubs over the years, including several Fever parties, we probably only manage to go to an event one or two times a year, hence they are still exciting and the anticipation is an important part of the thrill.
We decided not to stay in the naturist area as we thought the constant nudity might become a turn off and certainly take the edge off the thrill. Hence we stayed about 2 miles away in the textile area at the Hotel du Golf (www.hotel-du-golf.com) – somewhere we would recommend and will be staying again.
To enter the naturist area, you will need to park your car just before the barrier and go into the office and purchase a pass. The girls in the office spoke no English and there was no useful information in English – although there appeared to be plenty in other languages, which gives you a strong clue as to the large number of French, German and Dutch people that come here to play. For those of you purchasing a day pass, the most important thing to know is that you must be onsite by 8pm when the gate closes to day trippers! It was lucky that our French was good enough to understand this, otherwise we would not have come back that evening until much later and hence missed a lot of fun!
After a brief afternoon on the beach getting our white bits pink, we returned to our hotel to get ready for the evening and be back through the gate by 8pm. Following the advice in this guide, we had booked for dinner at Ghymnos (+33 (0)4.67.26.06.09) in Heliopolis. This was an excellent restaurant – made more fun by D having a constant flirt with the manager, persuading him to join us at the Melrose bar after work, and then again after that! A window seat is also an excellent place to see the sights while having dinner. At 9pm these range from naturists finding their way home naked from the beach, to some of the most revealing and bizarre S&M gear we have ever seen! And yet at the same time, many beautiful couples that were dressed well but sexy enough to get automatic entry into any London nightclub were also finding their way to dinner. The food at Ghymnos, although simple was excellent. Although that was the only restaurant we ate at, Le Calypso (+33 (0)4.67.26.85.13) near the beach at Port Nature 1 was also extremely busy, looked excellent and was highly recommended to us by several of the people we met.
After dinner we went to the Melrose bar in Port Nature 5. This is certainly the most happening bar in Waikiki (http://www.waikiki-beach.net) and a must do stopping off point prior to going to one of the clubs later. The little walk way between the Melrose bar and the Waikiki Plaza also has some great shops – where a dress that D bought will certainly be worn to the next Fever party. They are not cheap, but just looking around them adds yet more excitement to the evening.
The club we went to was Le Glamour which was excellent – although probably there is enough description already in the Fever guide – suffice to say it ranks up there as one of the better ones we have been too. As we only met French people there, conversation was limited but the dancing good. I think we can leave the rest to your imagination.
The following day, we were both randy as hell, replaying the events of the previous evening, but decided to spend it inland and away from the beaches. The Languedoc region has much to offer and is increasingly recognized as the area that is attracting the next wave of British second home owners, with property still far cheaper than the Cote D’Azur. We found a absolutely superb hotel/restaurant in Olonzac, along the banks of the Canal du Midi where after a great boozy lunch we found a quiet spot in a corn field, stripped off and guess what, only to be interrupted by an old couple walking their dog. However, they were not the same appreciative audience as the previous night.
That evening we went to L’Extasia (www.club-extasia.com), which must be one of the best clubs in the world. If you have experienced Fun4two, prepare to be bowled over. If only it had an outside pool or hot tub, it would be hard to think how it could be improved.
We started by going for dinner next door at the Palaisia d’Occitaine. We didn’t get there until just after 10pm, which although fine, next time we will be there slightly earlier – its probably also worth booking a table +33 (0)4.67.77.96.46), as we only just managed to get seated. The food is not great, but the surroundings and company certainly make up for that. About 200 people were seated in a large medieval-like banqueting hall, all of them dressed to kill to move onto L’Extasia. The small fashion show and striptease was a great warm up, but catching the eye of the other diners and imagining who you might be meeting in even more intimate surroundings was a fantastic turn-on for us both over dinner. The fact that the chap D most fancied was on a table next to us, with his three tactile girlfriends was probably even more thrilling. The Palaisia d’Occitaine is part of the experience, and something we would recommend not to miss.
Upon entering L’Extaisa we joined two couples that we had met in the restaurant on the inside dance floor. This was very much a place to meet and be seen - we never saw any action here. The music was great, although we did hear the same records later on the outside dance floor.
The other dance floor is outside and is a great place to cool down after the heat of inside. Just beyond it is the path into the woods, where having met an absolutely stunning woman, we were happily led for S’s blowjob of the holiday while her husband watched on. If outside areas in Britain were this warm and inviting, dogging would be our national pastime. Later in the evening the woods was the place that the really large groups formed.
