Tag: skinny dipping

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!

Naked Spring Bash with Florida Young Naturists

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

This post was actually about to be published in my old blog, but right when I clicked the ‘publish’ button, Google suddenly deleted my blog… irrevocably. Well, enough complaining, now the blog is back, and several months after the first attempt this post is finally out! It is actually a good time, because Florida Young Naturists group has just announced (through their Facebook page, their website is not updated) the next Naked Spring Bash in April this year. So here is the original text, I leave it unchanged:

One of the reasons why I haven’t posted last weeks was because Joe visited me, and we went to South Florida for few days and had a lot of naked fun in the sun. We actually spent most of our time there naked: the CouchSurfing hosts we stayed with were also nudists, we went to the famous Haulover Beach (that is where the World Record Skinny-Dip took place) and got a chance to swim in the buff in a couple of other places, but most strikingly we visited a nudist colony Sunsport Gardens for the Naked Spring Bash organized by Florida Young Naturists. I came across their website a couple of years ago and thought it would be fantastic to join the group of naked peers that organized numerous fun events. I was reminded about FYN once again at the Nude Year’s Eve, as two of its members were there as well. The program for the Naked Spring Bash sounded really cool and after the long and cold winter we were craving for the sun and warmth, so it was amazing that Joe and I could go there together.

Too bad we didn’t get in this video, but they’re right, you can do all kind of fun things there!

The event included all kinds of activities.

I loved the drum circle around the fire on the first night. There was a dozen of drummers and other people were dancing around the fire. I got a frame drum of pandeiro type, the same as we use in capoeira, which I practice, so I could play and dance at the same time. And of course there was body art.

Joe got Sun and Moon from me,

but he took an easy path and “painted” handprints on me 🙂

Spring Bash participant were given a free spot for camping by the pond, and when we woke up, we got a chance to meet a couple of its friendly dwellers.

Then we went for a walk around the gardens with beautiful tropical and subtropical plants.

The tiny island in the pond was quite picturesque. Then there was some pool time and lunch, naked lunch of course. I was disappointed though, that they mostly provided fast-food and served it on single-use ware. I’d expect a naturist venue to be at the frontier of health- and eco-consciousness.

In the afternoon, there was a short excursion through the bit of tropical forest that belonged to Sunsport Gardens. We were very pleased to find this forest with many native plants of South Florida, and we went there on our own a couple of times again.

In a couple of places there were tables and benches, so you could have a quiet lunch in the forest as well.

The plants were diverse, there were some bamboos, but most of the forest was pine and palm trees,

some of which we tried to climb.

As to the Spring Bash itself, there were also volleyball matches, sauna, disco… but we were too busy enjoying it to take pictures 😉

On the last day of the Spring Bash, most of the people went to Haulover Beach.

But besides having nice company at the beach, when we went for a swim we were accompanied by a school of small fish… Either they mistook us for their parents or thought we’d simply provide them shelter from sharks 🙂

In any case, they followed us for half an hour!

I was quite surprised to find out that Haulover Beach was just one of two official clothing-optional beaches in South Florida.

But when we were driving around we found a couple of secluded spots in mangrove forests, where we went skinny-dipping too.

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!

floating in the Dead Sea

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

Finally, after describing my adventures at Israel’s Mediterranean and Red Sea shores, I am getting to the third, and arguably most unusual sea on my trip (and in my experience in general), the Dead Sea! Being the lowest land spot on Earth and one of the three saltiest lakes, the Dead Sea is an obvious tourist attraction, topped with mythical healing properties. However, I had heard mixed opinions about it, some of which described it as just a place to hang out a couple of hours. And I bet it is so, if you come with a bunch of other tourists to a crowded beach on a planned excursion trip. But you may also experience the timelessness and peace, if you know the right places and look for relaxation.

My new friend who advised that nice relatively secluded spot at the Red Sea near Eilat again gave me an excellent recommendation for her favorite place at the Dead Sea, a wild beach near Metsoke Dragot.

This is how the bus stop (next to a military post) looks like where you need to stop for this beach (I put this photo, because the stops are not announced and you have to ask the driver in advance and  watch out).

Unfortunately my friend couldn’t join me on that occasion.


