Women can now swim topless in Berlin’s public swimming pools, while Nantucket Island went topless last December after residents voted in favor of “gender equality on beaches.” We present you with the top 5 nude beaches around the globe.
Following a multi-year hiatus, the Free the Nipple campaign returned with topless parades in New York City, Vancouver, Paris, and other cities. At the Met Gala, Milan Fashion Week, the BRIT Awards in London, and other high-profile events, the barely veiled female figure was the fashion statement du jour.
Meanwhile, there are more places than ever to sunbathe, swim and build sandcastles without clothing 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.
“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.”
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.
Walt Whitman, an American poet, extolled the virtues of the “Adamic air bath” – his naked walkabouts and swims along Timber Creek in New Jersey – in the 1880s, writing of “the free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature.”
The naturist movement took off in Europe and North America during the first half of the twentieth century, channeling that same vibe, with city parks, campgrounds, and eventually beaches established for those who wanted to experience nature nude in their most natural state.
A “free beach” movement that saw the proliferation of nude beaches around the world was one of the spin-offs of the socially and sexually liberal 1960s.
And their popularity continues today, with more and more popping up each year.
Here are the top 5 nude beaches around the globe
1- Playa Naturista Chihuahua, Uruguay
Uruguay’s best-known nudist beach is about a 30-minute drive from Punta del Este and overlooks Portezuelo Bay on the Atlantic coast.
The strand’s allure is enhanced by photogenic dunes and water temperatures that reach 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and higher even in the southern hemisphere winter.
Chihuahua finally achieved legal status in 2000, after decades as an unofficial naked getaway.
The Hotel El Refugio Nudista Naturista clothing-optional resort has since been added to the list of amenities.
2- Nida Nude Beach, Lithuania
The chilly Baltic Sea may not appear to be the most obvious location for a skinny dip. But this stunning strand on the long, sandy Curonian Spit offers one of Europe’s most picturesque places to unwind.
The beach, with its wildflower-covered dunes (among the highest in Europe) and shoreline forest, was the focus of a 19th-century artists’ colony that drew many of the time’s leading painters, poets, and writers.
If you walk far enough south along the strand, you’ll come across a fence that marks the Lithuania-Russia border.
3- Little Palm Beach, Waiheke, New Zealand
Although it is technically legal to go naked on any beach in New Zealand, the country’s naturists tend to congregate at well-known clothing-optional locations such as Little Palm Beach on Waiheke Island.
A 40-60-minute ferry ride from Auckland, a taxi or rideshare to the island’s north shore, and a short downhill walk are required to reach the secluded strand.
You can end your beach adventure at one of Waiheke’s many wineries, restaurants, or art galleries.
4- Nugal Beach, Croatia
This remote beach on the mainland opposite Bra island, surrounded by sheer cliffs and shaded by pine trees, is reached via a narrow path that appears tailor-made for goats rather than people seeking an apparel-free escape on the Adriatic.
Bring a thick towel or even a beach chair, as the surface is pebbles rather than sand, as it is on many Croatian beaches.
Nugal is a half-hour walk from the nearest town, but it is also accessible by boat or sea kayak from Makarska or Tuepi.
5- Black’s Beach, La Jolla, California
For more than 50 years, Blacks Beach, located beneath the 100-meter-high Torrey Pines cliffs, has been the Golden State’s favorite place for all-over tans and was once the only legal nudist beach in the entire United States.
The beach is long and wide, with excellent surf, and can be reached via the zig-zag Ho Chi Minh Trail from the cliff-top Torrey Pines Gliderport near the University of California, San Diego.
Also read: Watch: Nude dining comes to New York
