ktspktsp

Nude beaches. Have you gone to any? What did you think about them? Share your experiences and thoughts

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Abaya and I have just come back from Spain, which was a great trip . We went there for a conference of hers, and a few extra days of vacation; of course when she was in the conference I was touring the city (Barcelona) by myself.

Anyway, one day I was walking around the city, and it was quite hot. I had a nice meal by a small fishing restaurant close to the beach (where asking for wine means receiving a whole bottle, which cost less than 3 bucks, heh) and afterwards I walked by the beach. It was so nice to be by a warm beach again so I started walking in the water, and cursing myself for leaving my swimsuit in the hotel. As I kept walking I started to notice naked people, until I noticed an area where most people were naked. So I just took off my clothes and jumped in the water, which had the perfect temperature on that warm day.

A couple of days later Abaya and I went to the beach again, this time with the proper equipment (towels and sunscreen!). We went to the nude beach too. I found it very liberating to be naked in the water (and also lying on the beach). It's quite nice not to have tight fabric stuck unto you, and to feel that free... I felt more self conscious of my body as a teenager and in my early twenties, but I am not at this point, at least in an anonymous setting. Abaya enjoyed it to, but she noticed a few guys staring which made her feel uncomfortable. Also, there was a guy in the back of the beach with a video camera. And at one point the police walked on to the beach, checked out a guy's camera, and gave him a fine.

The presence and actions of a few had a bit of a negative impact on the experience. By breaking the social contract they made people aware of being naked, in a way (much like that snake in the bible, according to Abaya [apologies to Canadians, but there are no vine leaves emoticons ]).

But, that did not matter much to me. Maybe because I'm a guy and therefore I feel less vulnerable to the stares of strangers.. I can see how it can make others uncomfortable though.

Another aspect of the nude beach is, well, seeing all the naked people (of various shapes and sizes). While it is not an erotic experience, because of its context, it's still nice to notice attractive people naked . Though I would wonder if the feeling goes away as the novelty subsides. Also, being naked prevents people from hiding their physical flaws, but that act has a beauty in it too, maybe from a mixture of vulnerability and purity that comes from the nudity. It's kinda nice to see that no-one's really perfect.

ipollux

So if a girl comes up and starts talking to you, she'll know immediately that you have an erection. No secrets on a nude beach ...

ObieX

I dont think i would be comfortable with my wang dangling out free int he ocean like that. I dont want any giant fish swimming along and mistaking it for a giant worm.

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shesus

When we lived in Arizona, we'd often take day trips to deserted places and I enjoyed being able to be naked. As you said, ktsptksp, it's very liberating.

I'm not sure how I'd feel on a naked beach. I wouldn't mind not having a top. However, I don't think I'd be comfortable with no bottoms. Of course, I'm sure that if everyone is that way, it would become more comfortable after awhile.

I can imagine how nice it felt having the water, sun, and sand (well maybe not so much ) on a liberated nude body.

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blahblah454

I love swimming naked, but letting other people see me naked? Not so much.

I am with shesus on this one, topless only for me

fresnelly

We've been to Hanlon's Point in Toronto and had a very similar experience to Abaya and Ktspktsp.

It's a really liberating feeling to feel the breeze on your bit and pieces. Plus it's hard to be self conscious when you're surrounded by so many other shapes and sizes of bodies. It's quite staggering when you realize just how narrow the media's image of the body is when you're confronted by the masses in all their (our) flabby glory.

And yet there's an uneasy duality to Nude Beaches. Some are there for holistic reasons and others are there for sexual gratification and many are there for both; and that's a cross purpose that will always be present.

We'll go back someday.

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robot_parade

Technically, it was eating the fruit (from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), that caused Adam and Eve to become aware of their nudity.

I've never been to a nude beach, but it would be interesting - except for the jerks with the cameras you mentioned.

genuinegirly

I've never been to one. Don't like the thought of sunburning certain parts of my body - same reason I don't do tanning booths. Wouldn't stop anyone from enjoying their nude beach, though.

The popular nude beach in San Onofre (San Diego area) is no longer nude-friendly.


