American Nude Beaches are in Danger (and You can Help)

After spending a lot of time in Europe lately, especially in countries like Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Croatia, it’s hard to imagine a world without nude beaches. They’re everywhere, and they’re thriving. Often, this is to the annoyance of certain YouTubers who have to wake up at the crack of dawn just to be able to film a beach before it fills up.

Nude beaches in Europe work, and governments seem to understand that. Earlier this year, a new law even made some German nude beaches officially nude-obligatory. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case everywhere. For our naturist friends across the Atlantic, things aren’t looking as bright.

Before we dive deeper into that, we want to add a few important notes. First, throughout this blog post, we’ll use the terms “America” and “American” to refer to the United States and its citizens. We know that’s technically incorrect since America is the continent, but it makes the writing easier.

Second, we want to point out that this is not a political blog post. Geopolitics are a hot topic these days, but we believe naturism stands above that. We’d appreciate it if you refrain from political comments as well. All other comments are very much appreciated, though. With that said, let’s talk about American nude beaches.

The internet is full of prophets of doom. If we believed everything we read, naturism would have died in the early 2000s, again around 2011, and once more a couple of years ago. (No need to fact-check these dates, we made them up to make a point.) We constantly hear that naturism is dying, ageing, or that the youth have become too prudish. Tell us that again when we’re out filming at 6:30 a.m.

But among all the noise, there are some real facts. When American nude beaches make the news, it’s rarely for something positive. Our friends at Planet Nude do an excellent job reporting on issues like Denny Blaine in Seattle, which is constantly under threat, and more recently how Playalinda Beach in Florida may soon be gone because Elon Musk wants to launch rockets nearby. These are just a few examples.

Thankfully, Denny Blaine Beach has a strong community that stood up for its rights and is, according to recent reports, still holding firm. Playalinda’s case is widely known, when a high-profile businessman wants to shoot stuff into space, it becomes international news. As a result, AANR (the American Association for Nude Recreation) stepped in to help.

Sometimes, however, beaches lack a strong community, or the threats they face are harder to spot. A story from last year that blew our minds involved a new Florida law aimed at tightening regulations on massage establishments to prevent sexual exploitation and human trafficking. It unintentionally also posed a serious risk to nudist resorts. This wasn’t an attack on naturism itself, but naturism could have become collateral damage.

We’re not experts on the details. If you’d like to know more, you can read the full story on Planet Nude. What’s important is that someone recognized how this law could affect nudist resorts. Someone was watching, had the knowledge, and acted before it was too late. Such a person is called a lobbyist.

The B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation is an organization dedicated to preserving existing nude beaches and, hopefully, creating new ones along the way. While they work mainly in the USA, their efforts also extend internationally. They focus on education, not just for beachgoers but also for governments, environmental organizations, and the tourism industry. Think of them as a naturist federation, except that they largely focus on public spaces, like nude beaches.

They also sponsor lobbying efforts, like the one that caught the potential impact of the Florida massage law. But lobbyists don’t come cheap. We’ve heard some of the figures, and protecting nude beaches costs A LOT of money. Since B.E.A.C.H.E.S. isn’t a commercial organization and doesn’t have a membership system like most naturist federations, they rely entirely on donations from supporters. That’s where you come in.

We get it, countless voices are asking for your hard-earned money. There are giant pandas in China, global warming, and certain content creators on Patreon. They all want support. And honestly, if you had to choose between helping people in a war zone or a group of nudists in Florida, the choice is pretty obvious (sorry, B.E.A.C.H.E.S.…).

That’s why B.E.A.C.H.E.S. makes it more exciting by organizing an annual raffle. It’s a great system: businesses donate prizes, you buy raffle tickets to support the foundation, and you get a chance to win. Most prizes are free stays at resorts, but there are also boat tours, beach gear, and the grand prize: A cabin for two on the famous Bare Necessities Big Nude Boat Cruise.

Speaking of the cruise, if you’re still planning to go but haven’t booked yet, we have fantastic news. If you buy between $250 and $500 worth of raffle tickets, Bare Necessities gives you a discount worth double your ticket purchase. So, if you spend $300 on tickets, you get a $600 discount on your cruise.

Naturism is a small but international community. But that sense of global solidarity only works if we stick together and support one another in good times and bad.

In Belgium, we have a saying that goes something like: “When it storms in America, it drizzles in Europe.” Bad news has a way of crossing the Atlantic. Not only might we one day need the support of B.E.A.C.H.E.S., but by supporting them now, we may help prevent the need altogether.

To be fair, most raffle prizes aren’t particularly useful if you have no plans to visit the USA anytime soon. So we hopped on a call with a B.E.A.C.H.E.S. board member and got confirmation that you’re allowed to resell your prize(s). Of course, you might wonder how to do that.

That’s where we come in. If you win a prize but can’t redeem it, we’ll use our network to help you sell it. We can’t promise anything, but we have a pretty large audience, so there’s a good chance we’ll find someone eager to visit Bare Oaks, Cypress Cove, or BHH Resort.

So what are you waiting for? Screw the pandas!

No, that was a really bad joke, pandas are important. But so are nude beaches, and you can help sustain them.