So what was it like? Well, the video below probably shows how much I was excited with the idea of floating freely in the waters of the Dead Sea, but it is impossible to describe the feeling, it must be experienced… by everybody! As there is nothing like it 🙂 In few words, I felt fantastic: on the one hand, the deserted landscape and lifeless hyper-saline waters created an almost extraterrestrial ambience,

but on the other, the feeling of loss of gravity and soothingly warm water created an almost womb-like environment of comfort and peace. This feeling was even stronger at night, when the vision faded away and other senses became more apparent. Such careless floating in combination with stargazing made me feel as if I was drifting in the starry sky itself…

(I must mention in relation to this video that due to increased density of water in the Dead Sea, it actually was particularly pleasant for the genitals: my balls felt as relaxed and liberated as it gets, floating freely and kind of weightless, and this feeling spread to the rest of my body; in combination with perfectly warm water temperature, it provided a feeling of ultimate relaxation. This is something that non-nudist visitors may be missing out because of restricting clothes.)

Well, now back to the Earth: the sad truth is that one should not spend too much time in the Dead Sea’s waters because of risk of dehydration. As it often happens, many healing procedures should be done in moderation; mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea may have amazing effects on your skin and health in general, but you have to be cautious… When you get out of the water, again you feel somewhat unusual, as there is no typical cooling effect from evaporation of water from the skin, because such hyper-saline water does not evaporate easily. But I imagine when it does, you’ll be covered with a layer of salt (also be careful if you have any open wounds, I still have a little scar on my foot as I had a scratch while I was swimming there).

For this reason, you should pick up a spot where it is possible to wash in a fresh water after swimming in the Dead Sea. Public beaches at the Dead Sea usually have showers, as, for example, at the Ein Gedi oasis, where I swam for the first time (also naked, but away from the main crowd – the first part of the video, at dusk and night, is from there). But in a wild place like this, you have to make sure that there are some fresh water springs. Actually this was something I didn’t expect to find at the Dead Sea at all, but obviously this stretch of the shore was quite luscious and plants needed fresh water…

And indeed, there were not only underground fresh water sources, but some springs and pools as well!

Not all springs are filled with fresh water though, so you will need to ask around or simply observe which one to use. This pool looked really inviting, and the water was very refreshing.


And this is the view from the pool itself.

One time when I went to refresh in the pool, it was full of British tourists, none of whom was naked. They were trying to wash their clothes from the mud and apparently they got sand and small stones in their shorts, so I noted jokingly that was the reason why I didn’t wear any clothes (I even forgot about this problem with bathing clothed)… One guy seemed to be especially moved by this notion and he started smiling to me and I smiled back, but soon it became too obvious that he wanted a bit more than exchange of smiles. Then, his friends were leaving, but he said he needed to wash his boxers still, and as soon as they disappeared, he didn’t waste any moment and started approaching to me until I had to tell him that I was not interested. I was quite annoyed that he took my nudity as a signal that I was ready for a quickie ‘right here right now’. I found it ironic as well, because my local friend who told me about this place, also said that sometimes she got irritated by men from conservative religious background who sometimes come here and sit next to the pool and wait for naked girls to wash there, while their wives sit somewhere in the shade (fully covered, of course) playing with children; but obviously, some more secular western men are not any more tactful…

And speaking of mud, of course the Dead Sea is known for its mud with healing and rejuvenating properties, which is sold worldwide by cosmetic companies. Unfortunately, some of the methods that they use to get the minerals, salts and mud from the Dead Sea are among the reasons why it dries out (another major factor is diverting water from the Jordan River and smaller water sources for irrigation). So, probably the best way to use the precious mud with minimal impact on this unique place is to go there, apply it directly all over your body (don’t miss any spot ;-)) and then wash it off back in the sea.

I spent most of the day alone, quiet and relaxed, sitting under those bushes and enjoying amazing colors between the floating/bathing sessions.

But in the late afternoon, I got to know this nice fellow, one of the rare nowadays kind of true hippies. He said he came there regularly for a few weeks and stayed in this self-made tent. Well, with the summer weather in Israel you don’t really need much.

