Posts filed under ‘Clothing Optional Beaches’
>Red, White and Blue Beach in Calif to be sold
>
Red, White and Blue Beach owner throws in the towel
SANTA CRUZ — It’s a tough job overseeing a nude beach, and after 41 years, the owner of Red, White and Blue Beach says it’s time to throw in the towel and sell his property.
Ralph Edwards, 83, and his wife Kathleen raised their five children in the white two-story house that sits on 170 acres above the beach off Highway 1, six miles north of Santa Cruz.
The clothing-optional beach has been host to visitors from all over the world who come to bronze in the sun, camp overnight and fire up a barbecue pit.
“You can go any way you want, it’s clothing-optional,” Edwards said while walking his dog, Spike, on the deserted beach.
But Edwards, who says he isn’t a nudist, is ready to go his own way.
“It’s too much work for me,” he said, a pair of tinted glasses and a “Nude Expert Quality Control” baseball cap blocking the sun.
He purchased the land from the Scaroni family in 1965 without a plan but with a bunch of ideas, from building condominiums to opening a mobile home park. He teased about running a nudist operation.
He even threw around a few unofficial names, like Skinnydipper’s Paradise, that he can’t help but laugh about as he remembers them today.
It turns out a nude beach was the only plan taken seriously by the county.
“I couldn’t get permits for anything else,” he said.
He said his wife, who is living with Alzheimer’s disease in a care facility in the city of Santa Cruz, at first didn’t care much for the idea of a nude beach. But it grew into a family business that has attracted 60,000 people a year, mostly tourists from San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Nude people don’t want to be close to home doing that scene,” he said, noting locals account for roughly 6 percent of his customers.
Some members of his family don’t like to hang out at the beach, either.
“Some of them don’t like to be associated with something like this,” he said. “That’s their prerogative.”
But the pristine beach gets plenty of attention through nudist publications and the Internet. It’s on the Travel Channel’s top 10 list of best nude beaches in the world — the only such beach in California to be revealed.
Santa Cruz resident Toby Gray, a frequent visitor to the Red, White and Blue, said he and his wife have been enjoying the beach for many years. They’ve always gone back because of the family-friendly atmosphere, he said, and to hear bands play around the campfire.
“The whole campground would fill up,” he said.
A few hard-core nudists would bare it all, he said, but most people in the camping areas wore a wrap or sarong. Down on the beach, most people laying out don’t cover up.
“It’s always been very safe and friendly there,” he said.
The private setting is a big reason people feel comfortable at the beach, Edwards said.
“I was real lucky to have something like this,” he said.
While refusing to name a price for the property, saying he prefers to sell it privately, he said the next property owner can live the life of a movie star, and make it their own private estate, as he has since 1965.
“Except I got these naked people coming into my backyard,” he said. “Yes, it’s funny when you think about it.”
Contact Soraya Gutierrez at sgutierrez@santacruzsentinel.com.
Red, White and Blue Beach in Calif to be sold
Red, White and Blue Beach owner throws in the towel
SANTA CRUZ — It’s a tough job overseeing a nude beach, and after 41 years, the owner of Red, White and Blue Beach says it’s time to throw in the towel and sell his property.
Ralph Edwards, 83, and his wife Kathleen raised their five children in the white two-story house that sits on 170 acres above the beach off Highway 1, six miles north of Santa Cruz.
The clothing-optional beach has been host to visitors from all over the world who come to bronze in the sun, camp overnight and fire up a barbecue pit.
“You can go any way you want, it’s clothing-optional,” Edwards said while walking his dog, Spike, on the deserted beach.
But Edwards, who says he isn’t a nudist, is ready to go his own way.
“It’s too much work for me,” he said, a pair of tinted glasses and a “Nude Expert Quality Control” baseball cap blocking the sun.
He purchased the land from the Scaroni family in 1965 without a plan but with a bunch of ideas, from building condominiums to opening a mobile home park. He teased about running a nudist operation.
He even threw around a few unofficial names, like Skinnydipper’s Paradise, that he can’t help but laugh about as he remembers them today.
It turns out a nude beach was the only plan taken seriously by the county.
“I couldn’t get permits for anything else,” he said.
