Sol Sante Club

Non-profit naturist club founded in the 1950s by a group of nudists from Victoria, on 175 acres of woodland and meadows in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, about forty minutes from Victoria. The heart of the club is a small creek-fed lake, with a dock for sunbathing, fishing, canoes and pedal boats; around it are the central lawn, the heated pool with sun deck and hot tub (open from May to October), sauna, a pickleball court, shuffleboard, bocce, horseshoes, a children's play area and trails that follow the old logging roads. It is not a clothing-optional place: the website says so openly, nudity is expected when the weather allows and mandatory in the pool, hot tub and lake. It is a small, close-knit community more than a hospitality business: the cabins belong to members, and for guests there are tent and RV sites (some with water and electricity, a few with sewer hookup), as well as day visits for up to fourteen days a year; you must announce yourself 24 hours in advance and cameras are banned everywhere. The FAQ explicitly says that single men and women are welcome, noting that the club tries to keep a balance between male and female members; from November to March the grounds are open only to members and their guests. The social calendar is busy — Friday bingo, chili cook-offs, line dancing, shuffleboard tournaments, theme parties — and it is the reason many come back every summer. For the most part guests speak of it enthusiastically, for its friendliness and cleanliness; the only truly negative episode on record dates from 2022, with a guest reporting E. coli-contaminated water that was disclosed late and a refund that was refused.