Fifteen shades of tan… on Sandy Hook beach

naturist 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Finally, summer weather has come to New York and it’s time to open beach season here! My favorite beach around is Gunnison on Sandy Hook peninsula in New Jersey. I’ve written about it on multiple occasions already (just make a search on the site for other blogposts), but I have some nice photos to share from last year – in anticipation of yet another great beach time this summer!

The best way to get to Sandy Hook from New York City is by Seastreak ferry.

view 0003 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

I used to post the discount coupons for it, but it seems there’s no need for it anymore. According to the ferry website, starting this year, with fist departure of the day, you always get a $30 return ticket to the beach (regular is $45). A sad news is that there is no late departure from the beach anymore – the last ferry to the city is at 5:45pm, while it used to be 7:45pm – no more sunsets on the ferry? However, there is a shuttle to the late ferry departing from the town nearby. Update: the late ferry is back on the schedule!

The ocean water is probably still too cold to swim properly this weekend, but there are plenty of other activities to do on the beach! Volleyball is very popular at Gunnison beach, as expected from a naturist location.

naturist acro-yoga 0017 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USAnaturist acro-yoga 0016 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

But our favorite pastime last summer was acro-yoga.

naturist acro-yoga 0012 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USAnaturist acro-yoga 0013 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

It was great to see how engaging it was, as a few strangers joined,

naturist acro-yoga 0015 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

while I was practicing acro-yoga with my friends David, Eddy, Antony and others. (Remember our spontaneous handstand class 3 years ago?)

naturist acro-yoga 0014 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Acro-yoga creates a great connection between the ‘flyer’ and the ‘base’,

naturist acro-yoga 0004 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

and it’s even greater when done in the nude.

naturist acro-yoga 0003 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

It’s quite an amazing experience,

naturist acro-yoga 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

if you  do it in the open air, especially in a place like this beautiful beach

view 0001 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

with Manhattan skyline in the background.

view 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

But we also experimented with a log as the base –

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floating in the air yoga?

naturist acro-yoga 0010 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Probably the most entertaining acro-yoga pose is ‘the laughing dragon’ (you might remember some more pics of it from last year’s Burning Man post).

naturist acro-yoga 0018 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Well, the more participants the merrier!

naturist acro-yoga 0000 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

So, Sandy Hook is a perfect place for socializing and getting your all-over tan!

naturist 0001 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

PS Sandy Hook is also good for watching airplanes coming to NYC airports. Who can spot an airplane on one of the photos in this post? Where does it seem to be landing? 😉

PPS If you like to bring a lot of stuff with you to the beach, which can be difficult while walking on sand, you should support this campaign for funding of the extension of the matted walkway!

on a coral reef beach at the Red Sea (Egypt)

عَرَبيْ

Coral Beach Resort in Hurghada, Egypt, is an ideal place where naturists can enjoy one of the richest marine ecosystems – coral reefs of the Red Sea – without having to wear swimsuits. It is the right place to feel unity with the nature: fishes there are not only immensely diverse but are also quite tame! And since life in the coral reef is concentrated in 2-5 upper meters of the sea, it is easy to observe it without much of equipment: snorkeling is perfect.  Just dip into the water, and you will see a world utterly different from the surrounding desert, and quite like nowhere else!

naturist 0003 Rotana Resort Coral Beach, Hurghada, Egypt

I wish I had my underwater camera that time…

It is also a unique place in the entire North Africa and Near East region, besides Israel, where nudists are officially tolerated, including the Egyptian staff of the hotel. However, the web site of the hotel does not include information about the beach, probably to avoid problems with authorities who might not like it. The nudist part of the beach is about several hundreds meters long,

naturist 0000 Rotana Resort Coral Beach, Hurghada, Egypt

but only the first 50 or so are equipped (this area is exactly shown on the map).naturist 0001 Rotana Resort Coral Beach, Hurghada, Egypt

There are wind- and sun-protecting shields and huts at your disposal.

view 0001 Rotana Resort, Hurghada, Egypt

You could of course hang out naked in your bungalow too, but it’s not why you would go there, right?

The best thing about this resort, is that you can swim as you like all along the vast coral reefs.

naturist 0004 Rotana Resort Coral Beach, Hurghada, Egypt

I think we are pretty clear on this website that swimsuits are a nuisance 😉 Given the warmth of the Red Sea waters, you won’t need a wetsuit for snorkeling either!

naturist 0005 Rotana Resort Coral Beach, Hurghada, Egypt

Besides hours of swimming (the water is so warm that you can really stay for a few hours in the sea), other water activities are available at the resort as well.

osprey 0000 Rotana Resort, Hurghada, Egypt

I saw several ospreys there; it was quite a show when they went on fishing spree!

But even without all this, just looking at those crystal clear waters can be mesmarizing. naturist 0002 Rotana Resort Coral Beach, Hurghada, Egypt

You can also observe the sunrise over the sea

view 0000 Rotana Resort, Hurghada, Egypt

and sunset over the desert.

view 0002 Rotana Resort, Hurghada, Egypt

There won’t be a shortage of sun in Hurghada, you needn’t worry about the weather to get your all-over tan!)

naturist 0006 Rotana Resort Coral Beach, Hurghada, Egypt