GUEST BLOG / By Joe Yogerst, CNN Reporter.
Little Palm Beach, Waiheke Island, New Zealand: Although nude bathing is technically allowed on any beach, there are some designated clothing-optional locations. Reaching Little Palm Beach entails a 40--60-minute ferry ride from Auckland, a taxi or rideshare to the island's north shore, and then a short downhill hike.
Nida Nude Beach, Lithuania: The chilly Baltic Sea may not seem like the most obvious place to skinny dip. But this gorgeous strand on the long, sandy Curonian Spit offers one of Europe’s most picturesque spots to take it all off. With its wildflower-covered dunes (among the highest in Europe) and shoreline forest, the beach was the focus of a 19th-century artists’ colony that attracted many of the leading painters, poets and writers of the time. Walk far enough south along the strand and you eventually come to a fence that marks the Lithuania-Russia border.
Lady Bay Beach, Sydney, Australia: Perched inside the South Head of Sydney Harbour, this small and narrow beach, which was first granted legal status in 1976, is incredibly secluded considering its city location.
Black's Beach, La Jolla, California: Located beneath the 100-meter-high cliffs of Torrey Pines, above, this secluded section of beach was the first legal nude beach in the United States. Long, wide and blessed with great surf, the beach is reached via the zig-zag Ho Chi Minh Trail from the cliff-top Torrey Pines Gliderport near the University of California, San Diego.
Buhne 16, Sylt, Germany: “Grin and bare it” might well be the motto for nudists on this North Sea island, where the average water temperature in summer is a chilly 17 C (63 F). Technically all of the beaches on Sylt are clothing optional, but Buhne 16 was the first and is still the foremost location for nude sunbathing along the German shore. It’s a place where beachgoers can chill in the famous blue and white striped wicker beach chairs or let it all hang out at summer beach parties. While all of the beaches on Sylt are technically clothing-optional, Buhne 16 was the first and is still the best place to cast your clothes aside along the German shore.
Moshup Beach, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts: Located right below an ancient lighthouse, Moshup lies beneath rust-colored sandstone cliffs that were declared a National Natural Monument in 1966. It's free of charge to anyone who wants to take their clothes off.
Wreck Beach, Vancouver: One of the world's longest nude beaches at 7.8 kilometers long, Wreck Beach is located near the University of British Columbia, meaning a steady stream of students and teachers have shed their clothes here since the early 1970s.
Red Beach, Crete, Greece: Named due to its ocher-colored sand and cliffs, Red Beach (or Kokkini Ammos) can be accessed via a 20-minute hike from Matala or a very short boat ride from the village waterfront.
Anse de Grande Saline, St. Barts: While nudity is prohibited in St. Barts, nude sunbathing is tolerated on this secluded stretch of sand that takes it name from the nearby large salt pond.
Platja des Cavallet, Ibiza, Spain: Located a short drive from Ibiza Town, this official nudist beach has several areas including a beach club party section and a more secluded section where the clothing-free crowd can be found.
Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii: Part of Makena State Park on the island's southeast coast, this clothing-optional beach overlooks a national marine sanctuary famed for its sea turtles, dolphins, whales and tropical fish.
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| Uplifting at most likely the Middle East's only nude optional beach |
Metsoke Dragot, Israel: Float nude in the warm, ultra-buoyant salty water and smear your entire naked body with soothing, mineral-infused black mud at this rocky beach on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Perhaps the only place in the Middle East where any kind of public nudity is tolerated, Metsoke Dragot is located about an hour’s drive from Jerusalem and requires a short but rough drive along an unpaved road to reach the shoreline. Primitive camping is aloud along the shore. The only nearby hotel and bar is the cliff top Metzoke Dragot Travelers Village. Perhaps the only place in the Middle East where any kind of public nudity is tolerated, Metsoke Dragot is located about an hour's drive from Jerusalem and requires a short but rough drive along an unpaved road to reach the shoreline.
Cap d'Agde Beach, Agde, France: Sometimes called the “Naked City,” Cap d’Agde Naturist Village is the world’s largest clothing-optional beach resort, attracting as many as 40,000 guests on any given day during high season. Visitors are free to be naked wherever they want – restaurants and stores, post offices or banks, sailing their boat or lounging on the long public beach (where nudity is obligatory, even for those not staying at the resort). Nonresidents can stay overnight at the naturist hotel, camp ground or rental units.