What really surprised me was that he didn’t even have much food, as he ate mostly what other people shared with him (as did I as well). Later on, another ‘crazy’ guy joined us; he was an American tourist traveling around with a huge Australian aborigine instrument. The hippy guy suggested to show me some other pools along the shore, but I was worried that I might miss the last bus. However, there were two guys with a dog who looked very friendly, and I asked them, if they could give me a lift, to which they agreed! BTW their dog made an unfortunate attempt to dive into the Dead Sea waters, ouch! It took her two times to realize that it wasn’t a good idea to get mouth and eyes in contact with the water… So, I went with the hippy to explore the pools; some of them had very strange colors, bright green or grayish-white, and the soil around them seemed quite unstable and soft like flour; it all looked unearthly, and I probably would have felt very insecure, if I had come there alone…

As we returned, it was getting dark quickly and I was happy to find that the two guys with the dog were still there… It turned out that in the best traditions of Eytan Fox’ movies they were a couple, a Palestinian arab and a jew (from Ireland) living in Jerusalem, but it sounded like there was no big drama in their lives unlike in the movies, and it was really touching to see it real. So in the end, not only did they bring me to a kibbutz where my friend lived, but they also took me from there to Jerusalem, let me stay at their place for few hours and helped me to get to a communal taxi that is much cheaper than the usual private one (which I hadn’t known existed), as I had my flight back early next morning. What a great trip it was, both in terms of places I saw and people I met!

famous Black’s Beach!

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

In the mid-November, I was lucky to go with my new colleagues for the biggest conference in my field, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, and that time it was held in the sunny San Diego. Of course, it wouldn’t have been me, if I hadn’t planned to visit a nudist beach there, especially such a famous one as Black’s Beach. And I was double lucky that on the warmest day during my stay, when it was over 25ºC, the program seemed the least interesting so I skipped most of the day and headed to the beach (see the map for exact location).

As soon as I reached, it was pretty clear why this beach is so famous: it is, obviously, one of the biggest clothing-optional beaches and the view from the cliffs is stunning! It reminded me of the beaches of Meco in Portugal and Ga’ash in Israel.

I was surprised that on such an unusually warm day for November it was relatively empty, although it was Sunday, but I noticed some naked sunbathers immediately.

There are several trails leading down, and apparently I chose not the easiest one, but it was fun.

And I saw some lizards on the way down, apparently the enjoyed the sun too.
Soon I was walking on the soft beach sand, and look how the waves create a beautiful ornament of black and gold.
Then I saw that besides sunbathers there were surfers too!
But not naked :-/
Well, the water wasn’t too warm… But actually, first time I heard of Black’s Beach was because of the Nude Surfing Event. (check this link for more info)
Here is a video of one of the surfers.
Now, I’ve found that they actually arrange naked surfing lessons from July till September! I want to do that!!!
… but coming back to my calm day at the Black’s Beach, I was looking for a nice spot to lie down. I stayed near bushes and soon found that I had some neighbors: a rabbit (could not manage to take a photo of it) and a California ground squirrel that was quite tame and obviously was attracted to my nuts. (I mean I had some almonds with me 🙂

But then I got to know a bit more communicative neighbor, local visitor Alex. We chatted for a while, and it was him who disillusioned me by saying that such a hot day was not common that time of the year even in Southern California… But I still thought to myself that I might have made a mistake not applying for job at Salk Institute which is located practically on top of Black’s Beach, hehe. The idea that one can walk to such a beautiful beach for a lunch break sounds tantalizing! I did go to a lake for lunch breaks in my first year in Berlin until our lab moved, but even then my work was not that close to a naturist retreat like here.

