Trip Report: Haulover Beach, Florida (first visit)

[brandon]

I'll get to the beach in a few paragraphs, so feel free to skip down.

General information for international members: Haulover Beach is near Miami, in south Florida, on the eastern (Atlantic Ocean) side of Florida.

I flew to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL) which is about 16 miles north of Haulover Beach. Miami International Airport (MIA) is about the same distance, but southwest of Haulover Beach. I chose Fort Lauderdale because I found a ridiculously low fare (on American Airlines.) I found Fort Lauderdale airport very convenient and efficient. I've never been to Miami airport, but it might be an equally good choice. Some fares might be more competitive to Fort Lauderdale because Southwest Airlines operates there.

I had never been south of Fort Lauderdale along the coastline before, and was shocked at how built-up it is. The coastline is an almost-continuous wall of high-rise condos and hotels. Strange to say, there wasn't much traffic along A1A, the coastal route, so I think most of the condos are owned by northerners who occupy their condos for only a few weeks of the year. Other owners are retired people who don't drive much. A lot of units may be vacant because Florida was hit hard by the 2008-2009 real estate collapse.

The was one break in the wall of highrises: Golden Beach is a town of one square kilometer (according to Wikipedia) of mansions. (Wikipedia notes that the town has an abnormally large police force for its size, most of which is dedicated to speed control along the main road.)

Then more highrises. Eventually there is a major gap in the wall of highrises, and that is Haulover Park. The beach is on the east (ocean) side of A1A, but parking is on the west side of A1A.

My visit was on a weekday, and the main parking lot entrance was closed. Entry was through the Boat Launch entry a little further south. Parking was a bargain at $6 with in-and-out privileges. (I saw a sign leaning behind the parking attendant booth that said something like "No free re-entry today" so you might not get that deal on weekends.

The parking lot was huge, filled with a lot of BMWs and other luxury cars, and one Ducati bike. There is a short walk on a beautiful boardwalk through the natural wetlands leading to the pedestrian underpass under A1A.

The beach is huge. I arrived mid-morning on a perfect day. I should have arrived earlier, because it was already very warm. I chose a spot closer to the water than anyone else. I guessed the other people were just scared of waves, but a few minutes later a huge Caterpillar bulldozer drove along the edge of the beach, missing my toes. A few minutes later a small helicopter buzzed the beach, and I thought it was going to be a very noisy day at the beach. But after that, it was quiet and peaceful, with just the wonderful sound of the waves until the bulldozer returned a couple of hours later.

Being close to the water you're on display to all the people in swimsuits walking along the shore to the textile beach to the south. They seemed totally cool about walking by nude people. Many of the walkers in swimsuits were in their teens and twenties, and maybe if they see young naturists, they'll give naturism a try.

Shortly after I arrived, a couple of very hot babes (they looked like sisters) set up their mats near me and stripped down completely nude. They spent a lot of time applying sunscreen and taking sexy pictures of each other. That was entertaining for me, but they attracted a steady stream of obese 70 year-old men with excessive back hair, strolling by to ogle them.

At least half of people on the beach were elderly, grossly overweight, men. Feel free to flame me for not upholding the value of body acceptance, but when people are naked, you really notice how seriously obese they are. We are a very obese nation, and if you gain 2 pounds (1kg) a year for fifty years, you're 100 pounds overweight, and overdue for a coronary. If I ever get over 130 pounds, I'm giving up chocolate bars!

Not all the naturists on the beach were elderly. There were some families with young children, some couples and gay men of various ages.

I went into the water several times up to my waist, but found it a bit cool. Others were swimming. By early afternoon, I found the air temperature too hot and the sun too intense, so I left around 1:30 pm. (The high temperature was 86 Fahrenheit  / 30 Celsius.)

I had not brought any sort of towel or mat in the morning, and was happy to just lie on the sand. The problem I discovered is that the sunscreen I had used (Water Babies aerosol) is like contact cement and I was coated in sand stucco.

To the consternation (or delight) of the people waiting, I stood in the outdoor shower (which was pleasantly luke-warm and had a strong spray) for over ten minutes trying to wash the sand off my back. It just wouldn't come off. Finally I gave up.

I went back to the hotel and had a long, hot shower which did eventually de-sand me.

