When in doubt, it doesn't hurt to ask.

[Mosquito_Bait]

So I was on a trip to northern California and decided to stop at College Cove, which I had known to be a nude beach many years ago. Beach access from a parking area at the northern end of the beach had been improved. The vast majority of people on the beach were within a few hundred feet of that access point. All were either fully dressed or in swimsuits. At the southern end of the beach, there was just one couple sitting. They were fully dressed. I waded into the water in my under shorts and decided that wasn't satisfactory, so I approached the young couple and asked if they would mind if I stripped off. They replied, "Not at all!", so I did. Periodically, someone would hike down to the area of the beach where I was, but nobody approached very close, and nobody voiced objection to my nudity.

College Cove is beautiful. It is a sandy beach in a rocky cove and is surrounded by slopes covered in evergreens. Despite it being August, the weather was not warm even by northern California standards. I made a couple of excursions into the water up to my neck. I was only able to stay in a few minutes before the cold got to me. With the breeze, it was actually a bit chilly sitting on the beach until I dried off.

I had assumed the weather was the main reason there weren't other nudists on the beach, but friends later told me the nudists had moved to nearby Baker Beach after the beach access improvements had been made a College Cove.

I wondered if it would be a valid defense if law enforcement had appeared and I told them the other beach-goers hadn't objected to my nudity. From what I have been told, law enforcement on California beaches generally asks that a person get dressed before threatening arrest.

[sunloverguy]

I used to hang out at college cove a lot, back in the 80’s it could have hundreds of nudists with volleyball and everything. Over the years it was slowly infiltrated by looky -loos and a zealous park ranger who really hated nudists. After a public backlash, we settled on a policy where the north cove where the trail comes down to was clothed, the south coves where clothing optional. Over the years, the amount of clothed visitors far exceeded the nudists, I think it was due to the parking lot and trail improvements. I rarely go there anymore

[Mosquito_Bait]

Sunloverguy, Do you ever go to Baker Beach? Friends told me that is where the nudists have relocated. I did not visit. I did visit Clam Beach with a friend though it was a cold, foggy, and breezy morning that was not conducive to getting naked. My friend takes her dog there in the early morning on a regular basis. She told me there is a man she often sees going for an early morning nude run on the beach.

[sunloverguy]

Clam beach is usually populated with cars and clothed folks, but even on some of our clothed beaches I have done nude runs when no one is around. Baker beach is the spot now, but little room to run and can have a problem finding spots for a blanket if crowded. I like roomier places so I rarely go. Also lots of looky loos on the bluff above it, not that that ever bothered me

[swedenu]

Love Baker Beach!

[Mosquito_Bait]

^^ That's a different Baker Beach. There is a Baker Beach in the Humboldt Bay area and another Baker Beach near the San Francisco end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

[swedenu]

Ahh. OK. I didn’t know that.