Extra information and FAQs

The programme
We start on Saturday evening (10 September 2011) with dinner and an introduction round. There are six course sessions: five mornings and a shorter session late afternoon/early evening on the third day (Monday 12 September). The morning sessions are from 09.15 to 13.15 hours, and then lunch is served. After lunch, apart from the one day on which we have an extra session, everyone is free to do as he/she pleases. Even if you attend the week alone, you'll find that massage is the best ever way to make contact, so you will soon find companions for those free-time activities that are nicer to do with someone else or a small group. The Wednesday (14 September) is completely free, so you have a whole day to do as you please: perhaps explore further afield. Saturday 17 September is for saying goodbye and returning home, moving on to your next holiday resort or to be looking forward to yet more days at El Zorro.

During this beginners' course we make a complete trip around the body. After some general pressure, we teach strokes (effleurage) and kneading (petrissage) for each part of the body. You learn to give a good, deep relaxation massage to family and friends. We keep the theory to a minimum. So as to avoid misunderstanding: the massage is absolutely not erotic! We also expect mutual respect and consideration from all participants, as it should be in a naturist environment. You can find courses where you work on the floor with a class of 20 and one teacher, but this is not our style. You may be an amateur, but the tuition is professional. No compromises!

The price and what is included
We realize that you are already spending money to travel to us, so we do our best to keep the price of the course low. This is, however, massage tourism, not mass tourism! The price of our basic 'package', € 390 per person, includes:

• About 22 hours of instruction with at most three massage tables per teacher (so really intensive guidance: you can learn a great deal)
• Breakfast every day - a buffet-style breakfast along Dutch lines
• The first dinner on the Saturday evening
• Drinks during the interval each morning except for the free day
• Lunch each course day
• A course book (in English or Dutch) of 126 pages with 166 photographs and 22 anatomical drawings
• Summary sheets for quick reference when practising during the week or when you are back home
• Use of the massage tables (also during the rest of the time) and massage oil
• Dutch sales tax (VAT) at 6% and 19%
  

Not included in the basic course package are:

• Overnight accommodation: this is described below. It is, however, arranged for you by Touch Natuur, and you pay Touch for the package as described above plus the accommodation of your choice.
• Dinner, except for dinner on the first evening. There are restaurants in the villages and towns about 15 km away, but dinner is always available at El Zorro itself and is ordered a day in advance. It costs only € 12.50, including drinks. There is also a small grocery store on site.
• Drinks after the course sessions, but the price of these is most reasonable.
• Travel to and in the area. Alicante is a popular destination so there is usually a good choice of cheap flights. Car hire is also most reasonable. We can collect you from the airport (€ 100 per person for both collection and drop-off a week later; € 60 per person with two passengers), but a car is handy since there is hardly any public transport and you might well wish to explore the area a little. Although participants do often share and do things together, it is sometimes good not to be completely dependent on others. The last 4 kilometres of the road to the campsite are not metalled.

Please note that the indoor accommodation is limited and we'll really need to keep this to people actually attending the course. (There may be other campsite guests requiring such accommodation, too.) If you are staying overnight in your own tent or caravan, this is of course no problem. Do remember, however, that your partner, if not attending the course, will have to amuse him/herself for most of the mornings. Massage is great to do together, anyway! By registering for this course you commit yourself to attending all sessions. (We can cope with someone falling ill, but structural absence is difficult since you work in pairs.)

A DVD of the course is available at a small extra charge. Via the main menu of this site you can read about the DVD in any of the five languages used for the commentary. The course book is also available in advance, should you wish to do some background reading. In fact, it is the English edition of the book that is for sale in the shops. Please click here to read more about the book.

The course prices are given in the next section: Accommodation.

Accommodation
As you have read, there is a whole range of accommodation. We start with the simplest and move up. You can indicate your choice on the registration form. All prices (except (a) and (b)) are per person for the whole week. You book the accommodation through Touch Natuur and pay for this and the basic course 'package' (course, breakfasts, lunches, etc., € 390 per person) together. Just dinners and drinks are settled with the site owners on the spot.

