French campsites and the speedo issue

[hippospot]

Anyone have experience of Huttopia campsites in France?

Before booking I phoned them and asked about their speedo policy and was told that swimming shorts that are mid-thigh not knee-length would be acceptable.

I've made the assumption that Huttopia is popular with Brits and that as a consequence they'll be a bit more relaxed about swimwear rules than the average French pool.

I've scrutinised any pool scenes online that I could find and it does indeed look like DH and DS will be ok with 13" speedo swim shorts.

My fear is we'll get there and it'll be budgie smugglers compulsory and I'll have 50% of the family refusing to swim!

No experience of Huttopia but have done Yelloh Village/Castels: generally, close-fitting shorts-style trunks are perfectly acceptable. This sort of thing: https://www.marksandspencer.com/quick-dry-swim-briefs/p/clp60534374?extid=psps-bplaagglmwwch--UK---baussc&gclid=CjwKCAjw4ayUBhA4EiwATWyBrk918M02ACTcITQlu2T0oN0XrXolvCrtPZyX0nqQyQW7S7bnOY9ahRoC6cIQAvDDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Budgie-smugglers are very much the exception, I've found. They just don't want you to wear looser shorts in the pool, I think because they can be worn for other activities eg football, and are more likely to carry dust/dirt into the pool.

Does depend on the site though - some are less strict but have been to a couple where the type of shorts I linked to were strictly enforced and sold in the campsite shop for any men who turned up without a suitable pair. Suggest the men in your family take a pair so they are at least prepared.

I've bought these for DS this
As a back up we have these this

He is really not keen on option B so fingers crossed (he's 13).

DH has similar to this this

He wore similar in a Castels site a few years ago and it was ok.

I haven’t been to that kind, but I live here and everywhere I’ve been to asks for close fitting swimming stuff (not necessarily Speedo type though, they can be the very tight Calvin Klein shape).

We stayed at a huttopia site in 2017 and my husband just had regular swim shorts and no one said anything. I know if you go to French water parks (the kind with big slides) they want people in tight speedos.

IME close fitting cycle short type styles are OK, it's beach shorts that are not.

I don't want to derail the thread but does anyone know why they have this policy? I remember my DH being astonished (and horrified) by it when we were in France many years ago and we never got to the bottom of why swimming shorts are not ok? (He refused to swim and just baked on the side instead of acquire a pair of budgie smugglers)

years ago on That's Life, the esther Rantzen TV show they addressed this and apparently the problem then was men were swimming in shorts either with no underwear or loose boxers and there was the issue of cough "loose genitalia" cough in the pool and around the pool. The rule was made that only proper traditional trunks were acceptable, not even shorts with swim liners as that would require rather personal checking.

I thought it was for hygiene, to avoid men swimming in the shorts they've been wearing for all their other activities during the day .

Buy some jammers, they cover the modesty more but are much better than swimming shorts, it’s what all my sons and their mates wear anyway. www.speedo.com/boys-printed-leg-jammer-black-blue/13512132.html?utm_source=googleprod&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gp_clothing&affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=GBP&shippingcountry=GB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuND-8pT29wIVzdrVCh0I9QYQEAQYAyABEgK5xvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&variation=13512136

We haven't been to Huttopia, but have visited a lot of pools in France and have yet to find one that allows anything other than skin tight swimwear. DH always wears jammers as his least-worst option. This year we are going with friends, and DF's DH took a lot of convincing that yes, he really did need to buy (and wear!) a pair. You definitely don't want to be in the position of having to buy a very over-priced, teeny tiny, gen-u-ine pair of budgy smugglers from the site shop (usually in a nice luminous colour...)

Close fitting trunks are always ok but not loose swim shorts.

My experience in France is that it completely depends on the individual site, rather than the company that runs it, as to whether they enforce the rules or not.

That is why they have this rule in France.

Speedo aqua shorts were acceptable 3 years ago

@jimboandthejetset
@Smartsub

They should follow the German rules then and dispense with swimwear all together . My teens thought it was hilarious for some reason than old men were swimming naked (interestingly none of the younger men were!)

In my experience, your backup pair would be ok, less so the more shorts-style ones. Also had a dh who was convinced he'd be fine and had to buy some budgie smugglers from a gift shop once we got to our holiday

When I was young all men's and boys' trunks were close-fitting; when did swimming shorts begin to be worn?

It's always best to pack a pair of fitted swimming trunks in case they enforce it, since it's enforced so commonly in France.

Decathlon in France always has loads of decent options (plain black, inexpensive) so if there's a Decathlon near where you'll be staying, you can always buy some there.

I wanted to replace DS's (he's outgrown them) but Decathlon U.K. don't seem to have anywhere near as many options, so I'll have to wait until we go to France.

Irrelevant to the thread, but a couple of years ago I saw a photo of David Beckham wearing Speedos. Dunno about budgie smugglers; he looked as though he had the aviary in there. Very strange shape.

In Italy some sites make everyone wear swimming hats as well as Speedo type trunks, regardless of how much hair you have or dont - it keeps the pools cleaner

eddiemairswife I think it was late 80s and beginning of the 1990s

Agree with jammers being acceptable and a little more modest.

Long shorts were a surfer dude thing back in the Sixties and Seventies.

I have been to Huttopia twice (the one near Perigueux) and no one was remotely bothered about any type of shorts. Staff were young and relaxed. It was lovely. I hope you have a nice holiday.