A nude beach is a beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 where users are legally at liberty to be nude

Nudity

Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

. Sometimes the terms clothing-optional beach or free beach are used. Nude bathing is one of the most common forms of nudity in public

Public nudity

Public nudity or nude in public refers to nudity not in an entirely private context. It refers to a person appearing nude in a public place or to be seen from a public place. It also includes nudity in a semi-public place, where the general public is free to enter, such as a shopping mall...

. As beaches are usually on public lands, any member of the public is entitled to use the facilities without membership of any movement or subscription to any philosophy. The use of the beach facilities is normally anonymous. Unlike a naturist resort or facility, there is normally no membership or vetting requirement for the use of a nude beach. The use of nude beach facilities is usually casual, not requiring pre-booking. Nude beaches may be official (legally sanctioned), unofficial (tolerated by residents and law enforcement), or illegal. However, nude beaches are relatively few and some distance from cities, and access is at times more difficult than at a regular beach and the facilities at these beaches tend to be very basic.
A nude beach should not be confused with a topless beach (or topfree beach), where upper body clothing is not required for women or men, although a swimming costume covering the genital area is required for both men and women.
Nude beaches first became popular in the 1950s along the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 coast and have since spread around the world, though they are still few and far between. Some nude beaches are part of a larger nude area, such as the Cap d'Agde

Cap d'Agde

Cap d'Agde is the seaside resort of the town of Agde, France, on the Mediterranean sea in the département of Hérault, within the région of Languedoc-Roussillon. Agde can be reached by TGV SNCF train direct from Paris or Lille whilst the closest airports are Béziers-Cap d'Agde en Languedoc, with...

 area. Most beaches in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 and all beaches in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 are clothing-optional.

Nude beaches tend to be segregated or isolated physically from the non-nude areas. In other instances people maintain a comfortable space between beach users. Signage is often used to warn beach users about what to encounter and/or to segregate different areas on the beach. This accommodates people who are not comfortable with nudity (see gymnophobia

Gymnophobia

Gymnophobia is a fear of nudity. Gymnophobics experience anxiety from nudity, even if they realize their fear is irrational. They may worry about seeing others naked or being seen naked, or both...

). This also accommodates beach users who do not like to be watched too much, especially by clothed individuals (see voyeurism

Voyeurism

In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....

).

On an officially sanctioned nude beach beach goers of both sexes have an option to remove their clothing without fearing legal prosecution or official harassment.

Clothes free organizations and free beach associations, such as the Naturist Action Committee

Naturist Action Committee

The Naturist Action Committee is a nine-member volunteer committee that functions as the political adjunct to The Naturist Society , based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin...

, lobby for the removal of laws which prohibit nude swimming and sunbathing.

Motivation

People visit a nude beach for any of a number of reasons. These range from people who see no reason to wear clothing

Clothing

Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

 when taking part in water activities or sunning, or who enjoy being nude or partially nude (see naturism

Naturism

Naturism or nudism is a cultural and political movement practising, advocating and defending social nudity in private and in public. It may also refer to a lifestyle based on personal, family and/or social nudism....

 and nudism). Some people visit a nude beach because they enjoy looking at people who are nude, or because of curiosity. Some people sunbathe on a nude beach to get a more even suntan, and to eliminate tan lines. Some people sunbathe at a nude beach to get an all-over tan, but do not have access to a private place where they can sunbathe, such as a back yard not visible by neighbors.

Types of nude beaches

Most nude beaches had become accepted after many years of use as nude beaches. Many are "unmanaged" beach areas that have been adopted by the local users in an effort to maintain the beach's "quality". Others' right to existence has been recognized as such by the appropriate local authority, and are termed "official" (although not necessarily legitimate).

There are several categories of nude beaches:

• Beaches where nudity may be compulsory, subject to weather conditions. This is common in dedicated nudist resorts.
• Beaches where nudity is encouraged, but not mandatory. This is more common when the beach is part of a private resort or other private property. On such beaches, most people go nude, but not all.
• Clothing is optional (i.e., nudity is permitted but not required). Most beaches in Denmark and all in Norway are clothing-optional. The most popular U.S. clothing-optional beach may be Haulover Beach in Miami, Florida
  Miami, Florida
  Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
  
  , which has a clothing-optional section officially designated by Miami-Dade County, with lifeguards and concessions. On such beaches, there may be a mixture of nude, clothed and everything in between. For some clothed people, the clothing-optional status only makes them less reluctant to expose themselves briefly when changing clothes.
• Unofficially sanctioned public nude beaches - places where nudity is tolerated
  Toleration
  Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
  
   by the "authorities", mostly by turning a blind eye, or not enforcing the local laws.
• Illegal nude beaches - Beaches where people may attempt to maintain a low profile which may result in requests to cover up, uncomfortable glares, a fine or arrest
  Arrest
  An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
  
  .Textile beaches - Beaches that are specifically not nude or clothing optional. The term is used to distinguish an area near a clothing optional beach.