I talked the housekeeper into giving me several extra towels and took them to the beach to lie on when I returned. That avoided the sand-glue problem.

To my surprise, the air temperature dropped rather quickly and the wind picked up. By 4pm I was cold. I left around 5pm.

I'm going to do a "Compare and Contrast" essay in the Polls section comparing the Haulover sand beach to Austin, Texas' limestone rock beach. You'll be able to vote on which you prefer.

[Danee]

Brandon, I had no idea you were that much into real Naturism. 

Saying that, I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to write of your experiences. 

-Danee

[Nude_not_rude]

Hey great post Brandon. I enjoyed reading it. Gave me a great sense of the area too. Thank you. Are you still there now, or was it just an overnight trip?

[brandon]

Glad you enjoyed it. The trip was two nights, with one day to spend at the beach. I'm back in Texas now.

You can of course use Google Earth or Google Maps (Satellite view) if you are interested in seeing the area.

[simonalexander2005]

great read, thanks :)

[Kismet]

I, too, really enjoyed this report. I have often thought of doing something similar. Good going

[JayJay]

Cool, that sounds like a good day and i can say that because of the way you posted about it. Thanks for taking the time and effort to do that and i look forward to reading the post about the contrasting beach.

[brandon]

For other members' first visits to Haulover, see:

Luke M   http://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,2906.0.html

youngjoe  http://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,2460.0.html

Both those reports were very interesting, and, in retrospect, I must thank youngjoe for planting the idea to visit Haulover. If I hadn't read his report, I probably wouldn't have been inspired to go.

youngjoe mentioned that the gawkers he saw were college-aged males. The gawkers I saw were old men. I think the difference is that he went during the Christmas break.

[JayJay]

Yeah i just read them too, they are also good. I liked youngjoes post as well because it is also very detailed like yours.

[brandon]

One more thing I forgot to mention: When I arrived at the beach, I veered to the right, perhaps because other people were walking that way. I went to the area between lifeguard stations 14 and 15. Later I walked further south to the end of the clothing optional section past lifeguard station 13. That end was not as busy, but the sand was not as nice, with more vegetation in it.

I didn't check out the north end, which I have since read is considered the gay area. I kind of regret that. It would have been interesting to see that end of the beach too.

If you want still more viewpoints, there are reviews at
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34439-d274006-Reviews-Haulover_Beach_Park-Miami_Beach_Florida.html

So far I've only scanned the previews (first couple of sentences) of those reviews.

[Luke M]

Great review. Some of the things you wrote I remember vividly like the bulldozer thing coming right by my feet and the helicopter circling around.

I had a similar experience where this gorgeous woman was laying out totally nude and guys (some of them fully clothed) would just walk right up to her to get a peek.

Haulover wasn't as great as I had hoped. I visit Playalinda Beach many times and not one time did I see gawkers on the beach.

[rc]

glad to hear you liked it

[NickUMA10]

Any good American naturist should visit Haulover at least once--it's beautiful. Thanks for your honest reactions.

[brandon]

An interesting statistic from Wikipedia about Haulover beach:

The northern area [0.6 km, or 25% of the shoreline] is officially recognized as clothing-optional but attracts 66% to 85% of park visitors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_nudity_places_in_North_America


Based on one report on another naturist website, it's a similar story at Hanlan's Point Beach, on the Toronto Islands, Toronto, Canada:

The beach was divided into two sections. The larger section with the lifeguard was a regular textile beach, and it was deserted.

http://iyns.org/stories.html

[youngjoe]

For other members' first visits to Haulover, see:

Luke M   http://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,2906.0.html

youngjoe  http://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,2460.0.html

Both those reports were very interesting, and, in retrospect, I must thank youngjoe for planting the idea to visit Haulover. If I hadn't read his report, I probably wouldn't have been inspired to go.

youngjoe mentioned that the gawkers he saw were college-aged males. The gawkers I saw were old men. I think the difference is that he went during the Christmas break.

Glad I could be of inspiration to you, that's definitely a change as it's always been the folks on these boards that inspired me.

Since that first trip I've been about 5 times, and I've noticed that yes, there are an awful lot of old men who gawk. Sometimes it's rather disturbing- definitely gives me a lot of sympathy for women as it seems most of these gawkers are gay, and they always leave me feeling violated just with their eyes.