The Skinny On Sydney’s Best Nude Beaches

BY CARMEN CITA & ALANNAH MAHER

As temperatures soar this summer, the usual quota of sun-loving Sydneysiders will flock to our many beaches for a refreshing dose of sun, sand and salt water. Among them, a growing number of beach-goers are expected to head to Sydney’s official clothing-optional beaches.

While topless sunbathing is common at many Sydney beaches, in recent years, more and more sun-seekers (both male and female) are opting to go entirely au naturale. According to Stuart Whelan from the Australian Naturist Federation, “The popularity of nudism is on the increase in Sydney. In the last three years, we’ve specifically seen an increase in the number of young people who’ve gravitated towards our clothing-optional beaches.”

Stuart helped City Hub to create a guide of the city’s best beaches for swimming sans clothing…

Sydney’s Clothing-Optional Beaches:

1. Cobblers Beach – The All Rounder
On the northern side of Middle Head Road, in Mosman, this beach has a family-friendly atmosphere, and Whelan cites it as a personal favourite. A picturesque small sandy beach with rocky outcrops, Cobblers is a great place for snorkelling and is also very popular with boats, with sheltered mooring and “quite often you’ll find skinny dippers off the boats”. In recent times this family favourite has become more popular with younger people, and it is relatively accessible by public transport with paid parking too.

2. Obelisk Beach – Cobblers’ Sister
Near Cobblers Beach, on the southerly side of Middle Head, this is quite a broad beach compared to the narrow Cobblers and there’s plenty of space to spread out. There is a slight gender bias with a lot of men gathering here, but on the weekends and especially in summer, there is more of a gender mix. Again, this beach is handy to public transport and paid parking.

3. Lady Bay Beach – The Celebrity
Formerly known as Lady Jane Beach, this Sydney Harbour beach in Watsons Bay was granted legal status quite early, around 1976, and was used a nude beach much earlier than that. “Its very small, quite rocky and when the tide comes in you either get to know your neighbours very well or you have to perch up on a rock like seals… It does attract a little bit of attention because it has been one of the traditional naturist beaches on Sydney Harbour, so you do get some sight seeing crafts cruising in to see what the fuss is all about.” You can also expect more onlookers in Watson’s Bay due to the areas other great tourist attractions.

4. Werrong Beach – The Adventurers Dream
South of Sydney in the Royal National Park, this beach is isolated at the end of about a 1.5km bush walk between Stanmore Park and Oxford. This ocean beach is of itself a large amphitheatre around 300 metres long and surrounded by cliffs, with a grassed area behind. The amount of sand varies and can be quite coarse and pebbly if the finer sand has been swept out by storms, but there’s plenty of room for sunbaking. Werrong Beach is not recommended if you are not a strong swimmer or an experienced bushwalker. “It’s certainly something that is well worth the effort if you’re able bodied, but if you’re not all that physically strong then I’d be giving Werrong a miss. [However] if you want to combine a nice strenuous bush walk with a bit of skinny dipping and sun bathing it’s a great little spot to visit.”

When visiting Cobblers or Obelisk Beach, Stuart recommends bringing some money for the harbour coffee boat. With the appearance of a giant floating Vittoria coffee tin, the Coffee Boat often visits the beaches, also serving ice creams and cold drinks. “You have all these naked people lining up holding the boat while he makes you an espresso or a cappuccino… it’s quite a unique experience and certainly one that makes the place very special.”

“We’re really blessed in Sydney… We’d like to see more local beaches proclaimed as clothing-optional,” said Whelan. “In the ideal world, we’d like to see all beaches with a designated area that’s appropriately signed, to say that skinny-dipping or nude sun-bathing is permitted beyond a certain point.” Distinguishing Naturism from casual skinny-dipping, Whelan explained, “A Naturist is someone who has a respect for self, a respect for others, and a respect for the environment––it’s an underlying life philosophy that’s facilitated by social nudity.”

“A Nudist,” he elaborated, “Is someone who engages in social, clothes-free recreation, but not necessarily with any conscious [or] philosophical underpinning. They just enjoy the experience; and there’s nothing wrong with that––it’s a great way to spend time and it’s also a great stress-buster.”

Tips for first time naturists
For apprehensive first-timers, Whelan has advice: “While your first instinct might be to keep to the periphery of the beach, don’t. Go to the middle of the beach and find a spot. Unfortunately, at all of our beaches––not just the clothing-optional ones––there can be unsavoury characters who are attracted to the beach for the wrong reasons. If they’re going to be there, they’re going to be lurking in the shadows.”

“Naturism promotes positive body image. It helps you reach the conclusion that the perfect body is the one that you’re in at the moment––it doesn’t matter what shape or size it is.” Whelan says that naturism also provides “a great release of stress and tension, a powerful feeling of freedom… [and] a sense of connectedness.”

Whelan rejects the widely held misconception that Naturism is associated with sex. “We’re so conditioned, by the media and advertising, to think that the only time when you should be naked is when you’re in a sexual situation.” “Naturism is not a sexual experience; it’s a sensual experience,” he explained. “We take our clothes off for ourselves, not for anyone else.”

Stuart’s wife Lucia confirms that social nudity erodes anxieties about the body. Describing her first clothing-optional experience, she recalled, “When I was standing there, looking down at Cobblers Beach for the first time, it was obvious to me that we are just all the same. And that immediate realisation melted away so much fear and self-consciousness.” She added, “why on earth are we so ashamed of the naked body? The body is the most amazing miracle.”

Stuart added: “Once you’ve experienced the freedom of skinny-dipping, it’s awfully hard to go back to the constraints of the textile beaches with their conventional costumes––or ‘clothing-compulsed society’, as we call them.”

Nude Beach Events:

The annual Coast & Valley Naturists Nude Beach Picnic Day will take place on Saturday February 20 at Samurai Beach at Anna Bay. Samurai Beach is a legal clothing-optional beach just two and a half hours north of Sydney. For details, contact the Australian Naturist Federation at: ausnatural.org.au/cms/contact-us

The Sydney Skinny Nude Ocean Swim will take place on Sunday February 28 at Cobblers Beach at Middle Head. More than one thousand swimmers are expected to participate in the annual event. For more info visit: thesydneyskinny.com.au