According to an article at LAist.com:

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ratbastid

We declared an empty beach on St Martin nude at one point. We were literally the only ones on it. It was awesome.

And at some point some people walked along... and it was no problem. And mostly they were checking out lurkette, and that was okay too.

A truly beautiful memory.

dlish

dont get ahead of your self! have u seen that seinfeld shrinkage episode?


ive walked onto a few nude beaches by mistake, but never took advantage of it..

welcome back ktsp..just make sure you dont get a call from a friend saying they just saw u posted online on some porn site

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BadNick

A few years ago with a group of friends, I went to the nude beach at Sandy Hook in North New Jersey, it's Gunnison Beach and part of Gateway National Recreation Area...some of you may have noticed it was just written up...I think in last Sunday NY Times. I've also been to the nude beach at Gay Head on Martha's Vineyard a few times since I spent many summers on the island. There is also a creek north of Philly, very hidden away spot but quite a few people know about it, lots of giant boulders fill the little valley with the creek flowing down and under them, and plenty of nude sun bathers and swimmers there most of the time; from back in the late '60's and then for about the next 15 years a bunch of my friends and I used to go there, as well as other places we sunbathed and swam nude while we were camping, but that was at remote places with only us around.

So I think being nude at these places always felt easier since I was in a group. Now adays...I am not attracted to the idea of doing it again. Not because I have any objection to it at all, it's just that I did it and now it's not on my list of things to make time for again, would rather do other things.

Martian

I would never go to a nude beach. I don't even go to the non-nude variety. If I were to walk around shirtless I'd be afraid of everyone staring at my boobies.

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mixedmedia

I've been to Playalinda Beach which is part of the Cape Canaveral National Seashore in the Titusville/Cocoa Beach area. Yez, I believe it is actually owned by the government, lol. There's been some minor controversy about it over the years, but mostly it's been left alone. You have to walk quite a ways down the beach to get to the nude section.

It's been many years since I went, but I loved it. I find it much preferable to sitting around in a wet bathing suit. And the feeling is quite glorious - both in and out of the water. Liberating.

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abaya

He knew that--but I think he maybe had a Freudian slip and remembered the snake (nude beach, we saw a lot of them) instead of the apple.

Anyway, for my part... as ktsp said, I enjoyed the whole experience for the most part--very freeing, and so nice to have a full-body tan!--but once I started noticing the nasty perverts with cameras, I started to feel more self-conscious. I had been without bottoms for a while (most other women were also like that--so great to see tons of women with all kinds of hair down there, contrary to porn standards), but I didn't want to stand up and walk down to the water because it was right in front of a group of those guys... and they were all fully clothed, sitting in the mixed area (between the nude and clothed area).

So I put my bottoms on, and we walked further down the beach to a more all-nude area (no mixed), and then I felt comfortable enough to go play in the Mediterranean without bottoms. Then again, there was some guy "hiding" behind a light pole with a video camera, so I stayed in the water (submerged up to my neck) until the asshole finally left. After that point, I could not really relax again, even though I saw the cops come and get this guy with another camera in the crowd.

I mean, get a fuckin' clue, you know? There's a social contract involved when you go onto a nude beach, and those asshats were violating the whole experience. I don't mean to hate on men (and what appeared to be immigrant men in particular--I hate to say it, but they did not seem to be locals, and thus had a very different social code, I suppose--where it's okay to do this kind of thing), but I didn't see any women with cameras, or leering very obviously at anyone... heh, I was actually averting my eyes from most of the men's packages, to be honest. But if you ask me, the nude sections of the beach should be fenced off a little bit, only so that a guard of some kind can stand there and search people's bags for cameras on the way in. Then again, there's the problem of cell phone cameras... so I don't know.

I guess, in a way, being on a nude beach is like posting pics in Exhibition. You know that there's always a risk of some creepy people taking advantage of your vulnerability, and that you might end up all over the internet with some guy jacking off to your photos, etc. But it's the risk you take. I do think that it's worth it, at least once. But I would rather be on some kind of regulated beach next time I try it.

