A hotel on a private island with all of 3 rooms ranked second only to Mexico’s Hidden River Resort in Trip Advisor’s recently released list of the top ten nudist destinations in the world.

Located in Panama’s Bocas del Toro province in the Western part of the country near Costa Rica, the quaint clothing-optional venue is aptly named “Garden of Eden”, and is run by an American couple, Helena and “BoBo”. Patrons can enjoy kayaking, snorkeling, and scuba diving, among other things, in this tropical paradise. Rates range from 140 to 160 dollars per room, per night, including breakfast.

Garden of Eden bills itself as an adult-only venue, and their site uses the expression “be naughty” which may invite non-nudist behavior by some guests. Of course, if you rent all three rooms, you can pretty much make your own rules!

Panama has few other options for nudists, aside from the nude beach on Contadora island, a 15 minute flight from Panama City.

Blogger.com, a free blog hosting site owned by Google, took the unusual step of censuring two of the most widely read and respected nudist blogs on the internet: Diary of a Nudist and the Terra Cotta Inn’s blog. The move against the sites came without warning and appeared to stem from complaints by conservative users. Both blogs kept within the boundaries of family-oriented naturism and couldn’t be construed as having adult material, even though they did have a number of photos of nude people, which is perfectly understandable for any nudist site, such as the one you’re reading right now!

Attempts to view the blogs lead visitors to a warning screen, stating that the sites have content of a dubious nature and gives them the option to continue or quit. Diary of a Nudist has been active for three years without a hint of a problem, according to its author, who now will seek to move the blog to paid hosting rather than one of the free services like Blogger, which can go as far as unilaterally terminating users’ blogs. Meanwhile, the Terra Cotta Inn’s blog has also run for several years and is one of the means owner Tom Mulhall uses to promote his very popular clothing-optional resort in Palm Springs, California.

All we can say is: Shame on Blogger, a.k.a Google, for caving-in to special interests.

Even with global warming, winters are still extremely harsh and long in most of Canada except the Pacific coast. The country’s nudists generally have to travel to warmer climes during this period to be able to shed their clothes. The prolific naturist federation in the province of Québec (FQN), however, is constantly finding new ways for its members to enjoy winter in the nude without leaving the country, be it through nude swim nights at recreation centers or nude bowling nights.

Recently, the FQN announced that as of October 5th, 2008, another option will be available on the south shore of Montreal: The “Spa Nordique”, part of the “Chalet du Boisé” resort in Varennes, will be open to the naturist public every second Sunday. According to the association, from 1pm to 5pm, patrons will be able to enjoy, in the nude, three themed gardens: One Asian, one Mediterranean, and another Nordic. Among the amenities are a sauna, massage service, Turkish bath, four different hot tubs and a pool with a waterfall. There’s also a restaurant and hotel rooms for those who wish to stay overnight. Everyone is welcome, FQN members paying 18 Canadian dollars per single or couple, while non-members will pay 30 dollars plus taxes. Note that in the resort’s photos, the themed areas appear to be outdoors, thus Nudist Day can only surmise that they’ll be covered-up and heated (we hope) during winter!

Now that Poland is part of the European Union, there are no border crossings between it and neighboring Germany. As a result, Poles are flocking to Baltic sea beaches on the German side. The problem is that many German beach goers are nudists, while the vast majority of Poles are devout Catholics and would never dare to slip out of their bathing suits. Poles will stare, point and even laugh at the nude people they encounter. Some will even go as far as approaching nude sunbathers and suggesting that they get dressed. All of this is leading to heated arguments between the nudes and textiles, and many Germans accusing Poles of being voyeurs. FKK is firmly entrenched in German culture, but will nudists hold their ground or give up and seek other places to sunbathe in the nude without the annoyances?

Stephen Gough, a.k.a The Naked Rambler, the UK man claiming his right to be naked where and when he wishes in his native land, made headlines for years, both for his treks across Great Britain and for his frequent troubles with the law. However, the “Nude Messiah” has been but a footnote since his last incarceration in Scotland in January, 2008, where we can only presume he’s still serving a sentence.

Gough has spent lots of time in Edinburgh jail cells, mainly for contempt by refusing to wear clothes in court. The controversial Englishman even got himself arrested for taking his clothes off aboard a commercial airliner, on what was definitely not a nudist flight. Obtaining recent information on Gough is no small feat: To wit, even the site dedicated to him, nakedwalk.org is severely outdated. If we hear anything, we’ll let you know, and if you know anything, please let US know!

Brattleboro, a pretty little town in Vermont, was also the source of intense media brouhaha throughout the world up until a few months ago, yet has stopped being of interest to anyone since then. If you recall, in 2006 a bunch of teenagers decided, on a lark, to hang-out naked in town, and as there was no legislation to make it a crime, continued with their bold little experiment. Things came to a boil when a few persons not from Brattleboro decided to casually walk naked in the burg, including a man who did so during a local street festival, and another who decided to go to Dunkin Donuts au naturel.

Many citizens clamored for action to stop the rash of naked sightings on their streets. If anyone was to repeat the feat nowadays, they would be accosted by local police and fined up to 100 dollars if they didn’t immediately get dressed. Fact is, public nudity is illegal now in Brattleboro, residents thumbing their noses at the media circus, which had tried to paint it as a “Naked City”.