Ann Wason Moore: Reasons why the Gold Coast should get a nude beach

Given the Gold Coast’s unofficial dress code already seems to be ‘clothing optional’, columnist Ann Wason Moore wonders whether that should be extended to our beaches.

Maslins Naturist Beach celebrating 50th anniversary. Shazz Weaver, president of Australian Naturist Federation, and her partner Barra Mundi (real name), are long time Maslins beach goers. 15 February 2025. Picture: Dean Martin

With ocean pools back up for debate, perhaps it’s time to uncover another piece of the full Gold Coast seaside experience: nude beaches.

Given what constitutes the modern bikini is just about as good as naked, is there reason to remain prude when it comes to getting nude?

Personally, I’d much rather there be a specific beach where everyone can let it all hang out … so that I know to avoid it.

Currently, you can visit any of our major beaches on any day and chances are you’ll cop quite the eyeful, but if you say anything in protest, chances are you’ll cop an earful.

We have a clash of two cultures on our beaches — #freethepeach versus #banthegstring — and the rest of us normies are caught in between.

So let’s find a beach where we can plant these peaches, melons and bananas to frolic in peace, while families and devotees of the demure can sun themselves with no fear of overexposure, other than the UV.

Bradley Benham, Duncan James and Maxine Hawker at Tyagarah Nudist Beach near Byron Bay. Picture by Luke Marsden.

It seems strange that the Gold Coast, hometown of the scantily clad Meter Maids, multiple strip clubs and a standard level of dress that could be best described as undressed, does not already host such a beach.

After all, Maslin Beach in South Australia just celebrated its 50th anniversary as the country’s first nude beach.

When South Australian premier Don Dunstan first announced part of Maslins would legally become ‘clothing optional’, he said his government made the decision because numbers of nude bathers had already been rising at the beach, creating difficulties for police.

In its editorial on February 14, 1975, The Advertiser said the nude beach was a “logical, if ultimate, extension of the move from neck-to-knee outfits to the briefest of bikinis and trunks”.

While Queensland police aren’t necessarily patrolling the nudie beat in the sunshine state, there is no doubt that ‘clothing optional’ could describe much of our current fashion, on and off the beach.

Besides, state rivalry aside, a sandy strip for naturists is not necessarily lewd, but could actually be lucrative.

Naturists have held a rally at Tyagarah Beach near Byron Bay on Sunday to save its clothing optional status. Picture: Sam Stolz

Gold Coast social media pages regularly receive inquiries about whether we offer a clothing-optional beach and according to a 2016 estimate by the Australian Sex Party, a nudist beach would be worth $50m annually to the Gold Coast.

Back in 2021, then-Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce boss Martin Hall said the city needed to consider bold and out-of-the-box ideas and clothes-free beaches would be a major tourist attraction for European visitors.

“If Covid taught us anything, it’s that there is a need to innovate,” he said.

“(Nudists) are a pocket of society and we should make sure we cater to everyone’s interests.”

A poll by the Gold Coast Bulletin found that almost 70 per cent of readers supported a nudist beach in the city.

But at the time, Mayor Tom Tate, Deputy Mayor Donna Gates and Surfers Paradise Councillor Darren Taylor all rebuffed the request for an in-the-buff beach.

“I think we are already a booming tourist destination without a nude beach,” Cr Taylor told the Bulletin at the time.

Gold Coast bikini business Barr Body Swims #freedomofpeach walk at Kurrawa beach. Rebacca Pask (in orange) leads the protest. Picture Glenn Hampson

Cr Taylor also cited public safety concerns, which is understandable, but the dunes are already a no-go zone and the threat of anyone’s privates getting papped by an iPhone certainly does not seem to dissuade the many beachgoers who expose some, if not all, in public.

As one commenter wrote on the Gold Coast Reddit page:

“There were six girls topless sunbathing in a row at Burleigh beachfront park. Then suddenly out of nowhere four busloads of primary school kids parade past them. The look on the teachers’ faces when the kids started pointing and talking about all the boobies… Those kids will remember that excursion forever.”

Even if it’s all too much for our city to bare, perhaps we could at least have a beach where topless bathing is considered the norm to help avoid these awkward situations — for both the bathers and the passers-by.

Originally published as Ann Wason Moore: Reasons why the Gold Coast should get a nude beach