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Poppinjay

The only nude beach I've been to was highly regulated, a guy at the gate basically said, "only people without clothes beyond this point".

5G and I had just been walking down the beach, there were no naked people in sight, so we figured what the hell. Eventually, we passed more people than any of the clothed section of the beach. No leering, no perverts (that we know of, we haven't shown up on the internets). Lots of old people.

There were loads of photogs at Burning Man the one time I went. They were pretty much ostracized whenever they were obviously trying to get porn shots. My girlfriend at the time went topless the first day, then vowed to dress in a burka the rest of the time. She pretty much did. Thanks, jerks.

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Redlemon

Have we ever been to a nude beach?

Little Beach, Maui
Wreck Beach, Vancouver
Haulover Beach, Florida
Muir Beach, California
Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Aquina (Gay Head), Martha's Vineyard
Grand Lido Negril, Jamaica
Cupecoy, Sint Maarten (couldn't make it to Orient Beach)
... and perhaps others, I can't recall right now.

Yes we have! Human bodies are beautiful things, and it is wonderful to see them in so many different forms. My wife finds that her self-body-image improves greatly after visiting a nude beach.

Nude beaches are not sexual; in fact, I find that bathing suits (since they support, hide, lift, etc.) are more sexualizing than simple nudity is.

Connected to this thought: you know what you look like naked. You see other people clothed, but they have all sorts of support items on which brings their body into better shape. The naked people on the internet tend to be professionals. Therefore, you end up with poor body image. Go see real naked people at a nude beach, fell much better.

Our first experience was Little Beach in Maui. We must have spent an hour on Big Beach right next door before we raised the courage to cross over to the nude side. After that initial hesitation, we spent as much time as possible on the nude side.

Swimming with a bathing suit is like showering in your clothes. And a gentle breeze feels much better when passing over all of your body.

I have never noticed anyone with cameras, but it has unfortunately been about 5 years since we have hit a nude beach. We have plans to hit Sandy Hook later this summer, if we can leave our son with somebody.

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Derwood

the only nude beach i've seen was in Holland, and the people who chose to go naked were NOT the ones you were hoping for

Redlemon

I've seen 300 pound people on a nude beach. I've seen an 80 year old woman who had had a complete mastectomy, no reconstruction; she only had one breast. This ain't porn, this is real people. And anyone who is comfortable with their body is beautiful.

Conversely, if you aren't comfortable, don't come back to the nude beach, OK?

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LoganSnake

Agree to disagree.

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StanT

Not a chance in hell that my pastey white ass will see sunlight in public.

I'm not particularly modest, but there is no chance I will be inflicting that sight on others.

ARTelevision

We were very active Naturists for years.
Less so now - just busier I suppose.

It's really a much preferable way to live.

Hard to see a good reason for wearing clothing.

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abaya

Very cool... that's what I'm talking about. I mean, the "mixed" nature of the beach we were on was kind of cool too (in that both clothed/naked people felt comfortable around each other), but given the option of a guarantee of no cameras on the beach... I'd go for the regulated option. Where was that, btw (if you feel like sharing)? I'd like to experience it again, and feel safe while doing so... which I did not, in Spain.

Redlemon, any beaches in the Pacific NW?

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Redlemon

Well, you could check List of places where social nudity is practised - Wikipedia. (Always nice to see a typo right in the page title!) I listed Wreck Beach in Vancouver above, which was very nice. It was the most "family" beach I've been to; they had craft and food vendors, and groups of people were playing games.

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Bill O'Rights

Sooo...then there's really no point in my scouring the internet then...right?

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uncle phil

aunt phil and i both believe that clothing should not be worn by most people...

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abaya

Honestly, I hope not. Then again, I saw plenty of other creeps with very small cameras (perhaps to match their penises, har har), so who knows, you might be in luck.

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BadNick

I'm curious if any of you have comment about my question: is your nude beach experience enhanced in some way if there are other nude bathers around? Or would you be just as or more satisfied bathing nude on a deserted beach somewhere?

e.g., I could swim nude here in a heartbeat:

mixedmedia

oh, I think I would almost always prefer to have a beach to myself - clothing or not.

