Hi ho, kinda new member here, I like the Ask the threads, and this is probably the most unique/interesting thing I do. I’m not using the word ‘nudist’, the beach is the only place I practice public nudity, I don’t belong to any nude orgs. But I don’t mind being called a nudist.
People always have lots of questions about this so ask away!
I’ve been going for 7 years, my fiance has been going for 25 years. I’ll pass to him any questions I haven’t a good answer for. Clothing optional beach, full nudity allowed. Yes, some dressed gawkers show up and piss some of us off.
Sandy Hook, NJ. We get some dedicated nudists who travel to different beaches but I haven’t met anyone from CA there yet. We have a regular from Texas who takes a weeks vacation in NJ so he can get to the beach.
Oh, I’ve been to the Fire Island nude beach (NY) once - I would go more, it’s not that far in miles but it’s quite a haul in weekend traffic.
It started as a dare/social experiment with a friend - now I’m one of the converted.
Sure, it was sexually stimulating, especially in the beginning. But it’s true, you can get used to almost anything. Naked people aren’t an automatic turn on anymore, that has been lost. I can admire a fine body, but I’m not aroused by it anymore. People sit and talk politics, doctor’s visits, kids.
But there are always people hitting on someone. It’s not all 'We’re just here for the sun." I’ve had more dating luck meeting beach people than anywhere else. The whole anxiety over if someone will find you physically attractive is just bypassed. You see what you’re (physically) getting from the beginning.
Personally, I feel the nude beach is a good place do deal with body image issues. What an education it was to see average looking people with great bodies, and perfect looking dressed people who just didn’t look that great without their clothes. People missing body parts and naked fat people cavorting without a care in the world. I lost most of my shyness and gained in confidence. Those benefits have carried over to the rest of my life.
I’m not sure if freedom to be naked is the right phrase. Well, maybe it is a liberation. But the feel of wind, and water with no barriers is the most unbelievably fabulous sensation. I’ve been told I sigh and make cooing noises when I swim, and it’s just from the feel of the water. That’s the big draw now. It feels marvelous. Wearing a bathing suit feels awful now. It rubs and wow, I forgot how much sand gets trapped in bathing suits.
Is the sand in the crack problem any worse than when wearing swim trunks? Did you ever get too much sun on your nether regions? I can only imagine how bad that is.
Lucky for me that Oregon has a couple of state owned clothing optional beaches and there aren’t too many anti-nudity laws anyway because I haven’t owned a bathing suit for over 20 years…
Am I weird that I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would WANT to own specific clothes for swimming? It makes about as much sense as having special clothes in which to shower or bathe!
I have no problems with crack sand. That’s caused primarily by the bathing suits/trunks. If you got wet, sandy feet are what you are left with. Hint: baby powder makes wet sand fall right off.
Too much sun. Oh yes. My second year I burned my ass pretty bad. I had trouble sitting for a week. I had to try to sit casually at work and not let coworkers know I had a problem. I’ve had a light burn on my breasts. The most painful burn was bottom of the feet. I tried to walk off the beach in the afternoon without shoes.
My guy swears his privates never burn and he rarely puts sunscreen on his stuff. Works for him (stomach shadow protects him I guess) but I see men using sunscreen. I like when a guy stands up, is rubbing on sunscreen, gets to the genitals , and then looks off into the distance while he’s putting it on. ‘Nothing to see here.’
Etiquette: If someone needs help with sunscreen on their back, you help. You don’t turn people down for that. If someone’s turning into a lobster, one of the regulars will say something.
Sandy Hook is comprised of many beaches. The parking lots have names/letters. Only the G beach, Gunnison is clothing optional. It is a long walk across the sand to reach the water and there are natural areas on other side as a buffer. On the north side the nude part ends so there is a half mile or more before the next beach.
On the south side you are allowed to walk more than half a mile close to where the fishing beach starts, so there’s lots of room to roam. It’s a large beach, at the height of the summer I’ve heard a couple thousand people come per day. I don’t know how to count crowds but there are certainly hundreds and hundreds of people in the summer.
On perfect beach day weekend, you need to get there early. The lot can be filled by 9 AM. They send you to an overflow lot at the next beach but that makes it hard to bring your stuff.
Percentages nude depends on the weather. On a cool day even most regulars will put something on. Let’s say a 90+ degree sunny day. 80-90% of people will be nude. The rest will be a mix or dressed and partial.
Yes, there are some families with babies and kids. You don’t see as many 20 year olds nude. Still too self conscience. I hate the young guys who come to look with bathing trunks down past their knees. Sheesh.
I get you. Swimming is so much better completely nude. We get jellyfish outbreaks occasionally. Do you get that in Oregon? Then dressed may make you worry less.
I keep some bathing suits around for the YMCA pool and trips with my sister’s family to regular beaches.
It pisses some people off. Others don’t mind in the least. I’m somewhere in the middle. I don’t expect that everyone should be nude. And I don’t mind people looking.
When guys show up in large groups, with coolers full of beer and laugh at people while they are wearing the longest trunks you’ve ever seen - it gets annoying. Some of these yahoos show up year after year. I would think the thrill would be over after a few times.
The one thing that’s never worked is someone hitting on me if they are not participating. Sorry. Don’t care. It’s a turn off.
Here’s my question: it seems to me that once women get out of their early twenties, and definitely once they bear children, they are going to have some cellulite, lumps, bumps, and in many cases stretch marks, no matter how fit or thin they are (with maybe the exception of some truly ectomorphic gals). Since you’re seeing people who are presumably not uptight about their bodies, and also completely visible, what is your experience?
(My husband and I have a theory that Hollywood stars often try to get skeletally thin as they mature, to overcome the brute facts of nature, and to live up to the smooth, well-lit, airbrushed images we tend to see.)
LOVE the idea of swimming in the ocean with no suit - it was disgusting what my suit trapped against my skin the last time I was at the beach.
Do you, or at the beginning did you, feel like you were on Mars? I mean, like it was a totally alien landscape where the normal rules of life don’t apply?
I remember standing next to a middle aged man who was wearing a toupe, gold chain, and watch – and nothing else – and talking about whatever, while our weenies bobbed up and down on the waves. I was thinking “This is just outside of normal.”
While I haven’t been to a nude beach, I do clothing optional campgrounds/festivals, and yeah, it’s weird at first. The weirdest thing is probably seeing a naked man wearing a sunhat, thick cotton socks and hiking boots. Totally naked makes sense, wearing clothes makes sense, but having stuff on the very top and the very bottom just looks so funny! But, of course, they’re not only nudists, but campers, and they’ve learned that keeping your head in shade and your feet comfy and dry is really all you need (well, and a towel to sit down on).
Certainly. Most people handle it well. But there are always some who’ll get carried away. I’ve indulged in a few nice massages …
If you ask to take a picture there are those who will pose for you by the sign. “Warning. ! Beyond this point you may encounter nude sunbathers.” Like we’re a natural hazard. Those who surreptitiously take pictures sometimes have accidents to themselves or their equipment if caught and there are no park rangers around. With phone cameras so common now we must be getting snapped often enough and never realize it. The beach is patrolled by the park rangers and people do get kicked out for behaving inappropriately.
You should sit down and throw a towel over you until it passes. It doesn’t seem to be that much of a problem for most men. If someones not flaunting it you just ignore it. I will say that despite all the cold water jokes men are perfectly capable of arousal in the water.