Later in the afternoon I went jogging all along the beach and this gave me the real impression of how huge the beach is! But, apparently not all beach is officially a clothing optional area. When I ran in the northern direction one elderly man waived to me and told that I was way beyond the nude-friendly area and might get fined! If I understood correctly, the clothing optional part ends to the north of these rocks. But there was no sign. In any case, I didn’t feel bad, as only 2 or 3 people saw me in that section of the beach and there were either coming from or heading to the clothing-optional part, so I doubt they would be shocked by seeing a naked jogger.
Other people that I met gave me much more pleasant news. I saw one guy practicing some capoeira moves, but unfortunately he had to leave soon. I still haven’t mentioned that I did swim there too. The water was a little chilly, but I could stand it for 20-30min, amongst few others. And then, the only neighbor of mine, who went for long swims too, was coming from the sea almost crying. Don’t worry, he wasn’t bitten by a shark, those were tears of happiness as he saw a school of dolphins right next to him! He said it was one the most beautiful moments in his life, and I was very disappointed at myself that I left the ocean just about 10min earlier… I have swum with dolphins once, but that was in murky waters of Rio Negro in the Amazon basin so I couldn’t really see them underwater…
And when I was going back at sunset I saw a group of people playing volleyball, in the buff of course. This beach certainly seems to be perfect for many kinds of naturist activities 🙂

Before I was going to wear my clothes, I saw a threatening warning ‘Unstable Cliffs. Stay Back’
And I did so and enjoy one of the most beautiful sunsets 😎

One of the next (colder) days, I went there again with my colleagues for a short hike in Torrey Pines Park. When we went down to the beach I took some more photos, like this one with giant algae brought by waves on the shore.

And these are sandpipers; the smaller ones always run somewhat clumsily trying to escape the waves, while the bigger one stay calm.
And once in a while there were flocks of (probably) pelicans…
So overall, Black’s Beach seems to be perfect for nature lovers and active beach-goers. I hope to go there again, perhaps for a class of naked surfing!

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…

Hiking near oasis at the Dead Sea in Israel

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

After spending 2 days of snorkeling at the Red Sea, I had to move further, and the next stop on my trip through Israel was the Dead Sea. I stayed at a friend of my new friend who brought me to Ga’ash beach in Tel Aviv. He lived in Ein Gedi kibbutz, which is a part of luscious Ein Gedi oasis off the shores of the Dead Sea. The sea-lake itself is of course the major attraction in the area, and I will talk about it in my next post, but there is also a nice opportunity to see local flora and fauna on a daily hiking trip. Ein Gedi nature reserve has two spring-fed streams with flowing water year-round: Nahal David and Nahal Arugot. The former is much more popular, and I was advised not to go there, as tourists pour in big portions coming with organized bus tours.

view 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

So, I went alone to Nahal Arugot and for most of the time I wasn’t disturbed by anyone and even found some moments to enjoy the refreshing waters in the buff!

view 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Right after entrance, it did feel like it was a desert, but then it got quite green along the stream and at some points I walked right on its banks or even in its shallow waters.

view 0002 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

When it got deeper and wider, I couldn’t resist dipping in the water. Skinny-dipping, of course!

naturist 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

But I heard some loud voices of american teenage tourists and had to cover fast. In any case I had to hurry, because the trail closes very early and I had to return to the entry point by 5pm.

Then I saw the first pool with waterfalls. That is what the trail is known for, but this one was quickly occupied by some American tourists and I continued further.

view 0003 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

I noted another pool but decided to stop there on the way back, if I didn’t find anything else.

view 0004 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

So, I continued hiking partially on the trail, partially through in the stream, in hope to find a more secluded spot. I found one pool that seemed to be somewhat hidden by the trees and bushes and refreshed again.

naturist 0003 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

It also seemed like a nice spot for having a lunch. While I was eating my sandwich, a couple of birds came very close to me.

bird 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

They did not beg for food like their urban relatives, and it was nice to imagine that they were as curious about me as I was about them.

bird 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

After food I went for another dip

naturist 0002 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

and encountered another creature that didn’t mind me taking a close-up photo.
dragonfly 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Then I finally continued hiking. I reached the tallest waterfall

view waterfall 0005 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

but didn’t stay there for too long as I wanted to go till the end of the trail.

view waterfall 0006 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Unfortunately, just a little further above the waterfalls I was called by a guard, who told me it was too late to continue further. It sounded strange to me, as it was early still, but I didn’t bother arguing and started my way back in the direction of the Dead Sea.

view 0007 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

I was passing by the high waterfall again, but it was then full of VERY noisy teenagers, orthodox Jews this time. I was wondering why they needed to shout so much, as the place looked so peaceful and perfect for listening to the sounds of nature, but for them it was more of an attraction park, which is also understandable, given that they might not have too much access to natural freshwater pools if they lived in that area. But then I raised my head and right above the gorge saw a group of nubian ibexes.

nubian ibex 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Apparently, they were thinking about the same issues, as they were staring from above at the noisy tourists fooling around at the waterfall. The good part about their noisiness, I thought, was that in case I would do skinny-dipping, I could hear them approaching.

