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Nude Beaches

Monterey County

Soberanes Creek

Improved directions!

Rating: C

Between Point Lobos and Garrapata Beach, one of Monterey County's most popular walking trails will lead you to a creekside skinny-dipping hole that most hikers don't know is there. To find the trailhead, look for cars pulled over on the inland side of Highway 1, near Garrapata. You can't see a marker from the highway, but if no cars are there, the best landmark is a large pullout under a row of cypresses next to the highway.

 

Legal status:

Part of Garrapata State Park.Read more »

North Marina

Rating: C

Just 300 feet north of Marina State Beach, these sand dunes have been attracting nude sunbathers for years. "People have been going here for two decades," says Tom of Monterey. The main spot used by nudies is between two large sand dunes close to shore. "It's warm and secluded," says Debbie, a frequent visitor and local business owner.


Legal status:

Unknown, believed to be private property.


How to find it:Read more »

Pfeiffer Beach

Rating: A

At the north end of Big Sur's federally owned Pfeiffer Beach, prepare to be amazed: sunset-watching can't get any better than it does from this shoreline, where clothing is optional unless someone complains. Note that nudity isn't allowed at similar-sounding Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, which is a nearby state beach.

 

Legal status:

Part of the Los Padres National Forest, whose rangers generally ignore nudists unless someone complains.


How to find it:Read more »

Fernwood

Rating: C

In the Big Sur area, next to a creek near the Fernwood Resort and its Redwood Grill restaurant, visitors will find a nude swimming hole with some telltale signs of the hippie era of the 1960s.  "Look for old couches on the riverbank, naked people, and a river," says Fred, of Pacific Grove. "Nobody bothers you." The site is about 30 miles south of Carmel.

 

Legal status:

Unknown.

 

How to find it:Read more »

Big Sur River

Rating: C

Set on the Big Sur River, this sandy shoal is the central coast's oldest nude beach. But it's also heavily used by suited visitors. The beach is some 25 miles south of Carmel, off Highway 1 at Pheneger Creek, behind the Big Sur River Inn, located at 46840 Highway 1.

 

Legal status:

Unknown.


How to find it:Read more »

Coyote Flat

Rating: C

Remote, yet easily reachable Coyote Flat receives a steady stream of skinny-dippers, even though rangers frown on nude activity in the rest of the state property. Many locals think of it as one of the best places to cool off on hot summer days. "A lot of people go there, and they do sometimes go naked," says a visitor.


Legal status:

Part of Andrew Molera State Beach, where rangers discourage clothing-optional sunbathing. That being said, nobody in recent memory has been cited here.Read more »

Garrapata Beach

Improved directions!

Rating: B

For now, Garrapata State Park, where rangers have posted anti-nudity signs, remains open. But it is expected to be closed, due to state budget cuts, by July 2012. The remaining nude sunbathers have been pushed to the northern edge of the beach. Officials say the nudists are vulnerable to citations if complaints are received. The property, located between Carmel and Big Sur, is breathtakingly beautiful, with picturesque coves, hidden caves, a lagoon, and hills that are bursting with spring flowers.

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Carmel Meadows

Rating: C

Want to tune-up your tan near a movie landmark?  At the lovely beach known as Carmel Meadows, you'll be just a half mile from a famous cypress tree featured in Play Misty For Me, which starred Clint Eastwood, who later became the mayor of Carmel.  Most visitors sunbathe with nary a stitch on at the beach.  Suited users seem to prefer nearby Carmel River State Park.


Legal status:

Carmel River State Park property.


Read more »

Los Padres Reservoir

Rating: C

Being what the British call "starkers" is illegal at Los Padres Reservoir, some 20 miles east of Carmel, but when summer temperatures climb into the 90s or beyond, it isn't unusual to spot a few young nudies taking the plunge. Rather than risk citations, some like to sunbathe without suits in lakeside areas sheltered from easy view. The swim spots are around five miles east of Carmel Village, off Carmel Valley Road (G-16).

 

Legal status:Read more »

Elsewhere Near the Bucket

Rating: C

A little upstream from the Bucket are two more swimming holes: Bucket Bend and the Rope Swing.  Bucket Bend, the most private and deepest of these pools, has a small, sandy beach about 50 feet from the Bucket.  The Rope Swing (named after a rope swing that was on the property) is a large, shallow, clothing-optional swim spot.

 

Legal status:

Believed to be private property.

 

How to find it:Read more »

The Bucket

Rating: C

Dozens of suited visitors enjoy refreshing dips in Carmel Valley's most popular swimming hole, the Bucket, and two other holes near it on weekends. But on weekdays when others aren't around -- best bets include morning and late afternoon -- these Carmel Valley Road sites still get a few skinny-dippers. Use of them dropped off after a flood washed away some of the plants that kept the hole hidden from view.


Legal status:

Believed to be private property.


Read more »

Pebble Beach

Rating: C

There isn't any naked golfing allowed at Pebble Beach Nude Cove, but that hasn't stopped visitors from sunbathing in the buff in what amounts to a huge sand trap below the world-famous greens. "It's remote, out of the way, and people can't see you from nearby Carmel Beach," says Fred, of Pacific Grove, who found the site while walking along the shore one day.


Legal status:

Believed to be Monterey County land.


How to find it:Read more »

The Crater

Rating: C

Craters aren't just found on the Moon.  There's also a crater-like depression of sand just a block from Seaside's Edgewater Mall.  Used by a few naturists for naked sunbathing, the bowl-like formation has high walls that keep it nearly hidden from view.

 

Legal status:

Unknown, but may be part of Fort Ord Dunes State Park.


How to find it:Read more »

Indian Head Beach

Rating: C

Naturists have been asking the state to set aside part or all of a beach in the town of Marina for years, but so far their proposal has fallen on deaf ears.  The good news: although most visitors keep their suits on, the area's getting occasional clothing-optional use on warm summer days and during trips by nudist groups. "A few walkers and fishermen also come by," says Tiburon lawyer Charles Harris II, who has been helping push the project.

 

Legal status:

Part of Fort Ord Dunes State Park.Read more »

Zmudowski Beach State Park

Rating: C

Named after Watsonville teacher Mary Zmudowski who donated the land to California in the 1950s, this beach is one of 70 parks and beaches being closed by the state under an austerity budget that Jerry Brown signed into effect on June 30. Park officials say the closures will not take effect until at least July 2012, but before then days and hours open may be reduced. Read more »