CHM Montalivet

The CHM, Centre Hélio-Marin, is the forerunner of all naturist villages: founded in 1950 by Christiane and Albert Lecocq at the tip of the Médoc, it is considered the world's first family naturist centre and served as the model for all of European naturism. It covers two hundred hectares of Atlantic pine forest with two direct accesses to two kilometres of naturist beach, where nudity is mandatory by municipal order and bathing is supervised from May to September. Inside the domaine life is like in a small town: twenty-seven businesses including restaurants, bars and shops, a water park with slides and a paddling pool, an indoor pool with jacuzzi also open out of season, sports grounds, children's and teens' clubs divided by age and around two hundred activities a week, with cinema, theatre, concerts and gala evenings. You can sleep on basic or electric pitches, in the historic bungalows that are the very image of the CHM, in mobile homes, furnished tents, studios, apartments or unusual accommodation; there is also a community of permanent residents. The season runs from late March to late September. Solo travellers must be sponsored by an owner or a resident of the CHM (parrainage): in 2026 several cases were reported of single men turned away at the entrance, even with an FFN card. The site, run by the company Socnat, belongs to the same family as the naturist campsites La Genèse (Gard) and Le Clapotis (Aude).