Back at the outside bar, D bumped into her man and his posse of girlfriends from the restaurant. The atmosphere between them was electric, because as we found out later he and his actual girlfriend had also picked D out over dinner. Several drinks and dances on the outside dance floor later, the four girls had done a lot more than break the ice between themselves.
Not surprisingly D and her four new friends soon made their excuses (which were to the point ‘we are going play’) and made their way to the Big Room in the Upstairs part of the club. This an extremely large but well laid out room that contains several sofas and four-poster beds. As it was decorated and lit like a normal room, rather than a purpose made shag palace, this is
What happened in the Big Room? Well we can only recommend that you book to visit what must be the best swingers area in the world. We will certainly be visiting it again later this year!
By Tony & M
As with any review, it is important to understand the writer's perspective so bear with us as we tell you something of ourselves. We are a married couple, early 40s, allegedly attractive and intelligent, liberal, adventurous but mostly braver in thought than in deed: In short, a fairly typical couple keen to explore alternative avenues. We started playing about 8 years ago and participate irregularly at a combination of private soirees, venues and internet contacts. We are anything but lifestyle swingers; in fact like most people we are lifestyle-free, we just live! Probably, we are pretty much like you.
We heard of Cap D'Agde at a UK nudist camp (I use that term advisedly as I will explain later) where it was described as a naturist town where swingers might occasionally appear. From our UK naked-holiday experience, with its strict no-clothes policy and rigid asexuality, Le Cap held little appeal other than Mediterranean weather. Nonetheless, we got the brochure and thought about a holiday there but went climbing in Scotland instead. Some 3 years later we discovered the Fever Parties web site and the Beginners' Guide to Cap D'Agde. It described a very different, and far more appealing, resort to that we had previously heard of.
We booked our accommodation over the internet with a British agent called Cap Nat and e-mailed the nice man at Ryan Air to spirit us to Perpignan and our hire car. Having read and re-read the Fever guide we considered ourselves well-prepared with suit cases of our most daring clobber and buckets of sun screen. How wrong we were.
Our uneventful arrival saw us installed in a 4 person ground-floor studio on the Eastern outer side of Heliopolis, 100 metres from the beach and some 500 metres from the shops and bars. All very nice in a 'holiday resort' sort of way. The architecture is far from elegant but we had come to enjoy a culture other that renaissance art and who cares when the sun is shining? Entry through the resort gate is strictly controlled with swipe cards and the route is well signposted from the A9 motorway at Agde.
The first myth dispelled is that French naturisme bears any relation to UK nudism. Nakedness is the philosophy at Le Cap but far from compulsory. In fact the vast majority wore some form of clothing most of the time other than when on the beach. However, we never saw a woman wearing anything intended to conceal; everything worn was clearly intended to reveal or attract attention. It is an exhibitionist resort more than a naturist one and frankly all the better for it. De rigueur for women during the day(and often at night) was a sarong so small and sheer that it would barely serve to mop the sweat from a Cricketer's brow, coupled with shoes(mostly high-heeled) and as much gold as a woman could wear. For men, the norm was either nothing or a sarong. Occasionally swimsuits and shorts were worn but one suspected that this was out of practicality rather than prudishness or unwillingness to participate- after all sarongs and bare skin don't have pockets do they?
Having said that exhibitionism was the norm, it must not be confused with Brit-style flashing. French exhibitionism is about being seen and seeing for the simple pleasure of attracting others rather than any more sinister purpose. In sum, the beach and resort during the day are a fashion parade of the most daring beach attire that is extremely pleasing to the eye. It is all a very long way from the Newcastle football shirt and gardening shorts that comprise the usual British sea-side uniform.
The beach and sea are lovely. There are very few jet-skis, no amusement arcades and a number of beach restaurants dotted along its 2-mile length. The sandy sea-shelf slopes gently into the water and the swimming is safe and clean. The beach contains 3 discernable sectors; a straight section(well, as straight as Cap D'Agde can manage!) where there are all sorts including the very few children that we saw during our week-long stay. It is all very peaceful and civilised and polite.