The pool that I noted previously was still unoccupied so I decided to enjoy it for myself.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xghfk2_skinny-dipping-in-the-desert_travel

As you can see, I also found it to be quite an attraction to slide down the stream bed into the pool.

It was also amazing to see ferns growing on the walls above the stream given that few meters away a rocky desert was starting.

fern 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

But then even more amazing was it to see two animals side by side that you would never expect to see in the desert: a frog and a crab!

frog & crab 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

After I had enough fun at the pool, I followed till the exit quickly and just stopped to take pictures of another group of ibexes, which came even closer.

nubian ibex 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

I never thought I could spend such a refreshing day and seeing so much wildlife at the Dead Sea.

Ga’ash beach in Tel Aviv

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Tel Aviv is often dubbed as one of the hippest and most exciting cities of the Mediterranean and the whole world; and as a proper mediterranean city, it offers a few sandy beaches. However, the centrally located beaches are crowded, so if you want to take a breath off the bustling city AND take off your clothes, you should head to the north of Tel Aviv to Ga’ash beach. It is also the most famous gay-friendly beach in Israel. I don’t know how to get there by public transport there, but I was lucky to be brought there by local nudie fellow, who was recommended by a friend in Berlin.

Seemingly endless, Ga’ash beach has enough space for all. In July, when many find the heat in Tel Aviv almost unbearable, it also gets very hot at this beach in the afternoons, as it faces the West, but it’s hard to find anything more relaxing than soaking in the warm waters on the edge of the sea. (if you’re afraid of jellyfish, that’s also probably the deepest you can get into the sea, because jellyfish are abundant in Tel Aviv during mid summer; very bad timing they have!)

But if you are a true active naturist, you shouldn’t lie too much, move your ass and go for a run! 😉

The soft sand is perfect for running barefoot.

The beach lies along sand cliffs,

which provide scenic views,

so of course we couldn’t resist from going for walk by one of the hiking trails.

There are indicators of hiking trails, but it would be difficult to get lost given proximity of the sea.

In some places the sand was very hard but smooth from wind, and the combination creates some cozy corners.

Too bad we couldn’t stay there till sunset. It was time to go back to the beach, and then to the city…

Nu York, Nu York! (now you can see it!)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Well, I clearly underestimated New York’s naturist capacity! It’s pretty clear that it won’t beat Berlin (unless legislation changes), but still, thanks to my new nudie friend Christian, I’ve found another unofficial nudist spot, and he will show me even more, but probably I’ll have to wait for the next season… But I didn’t suspect that during this autumn I would find two beaches and even fulfill my fantasy of taking a nude pic with Manhattan skyline on the background!

So on the same shore where I visited a gay and partially nudist beach of Jacob Riis park (on the right photo above, you can see those towers of Jacob Riis Park), there is quite a long stretch of sandy beach to the South, which is surrounded by forested dunes in the area of Fort Tilden, an abandoned military fort. According to Christian, this beach gets crowded only on weekends during hot season, otherwise it’s rather empty and you can find quite a few people enjoying its quietness without any clothes.

But besides having a nice long beach, this area is also good for a stroll through a forest and visiting some abandoned bunkers. It may get quite spooky, actually! But one of the bunkers has a observation platform on top. Since the place is not frequented by too many visitors, we felt quite comfortable to disrobe and take some shots. But we had to be quite careful listening if any other visitor were getting closer. In any case, for at about an hour, there was no one around, and we totally enjoyed the view of Manhattan skyline

and surrounding forest up to the beach.

Although the city appears very far on the photos,

I actually felt like I could just fly there.

No, in the end we had to travel back by bikes and subway, and in the late afternoon it got really chilly too (it’s the end of October after all).

But it was a great and unique experience. For the lack of a better phrase, I felt as if New York was at my feet 😀

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!