He said his wife, who is living with Alzheimer’s disease in a care facility in the city of Santa Cruz, at first didn’t care much for the idea of a nude beach. But it grew into a family business that has attracted 60,000 people a year, mostly tourists from San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Nude people don’t want to be close to home doing that scene,” he said, noting locals account for roughly 6 percent of his customers.
Some members of his family don’t like to hang out at the beach, either.
“Some of them don’t like to be associated with something like this,” he said. “That’s their prerogative.”
But the pristine beach gets plenty of attention through nudist publications and the Internet. It’s on the Travel Channel’s top 10 list of best nude beaches in the world — the only such beach in California to be revealed.
Santa Cruz resident Toby Gray, a frequent visitor to the Red, White and Blue, said he and his wife have been enjoying the beach for many years. They’ve always gone back because of the family-friendly atmosphere, he said, and to hear bands play around the campfire.
“The whole campground would fill up,” he said.
A few hard-core nudists would bare it all, he said, but most people in the camping areas wore a wrap or sarong. Down on the beach, most people laying out don’t cover up.
“It’s always been very safe and friendly there,” he said.
The private setting is a big reason people feel comfortable at the beach, Edwards said.
“I was real lucky to have something like this,” he said.
While refusing to name a price for the property, saying he prefers to sell it privately, he said the next property owner can live the life of a movie star, and make it their own private estate, as he has since 1965.
“Except I got these naked people coming into my backyard,” he said. “Yes, it’s funny when you think about it.”
Contact Soraya Gutierrez at sgutierrez@santacruzsentinel.com.
Nude Beaches YES sign waving this Sunday
Nude Beaches YES! Meeting for coffee at Peet’s.
Definitely support in Fremont
Hmmm, an extra statue here.Wonder who put the SLUGS cap on it?
Standing on the corner,Watching all the cars go by . . .
In Fremont you expect the eclectic and an acceptance of diverse ideas . . . and that we certainly received from almost everyone we passed. Especially the young adults, male and female both, who were in a hurry to pose with us, holding the signs. Mark brought along quite a few signs . . . he should have brought more because couples took up signs and went off displaying them elsewhere. Encouraging!
Fremont is also a major arterial between very conservative Ballard and downtown Seattle. A lot of those late model SUVs passing through from Ballard honked (which set of a cascade of honking) and gave us very smiley thumbs up gestures. These people couldn’t look more suburban and conservative. At the very least we gave them a moment of levity . . . at the best, the nascent awareness and food for thought . . .
>Nude Beaches YES sign waving this Sunday
>
Nude Beaches YES! Meeting for coffee at Peet’s.Definitely support in FremontHmmm, an extra statue here.Wonder who put the SLUGS cap on it?
Standing on the corner,Watching all the cars go by . . .
In Fremont you expect the eclectic and an acceptance of diverse ideas . . . and that we certainly received from almost everyone we passed. Especially the young adults, male and female both, who were in a hurry to pose with us, holding the signs. Mark brought along quite a few signs . . . he should have brought more because couples took up signs and went off displaying them elsewhere. Encouraging!
Fremont is also a major arterial between very conservative Ballard and downtown Seattle. A lot of those late model SUVs passing through from Ballard honked (which set of a cascade of honking) and gave us very smiley thumbs up gestures. These people couldn’t look more suburban and conservative. At the very least we gave them a moment of levity . . . at the best, the nascent awareness and food for thought . . .
Nude Beaches YES sign waving this Sunday
Nude Beaches YES! Meeting for coffee at Peet’s.Definitely support in FremontHmmm, an extra statue here.Wonder who put the SLUGS cap on it?
Standing on the corner,Watching all the cars go by . . .
In Fremont you expect the eclectic and an acceptance of diverse ideas . . . and that we certainly received from almost everyone we passed. Especially the young adults, male and female both, who were in a hurry to pose with us, holding the signs. Mark brought along quite a few signs . . . he should have brought more because couples took up signs and went off displaying them elsewhere. Encouraging!
Fremont is also a major arterial between very conservative Ballard and downtown Seattle. A lot of those late model SUVs passing through from Ballard honked (which set of a cascade of honking) and gave us very smiley thumbs up gestures. These people couldn’t look more suburban and conservative. At the very least we gave them a moment of levity . . . at the best, the nascent awareness and food for thought . . .
