Ken and Linda Lackmann

Are you interested in scuba diving? Do you enjoy taking tropical vacations? How about if you could do both nude? Yes, that's right, nude diving vacations. If any of this sounds interesting, then you'll want to read more about the group we belong to¿Buff Divers, a travel club that arranges group diving trips to outstanding destinations around the world, where members can dive and vacation nude.

Several years ago, we decided to become scuba certified so we could explore the amazing world under the water's surface. To become scuba certified takes roughly three weeks of training at your nearest dive shop. This usually consists of a few evening classes, some swimming pool time, and a few supervised open water dives¿it's fun, and not too expensive. Our first few diving trips were "textile" trips; they were nice, but we found out that having the option of diving nude is wonderful. When we first began diving, we thought that the tropics would be full of resorts catering to nude divers (warm waters, tropical breezes, sun, etc.). Boy, were we mistaken. We have since learned that unless you go with a group like Buff Divers, this type of diving opportunity is practically unheard of.

We cannot say enough about Buff Divers and the club's coordinators, Dale and Fluffy Felton. We met them about three years ago on our first Buff Divers trip to Blackbird Caye Resort in Belize. With Fluffy, Dale, and the rest of the group, we immediately felt right at home. We were amazed at the job they did setting up our first trip, and continue to be impressed with the outstanding effort they put into coordinating all of their trips. It is so nice to find a group that accepts nude divers and does not look at us funny when we take that nude fresh water rinse after diving¿amazing how the little things make life better!

Throughout the year, Dale and Fluffy provide Buff Divers members the opportunity to join in various diving trips. They arrange trips on both live-aboard dive boats and at land-based resorts, including many of the best dive destinations in the world. Usually three or four trips are offered each year. We enjoy these trips so much that we now try to go on as many as we can.

We have gone with Buff Divers to such spectacular places as South Caicos Ocean Haven Resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands; Posada Del Sol Resort on Guanaja, one of the Honduras Bay Islands; Manta Ray Bay Resort in Yap, Micronesia; and The Odyssey (a live-aboard boat) in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. Our latest Buff Divers trip last June was aboard the Nekton Rorqual, another custom live-aboard dive boat, to the Northern Bahamas. We commented to Dale on our last vacation that the trips keep getting better and better, and this last trip was no exception. About 33 Buff Divers members started out from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on a Saturday evening. After settling in to our individual staterooms (with private bathrooms), we headed out across the Atlantic Gulf Stream. We awoke Sunday morning near Grand Bahama Island. After setting up our dive gear and attending a short safety briefing, we began a great week of diving, dining, relaxing, and socializing. Although the diving on this trip was great, we had the most fun socializing with other Buff Divers members. The group shares an instant camaraderie, and many quickly become friends. Members of Buff Divers come from all over the world, and on any trip there is a mixture of couples and singles. Most are divers, some are snorkelers; but anyone who enjoys nude recreation would have a great time on a Buff Divers trip. Members love to share diving experiences, talk about the nudist clubs and resorts that they belong to or visit at home, and discuss where they would like to go on a future Buff Divers trip. We have made friends from all over the country on these trips, and we always look forward to seeing them. Like us, many of the members try to go on as many trips as possible, so we always know that whenever we go we are likely to see friends.

Buff Divers members have a wide range of diving experience. Some are newly-certified divers on their first trip, while others have logged hundreds of dives. When we took our first Buff Divers trip, we had logged less than 20 dives each. We were amazed at how receptive everyone was to answering all of our questions about ways to improve our diving skills. Even though we now have each logged over 170 dives and are very comfortable in the water, on every trip we still learn new underwater skills from some of the "masters" in the group. Other Buff Divers are always willing to share their knowledge and help us improve our diving abilities. Believe me, this goes a long way to enhancing our enjoyment of the underwater world.

On every Buff Divers trip, we've seen an absolute abundance of sea life, such as turtles, sharks, eels, rays, and fishes of every color, shape, and size. We've also seen brightly colored sponges, lobsters, crabs, waving sea fans, and an endless variety of hard and soft corals.

Even though no two Buff Divers trips are alike, there are some similarities. For one thing, of course, there is always the opportunity to do lots of diving. Live-aboard dive boats are set up especially for diving, so we usually are able to dive four or five times a day. At most land-based resorts, we usually can do three dives a day, plus activities like kayaking, volleyball, or other water sports.

Plenty of food is always available; we often refer to this group as "an eating club with a diving disorder." Let's just say that you'll never have to worry about going hungry with the Buff Divers!
After diving and eating a good meal, we'll enjoy reading, napping, sunbathing, or participating in the activities available at the resort or on the boat. Divers often review underwater videos taken on the previous dive. Members often bring pictures or videos from previous trips for everyone to enjoy.

Land tours are also a big hit. On every trip we take a tour of the region we're visiting. We've seen some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, pristine water falls, local villages, and more. In the Yap Islands of Micronesia, we were treated to a parade on the national holiday.

Dale and Fluffy do a wonderful job of arranging and coordinating the diving trips and ensuring that everyone has a relaxing, safe and enjoyable time. If you are interested in joining Buff Divers, visit their website at buffdivers.com. Buff Divers contact information is also listed under Special Interest Groups (SIG) in the Naturist Network section of each N. Come join the group! Membership is only $15 a year, which helps cover the cost of setting up the trips and doing the mail-outs.

Hopefully, Linda and I will meet you on one of the upcoming Buff Divers trips to Fiji, Belize, or the Turks and Caicos Islands scheduled for 2004.

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