• (a) A pitch for your own tent or caravan: € 57.50 per person with two people (for one person alone, € 80); electricity extra.
• (b) Rented tent, one or two persons. € 150 for the tent, including the normal site fees. Electricity extra.
• (c) The Backpackers' Building (or B&B): two comfortable rooms with a large double bed; sanitary facilities (WC's, showers) a few metres away in the same building: € 112.50 (single occupancy € 175).
• (d) The Stall. A really cosy building for two about 100 metres towards the site entrance. A living room and double bedroom (1.40 m bed). There is a chemical toilet and an outside shower: for the rest you use the central sanitary facilities. For one person or two people who know each other very well. € 112,50 (single occupancy € 175).
• (e) The Cortijo, just behind the main site buildings. We can accommodate four people in a double and a twin room; shared facilities, including a comfortable sitting room. Extra pool behind. A bed here costs € 115. Single occupancy € 230.
• (f) The Casa. A house with a double and a twin room (two 1.40 m beds), each en suite, about 10-15 minutes from the main site (by car). You can be naked there, too, and the house has its own swimming pool. Assume that you will share this accommodation with other participants. Since you need to travel to the main campsite, we ask only € 115 for this superior accommodation (again, per person for the week); € 230 for single occupancy of a room. Of course you can use the site facilities the rest of the time.
• (g) Should all the above-mentioned indoor accommodation be filled, then El Zorro has other possibilities in the area, and we will liaise with you on this. Assume that the prices will be little higher than, for example, the Cortijo or the Casa.

The photographs show the outside of the Backpackers' Building and the Cortijo.

The euro prices are definitive.

The staff
On the masseur page you can read more about some of the Touch masseurs. Gerald Mettam, an Englishman, organizes the courses. He and Gerrit Siersema (Dutch) will be the teachers on this course: they were also the founders of Touch Natuur 20 years ago. They have taught massage to about 1300 people.

What happens now
You can register on-line for Natumass 11. Before registering, consider the travel possibilities from where you live, not in great detail at present but perhaps just to bear in mind that you might want to leave home on the Friday (9 September) and so be sure that you will be able to take that day off work if necessary. We need to welcome you at the course location by 19.00 hours on the Saturday evening, 10 September, which means landing at Alicante by 15.30 hours. (We can arrange for accommodation at El Zorro the Friday night if necessary.)

If you would like to stay at El Zorro some days before or after the course week (including arrival on the Friday, as just mentioned), please mention this in the 'comments' part of the registration form and we'll take it into account. (We'll let you know whether it's handier to contact El Zorro directly about this.)

We ask you to send a passport-type photograph, which will be used for a folder listing the participants, sent about a month before the week. Of course such a photograph is not used for any other purpose whatsoever. You can send a 'holiday photo' if you do not have a passport photo to hand, but whatever you send, only head and shoulders will be shown in the folder. You can also send a print by post if this is easier. It will be returned to you.

Once you have registered, and we know we still have an even number of participants (because you work in pairs) we will be sending you several folders including route information. We hope that this will be no later than January 2011, so that there is plenty of time for the necessary arrangements. Should there be any reason why you cannot register on-line, or should you know someone without internet who wants to attend, please ask us for a folder about the week, which contains a registration form.

The closing date for registrations is 1 June 2011. It is, however, far better to register early: as soon as you can be sure of having the week free and sorting out your travel arrangements. We have only 12 places, so full is full and accommodation is allocated on a first come, first served basis. On the other hand, we also need to be sure of having enough participants before people start booking flights and so forth.

Upon registration and as soon as we have enough participants we will, as mentioned, send you a lot of information to help you plan your trip and get an idea of what there is to do in your free time. And we will ask you to pay a € 200 deposit. In the past we have had many last-minute cancellations, which can mean that we turn people away (because at that moment a week is full) and then have spaces left over. It happens. The deposit will therefore not be returned if you cancel unless the week is or becomes full and we have time to give your place to someone else, or you yourself find us a replacement. (In that case we will retain just € 30.) The balance of payment for the week (basic package plus overnight accommodation) will be due by 10 July 2011. After this date we will retain 50% of the total fee if you cancel; after 10 August 2011 it is 90%, unless, in either case, the week is full and we have a replacement for you. Do seriously consider cancellation insurance, which can cover you if, for example, you fall ill just before the week, as well as your usual travel insurance (ill health or accident, loss or theft of property, etc.).

Some frequently asked questions

How big is the group?

We expect twelve people, which is a good size. Two teachers will look after you, ensuring a good teacher:participant ratio. Ten is the minimum number, so we might well ask you to wait with making travel arrangements (and paying the deposit) until we are sure of this number of participants.

