Byron Bay is to be stripped of its nudist beach – and naturists blame ‘conservative creep’
It’s a Tuesday morning, the infinite blue sky of Byron Bay has opened up and the six naturists – four men, two women – have stripped down to their birthday suits for a quick dip in the buff.
This section of beach – an 800-metre stretch along the vast coastline – forms the only legal clothing-optional beach in the shire. Among those taking advantage of the opportunity to be out in the open is Duncan James, vice-president of Northern Rivers Naturists, who is something of an evangelist for “embracing the beach as Mother Nature intended.”
“Many of the beach users have described the clothing-optional beach as their happy place, a place where they can disconnect from modern day stresses, a place they can feel at one with nature,” he says.
There is, however, a metaphorical cloud on the horizon. On Sunday, Tyagarah is set to be stripped of its status as an official clothing-optional beach.
“I guess these values aren’t shared by New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service [NPWS], who are hell-bent on closing one of Byron’s last alternative community hubs and experiences,” James says.
Someday I hope to build up the courage to visit/participate a nudist beach. It seems far more comfortable and “normal” in Europe than in the States from my travels. Remarkably humanizing.
its surprisingly a nothing burger. from 50+ feet away a nude elderly man looks quite similar to a nude elderly woman. the breeze is the best part.
Went to one while in Spain. The spectrum was roughly the same as you would see at any beach. There were no creepers hanging around or anyone who was judgy.
I experienced the same at “regular” beaches out in Greece. Topless women and Speedos were just as normal as any other beachgoer. It was really rather relaxing thinking back to it now.
Because topless != nude in most of Europe. Hell, you can see topless women at pretty much any seashore when it's warm enough.
The Speedos were the French. They do love their budgie-smugglers for some reason
It used to be required at a lot of camping pools because the longer shorts would take too much water out of the pool.. nowadays it's not often required anymore in my experience.
It's still required at pools because the downhill (VTT) bikers will wear board shorts, get covered in mud then try to just walk into swimming pools with them
I also remember being told it's because they're more hygienic (less pubic hair escaping). Always hated them though and would avoid places that enforced that.
There's one in my area of Florida. It's the busiest part of the beach lol. Other people get judgy if you tell them you go, but the people there are super normal. It's really more about yourself being free in nature. If you go to ogle at people you'll be disappointed and also unwelcome, naturists don't generally tolerate creeps. They like to keep it chill and everyone interacts like any other beach. Occasionally there's even kids there.
But it's technically illegal in the state... But the cops turn a blind eye and haven't gone after it (it's been this way for decades). The (federally run) park even put up signs to warn that you made encounter "nude sunbathers" at a certain part of the beach.
North Fla resident here, where's the beach you're talking about?
Playalinda beach on the space coast, near Titusville and next to the launch pads. Last parking lot is clothing optional. Really clean and natural beach. Also great for watching rocket launches, if they keep the beach open for it.
(The structures in the distance are rocket launch towers, it's legitimately the closest you can get.)
Hang on, are you saying that at Playalinda, one could watch a rocket launch and be naked at the same time?
Yes, however the nude section is the furthest parking lot, which is 4 miles north of where this was taken. Still a spectacle and much closer than most people will see a rocket launch, but if you came to see a launch then you probably want to be as close as possible
I've never had the opportunity to go to Playalinda, but I do really miss Paradise Beach before the tourists found out about it.
Ew ew ew ew ew ew no. Just.....just no.
Before I wasn't going to go because I'm not comfortable with my own body. NOW I'll never go, because I assumed it was 21+. I don't mind catching a glimpse of adult male nudity (I'm a straight male), because at least it's an adult consenting to it. But I DO NOT want to see 8 year olds running around naked. Both from a standpoint of I don't want to see it, AND from the standpoint that I don't want others knowing they can go there to see it.