Legal status

Most beaches around the world, including nude beaches, are on public lands. That means that though private resorts and hotels that adjoin a beach may enclose their property behind fences with controlled access, most countries do not allow private ownership of the actual beach area. Thus, while a resort can control access and set clothing standards on its property, these standards would not necessarily apply to the beach itself, which remains subject to local laws or customs, and public access to the beach itself usually remains unrestricted. This applies, for example, to the islands in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Florida. On the Seven Mile Beach in Negril

Negril

Negril is a small but widely dispersed beach resort town located across parts of two Jamaican parishes of Westmoreland and Hanover. Westmoreland is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island...

, Jamaica, for example, though the beach is lined with private resorts with fences down to the sand/waterline, the beach itself is open to the public. Though actual clothing standards vary from resort to resort, the beach area is officially designated as "topfree

Topfreedom

Topfreedom is a cultural and political movement seeking to advance gender equality by the recognition of the right of women and girls to be topless in public on the same basis that men and boys are permitted to be barechested. In addition, topfreedom advocates seek recognition of the right of...

", and public access is unrestricted.

The International Naturist Federation

International Naturist Federation

The International Naturist Federation or Federation Naturiste Internationale is the global umbrella organisation representing official national naturist societies.-Membership:...

 has developed a code of conduct

Code of Conduct

A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the responsibilities of or proper practices for an individual, party or organization. Related concepts include ethical codes and honor codes....

, or etiquette

Etiquette

Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...

, for use by member organizations. The INF nude beach etiquette requires the avoidance of all forms of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

 and sexual activity, such as masturbation

Masturbation

Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...

 or sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...

. Predatory

Sexual predator

The term sexual predator is used pejoratively to describe a person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain sexual contact with another person in a metaphorically "predatory" manner. Analogous to how a predator hunts down its prey, so the sexual predator is thought to "hunt" for his or her sex partners...

 behavior is not permitted, nor is unauthorized photography. In general, the standards call for the respecting of the privacy of other visitors. Staring is frowned upon by rule and social pressure.

However, unlike nudist resorts and hotels, which can enforce standards of conduct on their properties promptly and effectively, most nude beaches are on public lands, making the enforcement of standards of nude beach etiquette a more personal matter, subject to the deterrence of local laws. The standards of conduct take different forms in different countries. Other than the fact that people using a nude beach expect to find naked people on the beach, most other local laws and customs continue to apply. One should note especially that nude beaches are usually family beaches with children being present.

Nude beaches around the world

There are numerous nude beaches around the world, some of which are legally recognised as such and others which are unofficially tolerated. There are also numerous other venues, such as swimming pools, where nude bathing is accepted.

The first nude beach of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 was established in San Gregorio

San Gregorio nude beach

San Gregorio nude beach is two miles of soft sand and tide pools, plus a lagoon, a lava tube, and the remains of a railroad on the cliffs. It is adjacent to San Gregorio State Beach. Beach-goers are predominantly gay men but also include clothed and unclothed straight couples and families...

in Northern California in 1967, as a private "free beach". The number of official nude beaches in the United States has recently increased because of the stewardship of national and local nudist organizations and the establishment of working relationships with—or lobbying of—local municipalities and law enforcement agencies. The tourist potential of clothing-free and topless events and facilities is increasingly being recognized.

External links

• Naturist camping guide - Naturist camping guide worldwide.
• VivreNu - French Naturism Portal.
• The Complete Guide To Nudism And Naturism (2006) ISBN 1846852587 ISBN 978-1846852589
• Nudist beaches in the Netherlands - Nudist beaches in the Netherlands with routes and photos.
• Black's Beach - Largest nude beach in United States.
• Iyns.org - The Israeli Young Nudists Society.
• Sydney Nudist Information - Nudist information for Australia.
• Nudist World Map - Nudist information and locations