5 minutes reading time
Jersey Shore postcards offer a glimpse into past vacations
Our grandparents had a lot of fun on the New Jersey shore. Just look at their postcards.
Paul Wood Jr., Brian Johnston and Jim Beckerman, NorthJersey.com
As I walked toward the Gunnison coast, it was like walking into a bottle of spray-on Coppertone sunscreen. The air was thick and spicy, and I’m sure I would have gotten a migraine if it hadn’t been cloudy that day.
Sunscreen, however, is an unspoken rule at New Jersey’s only nude beach – because if you don’t apply it, some areas of skin that are not used to UV rays will burn later.
I passed two communal tables piled high with lotion, holding my breath and hoping I would get used to the smell. I had arrived at the nude beach, but my mind was far from the bodies.
That was until someone complimented me.
“I wish I had abs like that,” a young naked man told me. “Keep it up, girl.”
I didn’t mind the flattery, but it made me think; if we were on a nude beach, maybe another An unspoken rule should be that we don’t talk about each other’s body parts. However, it was the wake-up call I needed to get my head out of the skincare section at Walmart.
For the first time (in the United States) I was surrounded by hundreds of people in nudes.
Visit New Jersey’s only nude beach
I didn’t know there was a nude beach in New Jersey. Last month I spent three weeks in France and Spain, where topless beaches are common, but I hadn’t seen one on this side of the Atlantic. It was my editor (again) who alerted me to the place.
Much like the time she urged me to go to a seedy dive bar in Montclair, she suggested I check out Gunnison.
“You’ll get a nice tan!” she said.
Since I really wanted to take a day off from writing, I accepted the assignment.
I arrived at the beach at 2pm on a Thursday. It’s a few miles past the Sandy Hook entrance and was an hour and 10 minute drive from North Jersey. Parking is $20.
Carrying the smallest beach bag ever—all I needed was a towel and a few snacks—I passed a bathhouse and a coffee bar. There was some sort of warning sign in front of it.
“WARNING,” it said, “you may encounter nude bathers.”
Fifty feet beyond this warning, silhouettes of naked bodies began to appear against the backdrop of the crashing waves.
“Welcome to the friendliest beach for miles around,” read a second sign. “Good vibes ahead.”
The “friendliest beach far and wide”
Parallel to the restrooms and coffee bar, the beach area closest to the entrance was packed with people. Topless college goers hung out next to retired couples clad only in flip-flops. Behind them, a group of four people played badminton. Volleyball and Frisbee could be seen further back.
The scene resembled a day in Point Pleasant – except for the nudity.
The level of nudity at this point on the beach varied. Some people wore swim trunks, others wore oversized t-shirts (presumably with nothing underneath), and still others were completely naked. However, everyone was at least partially naked.
In this first section, the visitor population was demographically diverse. I saw a mix of men and women ranging in age from babies (but not many) to seniors. There seemed to be a higher concentration of international visitors than at the clothed beach locations, but it wasn’t particularly noticeable. As for the socioeconomic makeup of the visitors, the number of hybrid vehicles with New York license plates in the parking lot suggested that the beach attracts some affluent guests.
I dare say that anyone who isn’t afraid of naked bodies (or is a 13-year-old) would feel comfortable under Gunnison’s towering lifeguard stands.
A change of scenery
I waded through ankle-deep water, leaving the most crowded part of the beach behind as I headed south. Although all parts of Gunnison were quiet—it’s a much more peaceful place than Seaside Heights or Wildwood—traversing the southern section felt almost like hiking through the woods.
There were few to no music speakers and the few seagulls barely screeched. The silence was somewhere between relaxing and strange.
While the entire beach attracts a very mixed population, this quieter section seems to be particularly popular with LGBTQ+ visitors.
This stretch of beach, like most of Gunnison, didn’t have many female guests that day. After a brief stay and only a few curious glances from the sunbathers, I turned and left.
Returning to the north end of the beach, I concluded that Gunnison has far more male visitors than female. (At least on the Thursday I was there.) If I had to guess, I’d say 75% of the beachgoers were men, many of them of mature age.
However, as a woman, I never felt threatened or uncomfortable during my visit, which is important to know for anyone considering a trip.
The history of nude beaches in New Jersey
There were a few nude beaches in New Jersey in the early 1900s. Higbee Beach in Cape May was a nude beach in the 1980s, but by the 1990s it was the responsibility of each municipality to determine whether nudity was legal within its boundaries.
Higbee did not fare well in court.
However, Gunnison is owned by the federal government and not a municipality, which is why the city still exists.
Today, people visit the nudist area for a quiet beach (no screaming children), friendlier beachgoers, and the opportunity to completely relax in the sun or waves.
I enjoyed the latter because floating naked through the gentle current was one of the most liberating personal experiences imaginable.
So if visiting a nude beach is on your bucket list, I think Gunnison is the place to go.
Because despite the overwhelming smell of sunscreen, the most pleasant part of Sandy Hook is just a normal beach full of people enjoying a day at the sea.
Kara VanDooijeweert is a food/lifestyle writer for NorthJersey.com and The Record. If you can’t find her at Jersey’s best restaurants, you’ll probably find her at a race track in the mountains. Find her on Instagram: @karanicolev and @northjerseyeatsand sign up for their North Jersey Eats Newsletter.
