The Treasure Coast Naturists are throwing a bit of a beach party at Blind Creek Beach. Bathing suits are optional. Actually, they’re not recommended if you’re wanting to avoid attention.
“Ironically, some of the people who show up and don’t take off their clothes, they’re the ones who are looked at,” Nelson Jones, president, said.
The organization will have its third annual Skinny Dip on Sunday, July 16. At 2 p.m., organizers will do an official count of skinny dippers at Blind Creek Beach, on Hutchinson Island. The beach parking is at 6686 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach, just north of the power plant. The event is part of the American Association for Nude Recreation’s Nude Recreation Week. About 156 participated in the skinny dip last year.
“We suggest people get there early and get signed in,” Jones said.
Nelson said the annual skinny dip likely draws some first-time skinny dippers who see the added crowd as a way to avoid notice. Others, he said, might prefer to try it the first time when the beach is a bit empty. Blind Creek Beach is St. Lucie County’s somewhat designated clothing-optional beach.
Back in 2014 a group of local naturists — who are sometimes called nudists — talked with county and law-enforcement officials about leaving skinny dippers be at Blind Creek.
Turns out that Florida’s laws don’t really speak to clothing requirements. Nelson said a local judge explained to the naturists and county officials that for all practical purposes, skinny dippers could legally swim wherever they wished.
The nude-swimming advocates didn’t really want to make public spectacles of swimming at other beaches to make that point. They just wanted the county to quietly agree that nude swimmers at Blind Creek would be left alone.
“It has been used for clothing optional for quite some time, but there have been some misconceptions among law enforcement,” Jones said.
Blind Creek is secluded, so for about three decades it drew nude swimmers. Sometimes they ran afoul with cops.
“There’s no construction near it,” Jones said. “It was a good, logical place for it.”
In June 2014, a group of about 30 naturists tested the waters, so to speak. They showed up and dropped their drawers to see if deputies would intervene. They didn’t, so Blind Creek became St. Lucie’s more-or-less official clothing-optional beach.
The Treasure Coast Naturists have assumed responsibility to care for the beach. For example, the group placed three portable toilets there. Additionally, the group got word out that the beach was open for business. No shoes, no shirt, or any other clothing for that matter, no problem.
Jones said that on any given weekend with the right water and air temperatures for swimming, about 400 to 600 head to Blind Creek Beach. No official polls have been taken, but Jones said it seems the beach has become a hidden tourist draw.
“Half of (visitors) are on vacation,” he said. “The other half ranges from Palm Beach County on up to Titusville.”
Most of the locals are from St. Lucie County, Jones said. Many, he speculated, are likely from St. Lucie West and Tradition. Jones said if you don’t think your neighbors are skinny dipping at Blind Creek, you’re likely mistaken.
“There’s a lot of people who do this and don’t talk about it,” Jones said.
The visitors from afar are sometimes from Canada and Europe. Jones said nude recreation is an estimated $7.3 billion business in the state. He said national and international naturists head to Florida for the same reason everyone else does: it’s the Sunshine State. Many head to Florida for all the usual reasons (the theme parks, etc.), but carve off some days for nude recreation while here.
“There’s a certain amount of freedom to get rid of your clothes,” Jones said. He added, “I feel very connected to nature that way. There’s nothing between me and the universe, nature.”
Jones said there’re no special instructions or precautions for skinny dipping in the ocean. Of course, sunscreen is highly recommended, especially on skin that rarely gets sunlight.
First-time Blind Creek visitors should visit the Treasure Coast Naturists’ website to read up on etiquette.
To learn more about the Treasure Coast Naturists and the third annual Skinny Dip, visit www.treasurecoastnaturists.org.