Think about it. Prior to 2012 or whatever year it was, NOBODY would have thought anything wrong with Jarod from subway going to a nude beach. But would you want your 8 year old at the same nude beach as Jarod??? Nobody knew he was into that, and the only reason you know now is because it made the news. The people in your neighborhood WON'T make the news.
There are various search tools online to see who in your neighborhood has been placed on the sex offender registry. Of the 37 houses on my street, 24 of them have had some form of sexual based arrest since the 1970s.
Can YOU pick out the predators based on visual glimpse? I can't.
Username checks out
Not sure why what I said is so unpopular? Basically I don't want to see naked kids, and don't want others to know of a place to look at naked kids.
And that's.......somehow me being crazy?
There's only one person in this thread sexualizing kids being naked.
First off, I'm not sexualizing them.
Secondly, I'm not worried about people in this thread sexualizing them. I'm worried about people on the beaches in person sexualizing them for years. Eventually they act on it. Four of my neighbors raped kids before they got arrested. And a guy roughly 15 streets from me kidnapped and raped 3 teenage girls for 15 years, before one eventually broke out of his basement. My sister was raped in the 80s when she was a teen. There are rapists all around.
Most people's response to a naked child on a beach is indifference. I know this because young kids play naked on nearly every European beach, nude or not. And no-one cares.
Your reaction is not indifference, so it stands out.
What's so different about a kid being naked compared to an adult being naked? Also, if you don't want to see naked kids, just... don't look at them? I don't get what your problem is here.
Well, I know kids today aren't being raised with the same protections I was as a kid. Kids swear more often now, see more violent tv than I did, and see sex more often than I did.
However I still maintain that kids should be treated as if they are as innocent as I was as a kid. I didn't know what sex was until puberty, and thats the way it should be. Let them have a childhood.
You start making it known "hey, this is a place where naked kids are", then you'll inevitably have people going there specifically to see the naked kids. And you'll never know which ones are doing that. Nobody suspects the pedophile until they're caught.......which tells me the uncaught ones are just out there consequence free.
And as far as "just not looking", I covered this with the naked guys. I don't mind seeing the naked guy, even though I don't want to. You're going to see it if you're there. It's just going to at some point be in your visual line of sight. With adults, at least they're consenting adults who understand that any visitor to that beach, at anytime might sexualize them in their own mind. Children can't consent to that, because they don't understand the severity of the situation.
They can still be innocent at nude beaches. There aren't any orgies there or whatever you think a nude beach is.
Creeps gonna creep. Only way to avoid them is to not go outside. And honestly who cares? Maybe I'm a bit desensitised, but if someone stares at me at the beach, why should I care? Same goes for the ones staring at children, with the difference that children don't even worry about stuff like that. I also think you overestimate the amount of people who actually go there to creep. It's not even necessary to go to a nude beach for that, I've seen plenty of naked kids at regular beaches.
"[...] because they don't understand the severity of the situation." What severity? What's going to happen to the kids? Do you seriously think they worry about being sexualised? When I was a kid, we would run around naked in our backyard, lots of neighbours were able to see us. Did I worry about that in the slightest? Nope.
You're worrying too much.
This just reads so..... Strange. Nobody is advocating telling young kids about sex.
There is nothing inherently sexual about a naked human body. It's only weird if you're making it weird and, well, you are.
Even if they were, I don't think I would take issue with it. Sex is a natural part of life and society. I think prudish/taboo attitudes towards sex create more problems than they solve.
Fully agree though as a broad rule but there's an age of innocence that needs respecting IMO. I got told by an older boy I knew when I was just 8 and honestly that was not great. My own barometer is that if you still believe in Santa we'll have the talk later.
Funny story - Our eldest had some broad strokes when we sat him down but thought from the playground stories that you used a condom if you wanted to get pregnant. I was very glad to clear that little misconception up.
Yeah, that's probably not the best way to find out.
