Villa Montericco Zadarvillas

Overall we had a great time at Valalta & already thinking about when to get back at some stage hopefully soon. I’ve split my review in x2 first of perspective on the resort & secondly on our experience, as a couple in our late 30s without kids who are from Australia but live in the US. The resort: This was our first time staying at a place of this scale & at a European style camp ground, and overall we were well impressed. For a place that’s got such a long history the property is still in great shape & well maintained/updated. We stayed in an apartment style accom, the unit was one of a group of around 10-12 that were clustered together which we liked as it gave you a chance to meet some neighbors easily, ironically on the other side of the world we met some fellow Aussies!! We didn’t end up using the pool area as we preferred the ocean to swim in, but it looked nice & was always busy and usually a committed crowd lined up just before open each day. There was plenty of lounges by the beach even in peak season & even though the occasional sets of chairs were being reserved there was still plenty to go around. The permanent umbrella structures were great providing perfect amount of shade for when we wanted it & the sun chairs were suitable but would absolutely invest in one of the little mattresses next time as you got sore after a couple of hours reading/sunning. We walked every morning along the water front & then discovered the extension of a road/trail that goes along the side & to the back of the resort with some towers that have amazing views of the property. There was also a lot of people on bikes/scooters which looked like a great option if camping further back from the water. There is countless activities around from walking, to water-sports (paddle boards were all the rage!), mini-golf (why wouldn’t you play naked while you can?!), tennis etc. The supermarket was well stocked & relatively well priced also, but was also a couple of great options in town so we did a bigger shop there. The diversity of restaurants was also pretty good & while not exceptional they were absolutely fine and the convenience factor of getting dressed for the least amount of time as possible to eat was appreciated. Other nights we’d go into town where there is no shortage of great places to eat - a couple of high recommendations were Balbi, Maestral & gelateria Italia. We were also impressed with wifi coverage after expect the worst from some earlier reviews but had zero issues while there in mid-August. The experience: This was first time we’d committed to a place that had mandatory nudity as we’d typically visited more clothing optional, as wifey wasn’t comfortable going more than topless. However, she was willing to try this place & being totally naked in this sort of environment before deciding if we’d continue to explore naturist venues. I was greatful she was so open minded to try & even moreso when said she could absolutely see us coming back. What made the transition a little more comfortable was at least able to walk around other places in a sarong or other light option. There was a few people around the water in bather bottoms but few between outside of children or teenagers. I thoroughly enjoyed all the additional activities you could experience while being totally au-natural, even if that simply meant walking around freely throughout the day. Pleased to say we probably spent 90% of our time naked while there. After seeing the massive sign for swingers resort just down the road before getting to the resort we were certainly a little concerned about potential seedy undertones we may come across while at Valalta, as unfortunately for us we’ve seen that at other places. However, thankfully we never felt any of those undertones at Valalta, it really felt like a more family friendly & focused resort. The whole non-nude areas were a little bemusing, which included the reception & supermarket along with restaurants for dinner, but in grand scheme of things inconsequential for us really. Was actually kind of entertaining seeing everyone put on as little as possible to enter then strip off less than a step out the doorway! Overall Valalta was everything we’d hoped the experience would be & look forward to returning at some point, but in the mean time we will start to explore other naturist locations for comparison.