Nudist Beach: Wreck Beach In Vancouver
BeoWolf
http://www.wreckbeach.org/
http://www.worldwidenudismnaturism.com/pages/beachguides/wreck/wreck.htm
This legal nude beach can get insanely crowded on a hot day (hot days
in Vancouver occur less often than solar eclipses) so get there early
and you can park for free along the side of the road up top. Otherwise,
you'll have to park in a university lot or parking complex and this
costs money!
Access to Wreck Beach from the north is by way of the Spanish Banks
Public Beach. This access is recommended for those wanting to avoid the
strenuous climbs required for the various trails. From downtown
Vancouver, take I-5, turn off into Fourth Avenue, head west into
Northwest Marine Drive Follow it west several miles onto the university
grounds. Where the road begins to climb, get off and park; you're 90
meters (less than 300 yards) or so from Spanish Banks Beach. Walk left
for a couple of hundred meters.
Getting naked: If the relaxed, hippie-ish islands bred with oddball
Commercial Drive, Wreck Beach would be their unrepentant wild child.
It's an anything-goes kind of place -- and mostly what goes are your
clothes, since Wreck Beach is a nude beach (though, as long as you're
respectful, you don't have to be in the buff). The setting shocks and
awes: A steep path behind the University of British Columbia carries
visitors down to the undeveloped, log-strewn shoreline. The thick
surrounding forest shields the beach so it feels worlds away from the
big city, yet downtown is a mere few miles away.
And "undeveloped" doesn't mean lacking in creature comforts. On warm
weekends in particular, Wreck Beach explodes with enterprising vendors
who set up shop on the sand, so procurement of a baked potato, glass of
wine, haircut, massage and/or musk-ox burger are equally possible. The
naked roving banana salesman remains a crowd favorite.
Unfortunately, the beach's vibe is coming under threat, as the
university tries to build residence towers on the hill overlooking the
shore -- an act that's sparked naked protest marches
Named for a hulking, wrecked vessel that once sat on the sand, Wreck
Beach is the shore of choice for Vancouver students. Just several
hundred steps below the University of British Columbia, the
three-mile-long beach is a wildlife and nesting area for both bald
eagles and bald bodies. Other sections of the beach assume a more
carnival-like atmosphere. One stretch on the beach known as Vendors'
Row is a one-stop shop for souvenirs, refreshments and the
ever-important sunscreen.
Where else in North America -- let alone in the world -- can you spend
spring mornings skiing powder snow, and then, spend the afternoons
sunning your bare buns, but at Wreck Beach, Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada?!
This 7.8 kilometers long wilderness-like beach, which follows a
promontory below an emerald-green forested, 200-foot high, cliff system
weathered to beauty akin the White cliffs of Dover, is Canada's first
and largest, legal, clothing-optional beach and is a Mecca to visitors
from around the world!
Over 500,000 visitors annually find their way down the many sylvan
trails to the glistening sands and sparkling waters where the mighty
Fraser River waters mingle with those of the Strait of Georgia and
English Bay. Eagles, kingfishers, Pileatted woodpeckers and escaped
exotic domestics such as parrots, lovebirds and magpies compliment the
stately Great Blue herons as they scout the shallow beach waters in
search of fish. The largest heronry in the Vancouver area is found in
the upland forests behind Wreck Beach for these magnificent birds.
On a glorious summer weekend, literally, over 14,000 visitors can flock
to the beach which stretches from the Musqueam Reserve to Spanish Banks
West. Vendors' Row, which stretches down the middle of the beach below
Trail 6, offers such wonders as exotic paraeos from the South Seas to
exquisite hand-crafted jewelry and glass boxes.
If you're hungry, Lucy's Peruvian empanada's, Stormin' Norman's buffalo
burgers, Abduhl's Dagwood-type fresh ham and cheese or tuna sandwiches
will more than sate your appetite! Liquid refreshments go down well on
scorchingly-hot days and whether you crave the icy cold wonder of
Marco's organic fruit juices and pops or Joseph's blended fresh fruit
smoothies -- you don't have to go thirsty!
Whatever you need from Wreck Beach -- soothing silence to a carnival
atmosphere, or replenishment of your soul -- is yours for the seeking
depending on what section or "personality" of the beach you choose.