Sauvie Island Visit
It’s a three hour drive but worth it for a whole day of sunshine, though for awhile it looked like the sunshine had abandoned us. Overcast and cloudy until almost 3 pm at which time the sun finally overcame the clouds and burned down on us with a vengence.
The beach was full of people trying to escape the muggy 100 deg + weather. Volleyball games, parties and bbqs going on . . . kids splashing in the water. All great fun. If you haven’t yet visited Collins Beach on Sauvie Island you are missing a great opportunity to enjoy clothing-optional recreation in a no-stress, friendly and safe manner. Here’s a link to a description of Collins Beach from my Interactive Google Map
>Sauvie Island Visit
>
It’s a three hour drive but worth it for a whole day of sunshine, though for awhile it looked like the sunshine had abandoned us. Overcast and cloudy until almost 3 pm at which time the sun finally overcame the clouds and burned down on us with a vengence.
The beach was full of people trying to escape the muggy 100 deg + weather. Volleyball games, parties and bbqs going on . . . kids splashing in the water. All great fun. If you haven’t yet visited Collins Beach on Sauvie Island you are missing a great opportunity to enjoy clothing-optional recreation in a no-stress, friendly and safe manner. Here’s a link to a description of Collins Beach from my Interactive Google Map
Sauvie Island Visit
It’s a three hour drive but worth it for a whole day of sunshine, though for awhile it looked like the sunshine had abandoned us. Overcast and cloudy until almost 3 pm at which time the sun finally overcame the clouds and burned down on us with a vengence.
The beach was full of people trying to escape the muggy 100 deg + weather. Volleyball games, parties and bbqs going on . . . kids splashing in the water. All great fun. If you haven’t yet visited Collins Beach on Sauvie Island you are missing a great opportunity to enjoy clothing-optional recreation in a no-stress, friendly and safe manner. Here’s a link to a description of Collins Beach from my Interactive Google Map
Rooster Rock well under water
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES, © 2006 The Seattle Times CompanyI was recently asked when the water levels will be going down and I’d like to offer my response:
The water gets lower that by the beginning of August there should be an appreciable beach at the end of Buffalo Trail and you should be able to wade out to Sand Island if you are careful . . . the the water will still be bellybutton to chest high and deeper many places. The river is
higher than normal this year . . . at 17 – 19 ft (measured below Bonneville).Water levels will steadily drop as we go into August with the mean around 15 ft and dropping to around 10 ft by the beginning of September. The water levels stay steady throughout the months of September and October before beginning the rise slowly again during November.
In general (a couple of people are working on a model for the group); when the water level (as measured at the Bonneville gage site) is:
>15 ft (beginning of August) – most of the clothing optional area and the un-vegetated areas of Sand Island are covered by water,
12-15 ft (into the middle of August)and it is possible to wade/swim out to Sand Island though little beach will be evident,
10-12 ft (last week of August) and much of the beach is becoming exposed and the trails/vegetation are drying-up. As the water level approaches 10 ft you will be able to walk to Sand Island in no more than ankle-deep water.
>Rooster Rock well under water
>
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES, © 2006 The Seattle Times CompanyI was recently asked when the water levels will be going down and I’d like to offer my response:
The water gets lower that by the beginning of August there should be an appreciable beach at the end of Buffalo Trail and you should be able to wade out to Sand Island if you are careful . . . the the water will still be bellybutton to chest high and deeper many places. The river is
higher than normal this year . . . at 17 – 19 ft (measured below Bonneville).Water levels will steadily drop as we go into August with the mean around 15 ft and dropping to around 10 ft by the beginning of September. The water levels stay steady throughout the months of September and October before beginning the rise slowly again during November.
In general (a couple of people are working on a model for the group); when the water level (as measured at the Bonneville gage site) is:
>15 ft (beginning of August) – most of the clothing optional area and the un-vegetated areas of Sand Island are covered by water,
12-15 ft (into the middle of August)and it is possible to wade/swim out to Sand Island though little beach will be evident,
10-12 ft (last week of August) and much of the beach is becoming exposed and the trails/vegetation are drying-up. As the water level approaches 10 ft you will be able to walk to Sand Island in no more than ankle-deep water.
Nude Hiking and Soaking in the Pacific Northwest 
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