Mpenjati Beach, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: South Africa's only official nude beach, positioned in the Mpenjati Nature Reserve south of Durban, was awarded official nudist beach status in 2014.
Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico: Featured in the 2001 Mexican movie "Y Tu Mamá También," Playa Zipolite stretches across two kilometers and is accepted as a clothing-optional beach (though it isn't legal here.)
Praia Massarandupió, Bahia, Brazil: Situated a two-hour drive north of Salvador, this beautiful Brazilian naturist beach (above) flanked by coconut palms, rolling dunes and perfect waves.
Spiaggia de Guvano, Vernazza, Italy: Located on the Cinque Terre, this primo Italian nude beach can only be reached via an abandoned railway tunnel on a path from Corniglia village and has no facilities at all.
Haulover Beach, Miami, Florida: The most popular public nude beach in the United States, Haulover attracts more than 1.3 million bare bottomed people to its white sands and warm water each year. The clothing-optional portion, marked at either end by picket fences, offers rental beach chairs and umbrellas, as well as lifeguards. Given the stellar weather in south Florida, there’s usually someone in the buff on any given day. But the biggest crowds gather during National Nude Recreation Week in July and whenever Haulover is trying to set a new Guinness World Record for skinny dipping.
Playa Naturista Chihuahua, Uruguay: Located about a 30-minute drive from Punta del Este, Uruguay’s best-known nude beach overlooks Portezuelo Bay on the Atlantic coast. Photogenic dunes and water temperatures that reach 25 Celsius (77 F) and higher even in the southern hemisphere winter add to the strand’s allure. After decades as an unofficial naked getaway, Chihuahua finally achieved legal status in 2000.
Nugal Beach, Croatia: Flanked by sheer cliffs and shades by pine trees, this remote beach on the mainland opposite Brač island is reached via a narrow path that seems ready made for goats rather than people seeking an apparel-free escape on the Adriatic. Be sure to bring a thick towel or even a beach chair — like many Croatian beaches the surface is pebbles rather than sand. Nugal is about a half-an-hour walk from the nearest town, although it can also be reached by boat or sea kayak from Makarska or Tučepi.
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OTHER NUDE NEWS
It’s been a banner year for nudity around the globe. “Soft, smooth sand, warm ocean breeze, gentle ocean waves and lots of other naturists makes for a great clothing-optional beach,” says Nicky Hoffman of The Naturist Society, who’s also the managing editor of Nude & Natural magazine and co-author of “The World’s Best Nude Beaches & Resorts.”
Berlin recently announced that women can now go topless at the German capital’s public swimming pools while Nantucket Island went topless last December after locals voted in favor of “gender equality on beaches.”
After a multi-year Covid hiatus, the Free the Nipple campaign was back with topless parades in New York City, Vancouver, Paris and elsewhere.
And the barely veiled female figure was the fashion statement du jour at the Met Gala, Milan Fashion Week, the BRIT Awards in London and other top-shelf events.
Meanwhile, there are more places than ever to sun, swim or build sandcastles au naturel at clothing-optional beaches on every continent. From rocky coastlines to talcum-powder fine sands, and big city bays to secluded shores, there are now hundreds of beaches where it’s perfectly legal (or at least de facto legal) to frolic beside the sea in nothing more than your birthday suit.
While clothing-optional beach destinations may seem like a modern invention, it’s actually quite an old idea, a product of the otherwise prudish Victorian era. During the 1880s, American poet Walt Whitman extolled the virtues of the “Adamic air bath” – his nude walkabouts and swims along Timber Creek in New Jersey, writing of “The free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature.”
Channeling that same vibe, the naturist movement took off in Europe and North America during the first half of the 20th century, with city parks, camp grounds and eventually beaches established for those who wanted to experience nature nude in their most natural state. One of the spin-offs of the socially and sexually liberal 1960s was a “free beach” movement that saw a proliferation of nude beaches around the world. And their popularity continues today, with more and more popping up each year.
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