As I mentioned previously, I was looking for a job and went for an interview in New York in May. Now, I am finally in the Big Apple and have been settling in quite good so far. At last, I feel I have some spare time to fulfill my promise to update my blog with the new stuff from this summer! First, however, I have an autumn surprise. I was worried there wouldn’t be a possibility to hang out naked outdoors within reasonable distance from NYC… Luckily, a good friend of mine told me about an ‘insider’ nudie spot within New York City Transit area; a picturesque beach where nudity is practiced too!
I must add immediately, that the majority of people there are not totally naked , and many say one should be careful with police raids, but others convince me there is no problem with that. So, mostly, this beach attracts gay men, many of whom wear rather amusing (to my taste) kinds of swimming trunks – I have not seen such a diversity of swimwear anywhere else (probably not the best comment to a nudist beach). Nevertheless, it is probably as nude as it gets within New York City boundaries. Most of the people seem to be regular visitors who know each other, so it was difficult for a newcomer like me to stay unnoticed. Even though sometimes I felt like I got too much of unwanted attention, it was good to get to know locals. They are very friendly, and it is common to share food and drinks (or sun lotion) with your neighbors there. And ethnical diversity reflects the multicultural scene of Brooklyn and the whole New York City.
It is Jacob Riis Park, a part of seemingly endless sandy beach line, but the gay and nudist-friendly part is at the border with the private sector section and with a former nursery home at the background.
The ocean may be very rough at high tide but is usually calmer at low tide. I wouldn’t advice to swim too far if you are alone. Luckily, I’ve found a company of a good swimmer Hassan, who was also nicknamed as a mayor of the beach. 
Be careful with a strong current at high tide, as it may bring you quickly westwards: it is difficult to swim back then, and there are remains of wooden pierce which may become a real threat if you get hit by a strong waive. Nevertheless, if you are careful enough and have a companion, it can be a great fun to swim under such high waves.
One day, there were also a lot of jelly fish, but it is not a problem for tough men 😉
(well, the jelly-fish were all dead and did not sting, hehe)
So, I am happy to tell you yes, there is a place for naked beach time and swimming in New York City! And the weather was good enough even in mid-October, which is another good surprise after Berlin. (Though my first summer in Berlin, in 2006, was also amazing in terms of the weather: if you look at my post about Berlin and nearby areas, there are photos from Warnemünde at the Baltic Sea made in October! But I heard here in NYC it’s a norm unlike in Berlin.)
PS Did you notice what I was drinking on the photo above? The famous “Naked” smoothies 😉
Perhaps another candidate to sponsor this blog besides japanese “Kirin Nuda”
After eating in a tavern in Agia Roumeli, we went to look for a camping place. A small pinery just left of the isthmus of the Samaria River was already occupied by half a dozen campers, so we continued looking for a place for our tent further on the beach in the dark… and we found it! An entire cave had been waiting for us exclusively 🙂 What was especially pleasing was that the floor in the cave was of fine dry soft sand, whereas the beach itself was mainly covered by pebbles, many of tennis ball size, very inconvenient to walk on. The cave had accumulated the warmth of the day, so not only did we not need to go inside our tent, we even did not need to cover! Watching the starry sky from the cave felt like in a cinema. The only problem was that the noise of waves echoed in the cave and thus doubled, so don’t expect quiet, but the sound of sea is your thing, you’ll be happy.
Active Naturists 