A mile east from Heliopolis the beach adopts a very different tone. We dubbed it the seal colony. Couples who are actively seeking some fun, or just placing metaphorical calling cards, congregate in a densely packed mass. The beach towels are too close to be polite, the beach umbrellas and deck chairs are absent, and the smell of cocoa-butter sun cream rises discernibly. It is also deafeningly quiet as everyone eyes up everyone else. Doubtless, having sex on a public beach is illegal in France but that appeared to be no barrier to the occupants of the seal colony. On the 3 afternoons- ie 2-3pm- we braved it(we lasted half an hour each time before succumbing to claustrophobia) we saw couples indulging themselves twice- an impressive hit-rate for anyone with voyeuristic tendencies. Appreciative audiences gathered and even applauded politely when the show was over!
Beyond, and adjacent, to the couples section is the gay area. Again it is amazingly quiet and on our visit it was marked by an impressive and life-like sandcastle that we took to mean we were entering the Queens' fiefdom. However, it was not a Cottager's playground and, as everywhere in Le Cap, liaisons were orchestrated with an astonishing degree of politeness and paradoxical decorum. We even stopped there for a well-earned fag-break and an ice cream to recover from our sojourn to the seal colony. Beyond the gay section, and a couple of hundred metres distant, is the unfenced boundary with the textile beach of Marseillan. Although the whole beach is public ground and all and sundry were free to cross that boundary, it appeared to us that few ventured either way and there was no invasion of peeping Toms or pests from the neighbouring resort. How very continental!
Although the beach contains the three distinct areas, the afternoon promenade sees a constant stream of couples walking the beach's length seeing and being seen and our opinion was that there were very few who were not at least partly interested in playing some sort of game at some point in their holiday. Body adornment is common place and a casual survey revealed that the vast majority of visitors had undertaken some intimate personal grooming before they arrived- presumably to maximise their appeal.
If the daytime is a fashion show, the night-time is a positive festival! To get the picture, ponder the most outrageous, revealing and daring attire you could imagine wearing in your own boudoir. Once you have captured that image, exceed it by a few hundred miles and mix it with the most incongruous circumstances! Photography being heavily frowned upon in Le Cap (a German visitor was very firmly rebuked by 2 French husbands when he started using his videocam to capture images of the beach) , we can provide no visual evidence but consider these images that were mental snapshots for us:-
An attractive 50ish woman, slightly overweight but well-preserved, wearing silver, thigh-high boots, a dog-collar and a single-strand chain around her waist and between her thighs. She is standing eating an ice-cream cone while waiting for a table at a restaurant in Port Nature. If that image is too bland, consider the 3-generation family eating dinner outside a restaurant. The grandparents (and therefore somebody's In-Laws) are dressed smartly but conservatively, the middle generation (late 30s perhaps) are in bondage gear and the woman is sporting an impressive set of genital piercings, while the 4-5 year old children are in their best bib and tucker enjoying their holiday at the sea-side! We think you will agree that this is hardly a common image in a British holiday resort let alone the abstemious Nudist camps we have visited in UK.
To some that may appear in some way immoral. To us it signified that the Europeans at that resort were sufficiently mature and confident to allow their sexuality to be seen by their families and friends. After our initial jaw-dropping surprise, we realised that just maybe this is more healthy than our previous experiences of subterfuge and back-street culture in Britain but then again who are we to preach. Live and let live.
Fever's guide very accurately describes the night life(save for doubtless annual name changes) so we shan't rehearse it, save to say that we visited 2 of the swinger's clubs, including the nearby L'Extasia, and most of the bars. The only comment we would make is that they do exactly what it says on the outside of the tin. The swingers' clubs are for liaisons not for chat. French echangistes are rather more direct than British swappers. Opening gambits include long eye-fixing stares, non-threatening but unmistakeable gropes and strokes as well as more direct overtures such as coming up and asking! Sex is sex, so there is no description needed but those that were playing showed no evidence of being shy and conjugal engagements took place openly on the dance floors of the clubs we visited. The bars were more reserved but almost all of their occupants appeared ready and willing if they met the right couple. At no time was there evidence of incomers bothering holiday-makers. Wild as it was, it was astonishingly above-board and unintimidating.
If there is a downside it is the prices. Everyday items are probably consistent with any captive audience holiday resort. Food for self-caterers was slightly more expensive than in the shops of Agde as were restaurant drinks and meals. The dining experience is not high-quality French cuisine but it is much better than British pub grub. However any item with a sexual connotation is massively overpriced. Following the fashionista's doctrine that less is more, a very pretty but translucent Marks and Sparks-style sarong would cost something like £5-£10. A handkerchief-sized sheer one would cost more like £40-£50! In the numerous erotic boutiques, admittedly very sexy but hardly haute couture outfits ranged from £100-£300. In UK you would feel slightly miffed if you had paid £30-£50 for similar items in Ann Summers. We would suggest that a few searches on the internet would buy you the same gear at a very considerable saving. Club drinks were very costly(unless you usually drink with London City-slickers) at about £8-£10 for a G&T. So, although holidays are no time to save money, we would suggest that a little forethought is a wise investment for visitors to Le Cap.