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PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

abaya

Agreed. Though if it was truly to myself (and my husband), I would feel even more free when naked... I would run down the sand, have sex in the water, have sex on the sand (with a towel underneath to keep the sand out of the cooch), etc. I can't do any of that on a public beach... though I might, if I knew it would be regulated (as mentioned above).

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mixedmedia

My first husband and I did this once. On our honeymoon. We stayed in a house on the beach in a very remote part of N Volusia county. There was no one around. We stayed naked on the beach all day. It was pretty cool.

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PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

snowy

That is a beautiful beach, BadNick.

I've never been to a nude beach, though I hear we have a couple here in Oregon. We also have some hot springs that are decidedly clothing optional. I'd go naked at any of them. I have been skinny dipping a few times, and I enjoy that immensely. I imagine I'd enjoy the nude beach as well.

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ktspktsp

On the plus side, if the nude beach is a meat market, at least you know what you're in for from the beginning...

I kinda agree with Redlemon on this. Being comfortable with your body will not necessary make you "hot & sexy", but it increases your confidence and therefore your attractiveness, in some way. Not that you're gonna want jump them on the spot, but still. It's nice to see people who are okay with their bodies. It's also nice to see the variation in human bodies, as some have mentioned earlier.

Oh, yes, the private beach would be nice

fresnelly

See, an empty beach is a funny thing. I'd be hesitant to let loose because you never know if some stranger will suddenly appear. I'm pretty self concious about etiquette so that uncertainty would make me anxious and spoil the moment. The fear of "Getting caught" holds no thrill for me.

If there are already other naked people on the beach then I'm cool. I guess like, I need rules to set me free, man. Whoa...

Private beach? Did someone say TFP meetup?

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girldetective

As Snowy said there are a few nude beaches here. The two that I am aware of and have been to are near the PDX area. I know about them through word of mouth (there may be clothing optional footnotes in books, Im not sure).

One of them you walk to from a clothing only beach, and people seem to know this. It seems that when Ive been it was the clothed people who wandered in unknowingly who were uncomfortable. This beach is very comfortable and really not accessed by boaters for some reason. There are usually no games or stuff like was mentioned above-usually only sunbathers and swimmers braving the Columbia. Its friendly and easygoing, with a mix of people and bodies, with some of them usually being canine.

The other beach is also on the Columbia, further up river. It has developed a more lewd rep and I have not been there since then. I suppose thats fine, but I usually like the beach for hangin out, goofin around, exploring or sleeping, that kind of thing. Its not where I go to sex it up. However, if that was what someone was looking for, Ive heard thats the place.

We dont have papparazzi in PDX. It would not necessarily be unusual to find at least halfway naked people on any out of the way beach in OR and it might be me. I like deserted beaches, and would seek one out before going to a popular beach. Like Abaya, it is the freedom I seek.

Although in PDX central one doesnt necessarily need to go to the beach for public nudity. A couple of weeks ago on a Fri afternoon I was driving home and passed two nude bicyclists.

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JStrider

I think it would probably be fun to go to a nude beach... I like being naked!

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Crack

A giant worm? Come on now...

I kid.. I kid.

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highthief

Have been to the one at Grand Lido Negril with Mrs. Highthief. It was a good experience. It was funny being asked by the guy in the motorboat if I wanted to buy any pot - I asked him where he thought I kept my cash?

Would go back but our vacations right now are more directed at cultural experiences.

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abaya

Ktsp, now you have to tell them about the 2-for-1 massage guy... people seem to have funny notions about the "kinds" of people at nude beaches, apparently.

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SecretMethod70

That's pretty awesome.

There's actually a nude beach on a river in Wisconsin that onodrim and I have gone to. Unfortunately, it's also a 3 hour drive or something like that.

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mixedmedia

Yes, it was, smethy, but this was also a trip during which our cat (yes, we brought our cat on our honeymoon) had a scary psychotic episode.

It was a novel honeymoon to be sure, lol. As was the marriage.

We're still friends, though.

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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce