Tag: nudism

beaches of Barcelona

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Barcelona is an ultimate tourist destination with countless sights of interest, be it history or art, beautiful views, gastronomic delights, vibrant night life and, of course, beaches. Now, what other major city can boast with a naturist beach in its central area? And not just one, but two!

One beach is located in the southern part of the hip Barceloneta area and is called Sant Sebastià. You can see it on the right side coming down by cable car from park Montjuïc.

Isn’t it great to strip down and dip in the sea after all that sightseeing? The location is especially perfect if you go there after checking out the Olympic site and city news from Montjuïc. That’s what we did.

Another well known naturist beach is Mar Bella. It is a little further away from the historic centre, but you can see the famous ‘Egg building’, for example. It also has a dune with tall grass, which gives it a bit more natural and secluded feeling.

All beaches within the city boundaries have showers, which is useful if you want to continue exploring the city straight after the beach.

Both naturist beaches of Barcelona are full of locals and tourists but are not overcrowded.

You will be most certainly offered a ‘masaje’ right on the beach; we thought it was a good idea, but just did massage to each other instead.

The clothing optional section is big enough for a walk

or even a short run.

But when the sun was high we of course went to swim

or simply relaxed in the breeze

and in water.

Well, actually the sea was quite rough, so it was difficult to relax in water and we mostly played in waves.

Which in the end was a lot of fun!

Thumbs up to Barcelona’s liberal attitude! Actually I read that some people took it one step further and were even walking naked on the streets, but unfortunately the new mayor was apparently looking for some ways to distract people’s attention from economic problems and proposed a law forbidding even walking topless in the city (even for men). Let’s hope the trend will be reversed soon, otherwise we’ll loose just about the only big city with naturist sea beaches in the centre.

hidden gem in Athens

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

 ελληνικά

Athens has a few secluded beaches that are known to have naked bathers, but this one is a true hidden gem: it’s close to the city center but almost impossible to come across without knowing the exact location, and yet it is really beautiful.

So, of course, it is a great place for skinny-dipping.

I learnt about this place thanks to Nico, one of the devoted readers of my blog from Athens.

And after a couple of years of having been in touch via email, we finally got a chance to meet in reality last September, and we talk about so many things. But then, in the spirit of ‘active naturists’, we had some time with “a little less conversation, a little more action”.

We climbed the cliffs above water.

The rocks were of bright colors, mostly of lila and orange palette, and looked especially effective in sunset light.

Then we swam to a cave that was not possible to reach by cliffs. That small cave looked like a lost pirate meeting point, but unfortunately I didn’t grab my waterproof camera with me so I cannot show it here.

The night was still very warm, so we enjoyed the night view of Athens before leaving that hidden gem.

Fort Tilden, NYC

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

I’ve written about a beach at Fort Tilden and its abandoned bunkers previously, but I can’t help sharing some more experiences and photos from that place last year.

Fort Tilden is not an official clothing-optional area, although I always wonder how come it isn’t possible to be clothes-free just anywhere in “the land of the free”?! Well, you’ve got to be brave sometimes.

Well, Fort Tilden beach rarely gets crowded, especially off-season, so it’s a great naked escape from the city on those surprisingly warm and sunny days, like we had last November.

It was a a perfect time to wander in the dunes and thickets of trees that were ready for winter sleep.

And yet the sun was quite strong still and made everything bright and alive.

When the clouds came in the afternoon it got pretty chilly, but we couldn’t resist the last possibility for skinny-dipping in the ocean before the winter would take over.

But even in summer you can usually find a spot without too many people, and you can always hide behind the fence that goes along the beach.

And there are some logs that can serve as a perfect naturist lunch table :p

Another time I came there on weekday in July and it was also almost empty, so I felt free and comfortable enough to fool around and practice some simple acrobatics exercises and stretching.

I was definitely into cartwheels and handstands that day,

and the soft and smooth sand was just so perfect for that.

I made some bridges too.

Then we found a coconut. We imagined it was brought by currents all the way from South Florida, where were in May.

It was a fantastic day, very relaxing (in an active naturist way). It is always hard to believe that you are still within New York City borders there, but you if you need a reminder, just go to those abandoned bunkers.

I think I will be coming there again and again!

 

How to turn your friend into a nudist + Moving naturally at Jones Beach, NY

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Last summer I discovered yet another naked beach not far from New York City: a remote part to the east of Jones Beach. It’s a long (at least 15 min) walk from the main part/bus stop/parking, but given that it’s a walk at the beach, you can just as well enjoy this part of the deal. It’s much closer and easier to get to by public transport than the Lighthouse beach and is almost twice cheaper than the ferry to Sandy Hook, two official nudist beaches in NYC area. So I went there quite often and brought some of my friends visiting during summer. Most of that remote part of Jones beach is rather empty, except for a short stretch that gets busy on the weekends.

Natasha was eager to try her yoga poses at the beach, but for some reason she wasn’t ready to get rid of her clothes, although the idea of naturism is not foreign to her. I thought she just needed some booze boost.

Well, that menacingly blue concoction that we bought at the bar at the main part of Jones beach was non-alcoholic (and maybe that was why it failed to work).

The next step was to turn her upside down,

and after a couple of such twists, she turned into a nudist 😉

Not only did she let off her inhibitions,

she also braved the waves, that were quite rough on that day!

There was a couple of unexpected boomers, but it was part of the fun.

Since that remote part of Jones Beach is relatively empty, it’s perfect for jogging.

Once I brought there my new acquaintance Pétur, who is an instructor of MovNat in Iceland. MovNat (abbreviation of ‘moving naturally) is a system of movement skills that is based on natural patterns (taking into account our development – how toddlers start moving, evolution and comparative biology – how other animals move, etc.) as opposed to many modern running and fitness techniques that use artificial patterns (e.g., ‘hi tech’ shoes, all kinds of crazy gym equipment). Their logo is ‘Explore your true nature’, so needless to say, the first time I heard about it, I thought it should be done without clothes.

And there I was, learning to ‘run naturally’ at the Jones Beach. I’m definitely planning to explore more of MovNat in the future.

Vita Nuda at the Lighthouse beach, NY

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Vita Nuda Northeast is a part of network for young adult nudists. During summer, they organize regular beach parties. The favorite spot is Robert Moses beach aka the Lighthouse beach in Long Island, NY.

Not all Lighthouse Beach is clothing-optional, but just walk around and you’ll figure it out. Maybe something like this could be a clue for you 😉

Vita Nuda’s parties are always fun and bring together a lot of people from the area.

Besides chilling and grilling, there are always some fun activities.

Body painting is of course one of the favorites (even if it means that you need to wash in the ocean when it’s a little rough and chilly).

And there is always plenty of hula hoops, it’s almost like Vita Nuda’s trademark. If you see some naked people with hula hoops, it’s almost certainly someone from or inspired by Vita Nuda group 😉

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Some go for traditional beach bats, though.

But one of the parties featured aqua-ball, something I’d never even seen. When I saw the ball, I was totally eager to try to conquer the waves in it!

It was quite an effort to get it to the waves, but it was totally worth it! In the end I felt happily dizzy and my friends took their turn.

But this was not the only aqua-ball. There was another, that you are literally sealed inside… and try to walk on waves. This one certainly needs some assistance, with pushing it towards the waves and on the other hand keeping it under control with the rope.

Frankly, it did feel a little creepy being inside an enclosed ball, but again it was too much fun not to try.

Just look at this video!

When I was working on it in iMovie, I found there was a number of preset clip-makers, one of which was called ‘Surf Kid’ with the idea that surfing is not only for big guys. While aqua-ball sounds more childish, I actually found it quite challenging, so the video below is not entirely a joke 😉

Looking forward to aqua-ball and more parties with Vita Nuda next summer!

Kiev: central nudist beaches with landmark views

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Русский

Last summer I rediscovered the capital of my homeland, Ukraine. I’ve spent most of my adult life outside Ukraine, in Moscow, Berlin and now New York, all of which have accessible naturist beaches, so I was pleased to find that Kiev has its own beautiful naturist beaches in the very centre of the city! Kiev boasts the mighty Dnieper River with some forested islands, that are luckily protected and not used for mansions of the nouveau riche. A couple of neighboring clothing-optional beaches at Hydropark (Gidropark) are located most centrally and have pretty amazing views.

This is how it looks from the bridge on the way from Gidropark subway station.

You cannot really see if it is a nudist beach at the other bank of the river, but trust me, it is! So after the bridge you need to continue till one of the typical city style beaches and take a “canoe-ferry” for 5 hryvnias (approx. 50 cents); from there, you can already see where you should head to 😉

First time I went there on a weekday, so it was relatively empty, and I stayed at the part known as a local gay beach, as my friend advised (he was at work that day).

It was nice and relaxing, except that the music from the opposite beach bar was quite loud, but I actually liked it. It is also possible to go a little upstream and find some small secluded spots.

There is a shaded kiosk where you can buy beverages without having to put on clothes. In the afternoon, I decided to explore the area a little more and went to the southern tip of the island, and it turned out to be clothing-optional too!

I actually liked that part more, as it was more spacious and had a great view with some of Kiev’s landmarks: Motherland monument, Kiev Pechersk Lavra (monastery), and a restaurant styled as Noah’s Ark.

So when I went to Gidropark beach next time with my friends Sergey and Sveta, we headed directly to the tip part. I couldn’t resist mocking the Motherland monument by posing with a bottle of water instead of the sword and a frisbee instead of the shield 🙂

Although the day was going to be fabulous even with those regular attributes of naturist pastime, it turned to be even more fun as someone brought body paint and anyone willing was welcome to join the body art frenzy!

Since it actually was the Independence Day, main themes were quite patriotic and Ukraine-inspired. I had our coat of arms (trident) painted on my chest, but frankly, Sergey did not do a great job, so you can hardly see it on photos.

Sergey himself had sunflowers painted saying ‘Support homegrown’, which referred to Ukraine being the biggest exporter of sunflower oil.


Sveta had hearts colored as the national flag and altogether looked very artistic.

And Petya was arguably the most popular model with the watermelon painted on his buttocks :p The “price-tag” said that the watermelon was sold at 2 hryvnias per hour (whatever that meant!) and that it did not contain GMO 🙂


Having a real knife in the not-so-real watermelon, Petya was probably the most daring model too!

On the other (literally) side, the Independence Day was taken also ironically, as despite the patriotic spirits, it was clear that the country was facing too many troubles.

So instead of wishing a Happy Independence Day, it read ‘Happy Inability Day’, as Ukraine is hardly able to cope with its economic challenges (I could translate it as ‘impotence’ as well, but I assure that is not our problem).

But on such a day, it was hard to think of anything gloomy, so the optimistic side took over!

dance, dance, dance!

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

Dancing naked always sounds like a great idea to me, and I have been to a couple of specialized naked discos – Starkers! in London and SchlagerNackt in Berlin, and was even spinning myself at Nude Year’s Eve in New York, but the idea that such a big and iconic night club as Ministry of Sound in London could host an event where electronic music buffs would dance in the buff sounds not just great but fantastic!

But unfortunately that is nothing but a bold commercial… maybe one day 🙂

Naked Gym in Paris (again)!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists
naturist 0009 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Many people, including me, find working out in the gym too boring… But as in winter the number of outdoor activities is rather limited, and even more limited if you want to do them naked, a gym may seem a little more attractive. And one way to spice up the exercises a little is to do them in the buff!

naturist 0010 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

I already reported about a gym and a swimming pool in Paris with naturist hours a year ago, and we visited it again last December. First, my boy and I had a dinner with the founders of Oh!naturist network, Philippe and Laurent, from whom I actually first heard about this gym.

Then it was a good time to burn the calories.

naturist 0007 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

This time we didn’t go to the pool and treadmills and concentrated on more serious work out 😉

naturist 0008 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Also, this time we took our camera with us and tried to capture our exercises on as many machines as possible till the gym would get crowded.

naturist 0001 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

It is, of course, more fun to exercise in a good company.

naturist 0000 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Also we were kind of lucky to see Paris covered with snow. Such heavy snowfalls are rare in Paris, and this one caused quite a bit of chaos in the city. But we decided to enjoy the snow, fully!

naturist 0003 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Not only did we run naked in the snow,

naturist 0006 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Laurent even dared to lie down and create a so-called snow angel.

naturist 0004 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Then, of course, a snowball game followed 🙂

naturist 0005 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Luckily, the gym has a steam sauna, so we could warm up.

So if you like to work out and hang out naked in company of good people, this gym is perfect!

naturist 0002 Gym of Association Naturiste de Paris, Paris, France

Go to my previous post for more details and links.

video from River Island Nature Retreat (NSW, Australia)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

My naturist pen pal Brenton wrote in his first post for this blog about a beautiful nature retreat in New South Wales, Australia, called River Island. While the north-eastern state Queensland is suffering from floods and is in a critical state now, NSW seems to have a good summer weather, so Brenton made this cool video about his latest visit to River Island.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgl0qv_river-island-naturist-reserve_lifestyle#.USBYWqVH3TY

Enjoy! Hope to visit that and many other places in Oz one day…

River Island Nature Retreat (NSW, Australia)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

River Island Nature Retreat is about 2.5 hours drive from the centre of Sydney in the Southern Highlands. It’s probably an odd choice of location for a clothing optional retreat as the Southern Highlands aren’t exactly very warm a lot of the time.

view 0001 River Island, New South Wales, AustraliaThe retreat is set on the Wollondilly River and it’s beautiful in a very typically Australian Bush kind of way.You can walk for several kilometres and follow some 4 wheel drive tracks, swim in the river or enjoy the pool, all nude if you like.

naturist 0003 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

The area is home to some wild goats, and it’s at River Island that I finally got to see some of Australia’s native wildlife for the first time in the wild. The platypus and the echidna are very shy animals but along with kangaroos and wombats, they call River Island home.

kangaroo 0000 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

I’ve been three times now, at the very end of last summer and very very early in this Spring and I’ve only seen a couple of other people camping.

naturist 0000 River Island, New South Wales, Australianaturist 0001 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

There are cabins for hire up on the hill near the main complex but it’s too beautiful down on the banks of the river not to camp there.

naturist 0002 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

Text and photos by Brenton, but check out his video about this place too!