Trying to plan my first ever trip to a nude beach, need advice

Let me say up front that this would take place next year but there are reasons why I have to try and see if this is possible this early which I will get into later.

I would like to either go to Haulover Beach or Playa Linda in Florida for the entire week before Memorial Day next May. But since I have never been to a nude beach or really any beach by myself over, I have some concerns and questions.

I figure I will have to get a beach blanket to carry and spread out but I can only take whatever I can carry by myself. The biggest concern I have is what do you do with your stuff on a beach? Wallet, car keys, phone, etc. I don't want to be confined to the blanket all day for a week. I would like to get out and go in the ocean, walk up and down the beach but I don't want my stuff just sitting out there waiting to be picked up. I've heard that you just need a little cash in case you want to buy something to eat but again what do you do with it when you're not there?

If this works and I like it I would like to try and go down there and do Haulover one year then Playa Linda the next. Make it an annual trip. Those of you that have been to both which one do you prefer and why? I think I would like to try Haulover first since it's the most popular.

Now to why I'm asking about this now instead of next year. Where I work you need to declare your vacation time as soon as that calendar hits the wall in January. I don't want to wait until after the first of the year only to find out the week I'm thinking about has been taken. But probably the bigger reason is that I get a new lease car in December. It's about a 1700 mile round trip to Haulover from where I live. It's a 400 mile round trip each time I go the nudist club I'm a member of. It's a 1260 mile round trip to the Caliente resort outside Tampa. I would iike to take a week to Caliente and another week to the beach. If I can do this I need to figure more miles into my lease which means a bigger payment.

I need to make a yes or no decision in the next few weeks so that is why I'm asking for some advice.

 

OK, but first up, this is Australia calling, not Flori-duh!
In 1991 I had my car, camping equipment, money and other personal belongings stolen from our local nudist beach, all because I was naive enough to leave it all (car keys especially!!) sitting just offside my towel on the beach while I walked about 500m or so along the beach to explore rock pools. The thieves then went on a $3,000 spending spree for smokes and grog on my credit cards! I had nothing to my name on the beach but Speedos and a towel to get a taxi home, which mum paid for! I must have looked like a washed-up refugee from Woodstock wandering around the resort town and hailing a taxi with nothing more than a towel wrapped hither.

I got another car from insurance soon after, but the loss of camera equipment, camping stuff and clothing hurt for a very long time afterwards. Don't leave anything in view on the sand for any length of time. Period.

Now, I take with me a waterproof, sealed satchel containing my wallet, car keys, phone etc. and bury it directly under the head of my towel on the beach. The reasoning for this is that "if it cannot be seen, it is assumed to not exist/be there!" Just make absolutely certain you remember what is under your towel, buried in the sand, when it comes to leaving and going home! Put a stick in the sand at the head of the towel as a sort of reminder. I have several creative variations to this theme in active practice, so would-be thieves picking up on this post are going to be sorely disappointed when they come a-lookin'...

For long walks, especially at night when when I am "away from base", I have a waist pack to carry everything with me, along with an advisory text on the back reading #nofucksgiven. It is an odd look for a nudist, I agree -- kind of like a cross between Survivor and Robinson Crusoe, but it's a very small inconvenience to pay for security and peace of mind knowing that your stuff will not be tampered or pinched! It's best to have your wits about you, big time, at a nudist beach. There are always lurkers watching and waiting for an opportunity to strike, and those opportunities arrive in aces and spades the moment a nudie goes walkabout say 1km from his/her towel. Woe betide you if your wallet and keys and wife's diamond ring (this has happened!) are gone (along with the car!) when you return. Ohhhhh boy...

Ye Gods! That is some travel!! It's a 25km one-way trip to my nudie beach, due to open again shortly after the long autumn-winter break! It's rideable on a mountain bike along quiet backroads, but I wouldn't do that in the dead of night with so many drunks letting rip and hooning in their cars.
You must have more than a little devotion to embark on a 1700 mile round trip to a beach just to doff your threads (2,735km to us metric Australians... jeez, that's far enough to drive from here where I am in Victoria to the Northern Territory's outback 'must see' places!).

 

Ive been to Haulover beach once and used to be a regular for three years to playalinda beach. I've never had any problems at either place. Haulover has the grub wagon come through and sometimes memorabilia for sale. Playalinda.... Pack a lunch. There are no vendors. I use a beach cart and put my umbrella, blankets, towels and cooler all in it. At playalinda lock everything in your car trunk. The only place I've seen suspicious activity there is in the parking lot. Take your car keys and put them in a plastic bag and keep them in your cart, cooler or under your blanket. At Haulover you will need to add your cash to the plastic bag. Feel free to pm me for any additional info

 

Bring plenty of sunscreen!

 

Yeah I think this would be a bad idea. I just would be too afraid that something like this could happen while I'm down there. You just have to a nude beach with more than one person by themselves. I don't think I'll be going. I'll just keep to the resorts and the nude beach thing will go back on the bucket list.

As far as distance, it's 400 miles round trip from my home to the club where I'm a member and I think I made that trip 7 Sundays this season so that's about 3000 miles alone just going to the club and back.

 

I usually take a daypack or a tote bag to the brach to carry towel, drink, sunscreen, maybe something to eat and read etc. I only take a little purse with a low amount of money with me, no cards etc. On the beach clothes, keys and money go into the bag. When we go swimming, we usually ask some people around to keep an eye on our things. Never made negative experiences yet.

Other possibility is to put car key and some money in a little water proof socalled beach box, you can hang it round your neck with a lace fixed to it. But for real swimming this is hindering.

 

Agree with *pixy*, nudists are a friendly bunch, just ask someone nearby to keep a watch on your belongings, I can't remember anyone ever saying no, and I've never said no to anyone who has asked. That casual request can sometimes lead to a further chat and making new friends on the beach too.
This isn't unique to nudist beaches though, it's the same for every beach, if you're on your own and want to take a dip in the sea you've got the same problem of what to do with your belongings regardless of whether you've got swimwear on or you're in the nude.
Just be sensible and only take to the beach your essential belongings, e.g. no need to take your entire wallet just some cash will be enough if you need any money at all.

 

I'm just almost sure now that it's not going to work out. I'm just so afraid of what could possibly happen, getting all of my personal belongings stolen so far away from home then trying to explain away why I was where I was, etc. But also from a financial standpoint because I got some preliminary numbers on my new vehicle lease and unless something drastically changes I'm probably not going to be able to afford to make that trip because my car payment is probably going to go WAY up. So much so that I won't be able to afford building in the extra mileage allowance to make that trip once a year, the Tampa trip, and the 7 hour round trip on pretty Sundays in the summer to my club.

 

i feel you on that i would love to go to a nude beach, club but due to health reasons i'm too broke to afford to travel to any of them so i feel it will always just be a dream never to come true

 

Aren't there any lakes, rivers, creeks nearer to you where you can go skinny-dipping? Just an idea ...

 

No there aren't.