Can I attend with a friend or my partner?

Of course - that's a great way to follow our course. However, another very basic principle of the week (and all our courses) is that everyone works with a different partner each session. This means, therefore, that you work with six different people. Not only is this better for the atmosphere on the course, it also gives you valuable experience of different kinds of body and types of person. Please note, however, that we set a limit for the number of people from any one country, so as to keep the week really international. This is relevant if there are two of you from the same country. As you have read above, if you attend together with someone, both of you must be interested in learning massage. We have no spare accommodation for friends or partners who are not involved in the course, except in one's own tent or caravan. It is also important to come with the attitude that you'll be integrating with the group. The numbers are small, so it's good to mix in. You have the rest of your lives for each other. An equal number of men and women is the other limitation.

Am I too inexperienced/experienced?

(a) This is a beginners' course, so we really begin at the beginning. Since you are travelling to this course, we assume that you are seriously interested in massage, but that is all that we ask of you. Many people who follow our courses have tried massaging but find it hard work and realize that it can obviously be easier and more effective – if only you know how. Others would like to begin but have not had the confidence to do so. Many have received massage and want to know more. (b) If you are already an experienced masseur this is probably not for you. However, some qualified masseurs have attended our courses and have gained a lot from them. If you attend, it would be to experience the atmosphere and being together with a like-minded group of naturists, and/or to brush up on the basic principles that may have become 'watered down' over the years. You are welcome, but do realize that it is a beginners' course.

Do I receive a diploma? Can I start a massage practice after this course?

Again, this is a beginners' course. Everyone who has followed this course has been impressed by how much is learnt, and at least 10% of students continue their study to gain a diploma and perhaps set up their own massage practices. No doubt some establish a practice on the basis of what they learn on this course. This will depend partly on the country of residence, as each country has its own rules and regulations. But it is not a diploma course and we would not recommend working professionally without further study. The aim is for you to be able to give a really effective massage to friends and family, while looking after your own body as masseur, and the course also gives you a very good grounding should you wish to study for a recognized diploma. We do issue a Certificate of Attendance, but this states only that you have attended the week and says nothing about your massage aptitude (there is, for example, no examination at the end of the week).

What is the age of the group?

We are really against age discrimination: usually we don't even ask people's ages. For Natumass it is useful background information, but nothing further. We usually have people from 25 to 70 and this mixture of ages also works very well. But the average age the past international weekends has been around 45. Just a word of warning for older people. You are very welcome, but the week is intensive and you learn a great deal in a short time. So be realistic about your ability to learn quickly and about your general health and co-ordination. It remains your decision, however.

I would be a woman attending alone, but I have my doubts.

Massage is a relatively intimate activity and we can appreciate your doubts. Massage is, however, also a very structured activity (you need spontaneity, but the roles of giver and receiver are clearly defined). The course is even more structured! This all leads to a highly secure environment in which you can feel totally at ease. The ladies who have attended our courses in the past have all been most enthusiastic - about this aspect, too. We can put you in touch with some if you still have doubts. Outside course hours you have the friendly environment of a recognized naturist campsite and enough new friends from the course with whom you can share normal holiday things. For a woman alone we can imagine no safer environment than one of our courses on such a naturist terrain. Do also remember that we maintain a 50:50 female:male ratio of participants.

My English is not too good, is this a problem?

If you can read this information, your English is good enough. Also, this is a very practical course, so we use as few words as possible. We can ourselves manage some French, German and Spanish, as well as Dutch, but then the person you are working with might lose out on the feedback. Ask further if you are still worried about this.

We work on massage tables: will I have to buy one?

It's far better to massage on a table, but you can improvise with your kitchen table and a sleeping bag. On the other hand, the market for tables has changed dramatically the past 5 years and these days you can find an adequate table for less than € 100, as well as even cheaper second-hand offers. So it's well worth the investment. We provide information about choosing a table.

What happens outside the course hours?

We do not usually organize anything special. We have always found that people form groups spontaneously to do interesting things. The process of making acquaintances is speeded up very much in this massage situation. And of course, should you want to be alone and 'do your own thing' now and then, no one will ever mind. The campsite's pool and jacuzzi are enticing! But the region is an interesting one, with plenty to explore. Since you’re here, why not add a week or two and make this a late main holiday: you’ll not be disappointed!

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