Island Insight

My wife and I are going to CTI for our 10th Anniversary/Honeymoon in July. We have been reading all of the posts about "The Island".

I have been to European Beaches and even to a Nudist Colony, so the idea of being "Au Natural" is not new to me. So I am hoping the MB can give me and my wife some insight.

On many of the boards a "Must Do" is the island. Our dilemna is the mixing of the cultures shall we say. In a European Beach setting, there is the factor of no one knowing you, so you are all free to bathe in the sun and enjoy. In a colony, the total absence of clothing during all activities is a great equalizer. The island offers more of the idea of a colony, except for the fact that at 4-5 o'clock the clothes come back on to socialize. My wife and I have discussed it several times and feel that eventhought we would not be uncomfortable on the island and in the moment, we would feel ackward during the evening hours.

I cannot believe that we are the only ones to feel this way, and I am hoping that people can post their views, ideas, insights and experiences so that we might better understand what we might be missing in our viewpoint.

Thanks
T

The Island is the Island.

We do socialize with other couples on the island, and eat dinner with them. It is no big deal to see a person nude during the day and then all dressed up at night. Seeing someone nude or clothed is just not a big deal for us.

Nude = Island
The rest of the resort = Clothed

It is just the rules and no big deal.

Relax and enjoy.

Don't know how to explain it except once you go, you know. And several of us are even "Friends" on FB. So it must not be an issue!

Well, I can't understand what your issues is, at least fro our view point. People are people naked or clothed. The Island is small and there is a possibility that you will not even see the island people anywhere else.

T,
Everything you listed sums up the beauty and magic of the island although you may not understand why.
At the Island you can stay totally to yourselves so you will have that feeling of "no one knowing you".
If you choose to "socialize" prior to "4-5 o'clock" while on the Island you will find the greatest, most genuine people you've ever met.
Later in the evening when "clothes come back on" and you see people from the Island at dinner etc you may get a warm friendly hello, wave or a smile.
It seems every time we are there the "Islanders" have a special bond among one another. As if to say with a grin "we're have more fun than the others"
The best rule we were taught about the Island-DO NOT wait till your last day there to try it :)
Hope this was some of the insight you were searching for
J&F
CTI 8/18-8/23!

You'll have such a great time with your new island friends that you'll WANT to hang out with them in the evenings while clothed!!!

Hi there Tobias - you know, you would think it would be awkward seeing everyone on the "other" side all clothed at night. But, it is not the least bit awkward. I can't really explain it. Maybe because the people you meet on the island are so genuine and down to earth any awkwardness is eliminated. It is not as if you come back to the main resort and have people talking about how I saw you nekkid on the island today. You have a deeper bond with the other island guests because of sunbathing au naturel. My husband and I tried the island the first time 5 years ago on our first trip and we met Greg and Tammy who will be there the same week. He wrote to you on the Meet Up at Couples thread. For us, we come back from the island and make it a point to seek out the friends we have made over there because we have such a fun time with them. We have no regrets and believe me I wasn't sure about it in the least. I hope this helps you and hopefully we will meet you on the island in July. :)

Well not to repeat what so many others have said... but I can understand that you might feel awkward seeing people clothed that a few hours ago you saw in the buff.... I will only throw this in... at the repeaters dinner... most of the people in the room are people that enjoy the island. And when we see someone that we may have met on the island we don't point it out to the public. It is really one of the most laid back, relaxing and FUN places on earth.

Although we can't yet speak to being out on the island, we have been to Sunset Beach at CSS, and therefore AN.

We never found it awkward seeing fellow AN'ers during the evening hours, although we didn't do much socializing while we were on the beach. It just wasn't our thing.

What we found though, was that in the evenings if and when we did recognize someone from the AN beach, it was almost like we shared a special bond with them, even though we may have never spoken to them. It's almost like we were in a special club with everyone that was at the AN beach.

It's tough to explain, but that's how we felt. Being a motorcycle rider, I would compare it somewhat to how you wave to another rider when you pass them. You have no idea who the other rider is, and you may or may not ever see that person again, but you share the bond of being on two wheels instead of four, so that makes you “brothers so to speak”. You don’t have to, but most riders do this as a salute.

This is not to say that you have to wave or even acknowledge others that you’ve seen on the Island earlier that day, but you share the bond of having been naked on the Island with them.

Bottom line is that this vacation is what you make of it really. You can choose to socialize, or you can choose to ignore everyone else, and just spend time with your significant other. It's entirely up to you, and no one will say anything about what you choose to do, either way.

If you do choose to go out to the Island, then you will likely recognize some of the couples that you see there, back on the mainland after island hours. There's no reason for it to be awkward, you don't even have to acknowledge that you were out there! It's entirely up to you!

Go for it!

My wife and I have been going to CTI for the last 10 years and have made many friends. We have made friends from "the island" AND we have made friends with people who choose not to go to the island. Once you're back on the mainland, nobody cares where you spent your day and certainly not the ones who were on the island with you lol. I have NEVER heard of someone not socializing with you at night because you are "an island couple". As a matter of fact if they are relatively new to CTI they may ask what it's like on the island, and if they are repeaters they know about the island and either choose to, or choose not to go there. I really don't fully understand your question but from my own observation the people on the island seem to socialize more, laugh a little bit more, and probably have at least one hangover more than the people who choose to stay on the main complex... oh yeah and they don't wear clothes during the day. That's about it, so it's your vacation, and your choice to do whatever you find relaxing and enjoyable day or night. And THAT'S what Couples is all about. You're in Jamaica mon...chill.

That was one thing that concerned my husband initially. It really turned out to be a non-issue.

We tried the island on our last day of our first trip and regretted it. On our second trip back two years ago, we planned the trip with friends from texas that we had met on the first trip(we are from Jersey). Not only did we go to the island everyday but we of course hung out after 5 and are still friends now. you don't even think about the clothed not clothed thing. No one ever says "Oh look at those people at that table there, i think i saw them get on the island boat". we cant wait till July 4th when we get to experience the very best of both worlds....deb

I can see I am in the minority here, but I actually felt exactly that way the first couple times we went to the CTI and CSS AN areas. My BF was totally fine with it though, and after reading these message boards many times, I got over it.

We just got back from our first trip to CTI. Reading the message boards, we knew to hit the island our first day...and that's where we spent the bulk of our time! We didn't find it awkward to see Islanders at night, though we did joke that we had trouble recognizing a few of them when we met up again (naked plus sunglasses on the island, clothed with hair fixed and makeup on with no sunglasses at night - it's quite a transformation!). The folks who were quieter and didn't socialize on the island - well, I don't even know if I would recognize them in the evenings. We weren't really a part of their vacation, and they weren't a part of ours. But those with whom we did socialize at the island's pool bar we were happy to see in the evenings. They were the friends we would like to keep in touch with!

Really, I never felt any awkwardness and no regrets at all about our time as Islanders. You can have as much or as little social contact with others as you'd like, both on and off the island.