Would we go again? Absolutely! In fact we've already booked for next summer. The overall experience was quite literally breathtaking. If you fancy a beach holiday with a side-order of kink, Cap D'Agde is the place for you. It is a truly liberal resort that made us self-proclaimed but very British liberals feel positively Presbyterian by comparison. There is something for everyone. There were some astonishingly beautiful men and women enjoying being admired but not everyone was gorgeous (although on average they were better looking than the average at other resorts we have visited), it is totally in-yer-face but simultaneously very non-threatening, there is no pressure to conform with anything or to play and it is well-served with good roads that will allow you to visit outside attractions if you want a day out.
For those who enjoy people watching, it is Shangri-La; for those who want to play it is paradise and for those who want to get a tan and chill out it is just what the doctor ordered. We reckon we heard no more than 50 British voices during our stay yet the resort must have housed many thousands of visitors so an ability to speak at least schoolboy French will make life easier although an inability will not render life impossible. The net effect was that we felt very much abroad and free of home constraints. The bottom-line question perhaps is did we play? No. Why? Because we were too busy having fun! We laughed like drains at some of the more astonishing sights, we were completely intoxicated by the permanent undertones of eroticism and we came back suntanned and very much less stressed than we were when we went. What more could anyone ask of a holiday?
OUR FIRST VISIT 2003
By E & L (Surrey)
Le Glamour
From reading your web description Le Glamour has not changed very much. The layout is the same except the cage is on your right as you enter the dance floor from the vestimentaire. Downstairs the playrooms had been divided into 3 areas - couples only, 3somes and mixed area where single men were allowed. They do not have any S&M equipment anymore.
It closes later now around 3.30am and it is possible to a get a pass that allows free entry to Tantra (formerly Le loft). Entrance to Le Glamour was 35 Euro for a couple, and 30 Euro for a single male by discretion.
Tantra (formerly Le loft)
In my opinion Tantra was better than Glamour. The name has changed with the refurbishment that has created a relaxed environment with lots of style that is best described as Bedouin with cushions, drapes and lots of rich colours. I could imagine that it may not always be jammed with revelers (it felt larger than Le Glamour and being new does not have quite the following yet) but it was certainly busy on our night.
The layout is much the same as before but everything has been refurbished. The more popular entrance is downstairs but one can also enter above which I thought was better as it is a little less in your face (not entering next to the toilets and straight onto the dance floor.
As you enter from the beach entrance (which closes at midnight) one has dining tables along the beach wall. Immediately on your right are seating alcoves. In the center of floor area is a 4 poster bed great for lounging around on with others. As you walk (keeping the bar on your right) one comes to a cooler outdoor area with sofas and chairs - great for a massage. A little further on is a large mixed unattended playroom with changing room style showers just next to it.
Heading in the other direction from the upstairs entrance (keeping the bar on your left) you come to the attended playrooms and the narrow spiral staircase down.
Downstairs the toilets are immediately on your left (next to the main entrance) with a bar in front and the dance floor on your right. Both Tantra and Le Glamour have DJ's but the music at Tantra is less Disco/Eurotrash and more House / Drum & Bass.
If you walk through the dance floor you pass through a long room with seating and come to another bar with a single large underutilized playroom beyond. Tantra closes just before sunrise (6.30am) which is great if you enjoy watching the sun come up as we did.
Entrance to Tantra is 35 Euro for a couple but a better way to get in if you are thinking of eating out is to take their "Menu" at 58 Euros for 2 which includes the entrance. The food was good but the service was unreliable.
Nat Hammam
Whilst we never got the chance to visit the sauna house we did notice that a new place had opened up next door (undoubtedly under the same management) called Le 2&2. It offers sauna, hammam, Jacuzzi, a bar and video booths. It is for couples only and is open from 2pm to 1am.
We stayed in the Hotel Eve which I am sure has not changed in years. Having breakfast on the roof terrace and relaxing by their pool were both enjoyable. We will be back next year with a large party and will time it to coincide with a group of 25 Dutch we met out there.
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