I'm not sure I necessarily agree. I had books like Visual Dictionary of the Human Body within reach since I was a toddler, so I don't recall the ideas of "sex" or "where babies come from" ever being a big deal or a shocking revelation.
Funnily enough, I don't think I ever believed in Santa either, so I guess your barometer checks out :)
Yeah, fair enough. I suppose that's unusual in the West if that's where you're from.
I mean it depends on your background a bit. I don't think kids who grow up on a farm have any doubt.
Nobody may be advocating for it, but it happens due to lazy parenting. I heard one 10 year old on the bus a few months ago tell another about his age "Suck my dick!".
When I was his age I'd never heard such phrases. I wouldn't even know TO say that. They hear it from whatever media, whether its tv, or youtube, or movies. Nobody is saying anyone is doing this in person, but lazy parenting leads to it happening.
I'm honestly not sure if you're trolling or not at this point. We're discussing nude beaches here. Lazy parenting and kids using bad language is nothing to do with nude beaches.
Like.... Nothing at all.
Because a nude beach is supposed to be sexual. And a kid is the wrong element for that. They're supposed to not even know about nudity or sex at that age.
Right. Now we're getting to the crux of it and I understand where your thinking is coming from but...
This is absolutely incorrect. Like totally wrong. There is nothing sexual about a nude beach.
What a weird take. I knew where babies came from long before I reached puberty, and this knowledge had no negative impact on my childhood whatsoever.
Unless you're like 80, that's not true at all. Every generation since gen x has gotten more prudish.
I'm 40, and I was told I was being too scandalous for dating a black girl. 10 years ago teens were twerking, because Miley Cyrus did it.
How is that getting more prudish?
Sounds like you just moved away from a hyper conservative area, or your local hyper conservative area caught up to the rest of the world. 40 years ago bankers were doing lines of cocaine off of strippers tits during their lunch break. The 80s were fucking WILD.
Because you turned a completely innocuous discussion about nude beaches into an unhinged rant about sexualizing children. Nudity does not inherently mean sexual.
A short comment like “yeah I don’t know how I’d feel about children at a nude beach” would have been fine, but the extent to which you’re talking about it comes off as creepy and projecting.
I swam naked in the fountain at our towns courthouse as a child, and it was fine. You’re weird and creepy.
Ew. I'm fairly certain if I'd have done that, my dad would have beaten me with a tire iron, and then my mom would have beaten me with a belt in case my dad missed any spots.
Man, that sucks. But also kind of explains your mindset regarding this.
Honestly , you are projecting sexuality where there really is none. I have been growing up (except for the teen years, where everything is embarrassing) going to our 'naturalist' (FKK) lakes and beaches every summer, and there newer were such problems.
If this is your mindset, then you probably don't belong at a nudist area. Nudists are expressly non-sexual. They do not get along well with swingers, who are more explicitly sexual. Swingers invading nudist areas tend to get nudist areas shut down.
Im sorry that you are this fucked up in your head. It’s just bodies, nothing sexual, if god wanted us to be embarrassed then why did we turn out this way.
........well, I'm an athiest. So, our bodies are all we have, and when we die, they get set on fire, or decompose in a box. Everything BEFORE that matters though.
how do you even know the kids are allowed to be nude there?
I was responding to a portion of another persons message that said they were.
see thats weird, i read that comment, not one mention of "naked kids" being there, just "kids" being there...
There's definitely kids walking around naked at nudist beaches. Nudist areas are explicitly non-sexual, though.
idk i've never been to one but it's clothing optional, so it's up to the kids and the parents ig.
At a nude beach.
clothing optional*
They are really good. And tbh, they feel pretty normal once you get used to it, usually takes about 15 min. I prefer them now, since you dry off a lot quicker and don't have to deal with a wet bathing suit. The US has some good ones, as does Canada.
Beaches are tougher but I believe there's a nudist resort in every state in the US. You can visit the AANR website and find the closest one. If it's a "family resort" that means it's probably very welcoming, if a little boring depending on location.