I was thinking of making a trip to Leysdown beach later in the year but I have heard all sorts of conflicting stories about it and all the reviews I have seen are somewhat out of date - as we all know things change so quickly at such locations. One minute they are designated naturist beaches, the next they are not.
Are there any members who have been there in the last year and who can give me an objective view of this particular beach?
Harry S.
I been a few times when I worked down there.
Very long bumpy track to get there, there is parking space. Small strip of dunes but OK. Beach is sand but a lot of pebbles and sea is part estuary - its Ok.
Overall if you have no where else to go then its better than nothing, but there are some good nudist clubs (singles are allowed) in the area that are much better to soak up the sun etc that this beach.
https://www.naturistfoundation.org
The tripadvisor bit includes the main beach rather than just the nudist part - the nudist part is right at the end of the track just before you get to a gated area. There is only one post listed under a 'nude' search
Hi Harry,
I first visited Leysdown in 2012, and have been there quite a bit since. I went there about 6 times last summer (2017).
It's an official naturist beach, clearly marked with signs. The naturist area isn't large, but rarely gets crowded. The beach itself, facing the sea, is a mixture of sand, coarse shingle and broken shells, and when the tide is out, there is a huge expanse of mud in front of you. The sea is good for swimming in for about 2 hours either side of high tide, so it's worth checking tide times before you go. The outlook is out into the Thames estuary, with views of the North Kent Coast, from Whitstable to Margate.
As stated by JMNude, the track accessing the beach is very bumpy for the last third of a mile or so, but once there, you can park directly opposite the beach - you can go from car to being naked on the beach within 2 minutes! The track is also a dead-end, not a through route, so parking isn't usually an issue, and most people parked there are there for the naturist beach, so there is less likelihood of "meerkats" or casual oglers.
Behind the actual beach is an area of grass which offers some protection from the wind, if it's blowing from the wrong direction, and also some privacy, though you are never fully out of sight of others at Leysdown.
As at most naturist beaches, there are usually more men there than women, but on a warm day there are usually plenty of couples, and sometimes small groups of women as well.
There are no facilities as such, except for 2 rubbish bins!
Overall, I'd say it's not the best beach in the world, but I have usually enjoyed my visits there. The main point is that you can strip off and enjoy being naked in the open air, and chat to others if they are amenable, and it's all safe and legal!
Thanks for the responses...very informative and helpful.
They are not exactly glowing reports of the place but not sufficiently negative to completely convince me it is not worth bothering with. However, it will go down towards the bottom of my list of beaches to try out this summer.
Harry S.
Every naturist beach gets bad reviews.
IMHO people who are happy say nothing.
It’s up to you to decide. I hate how we all rely on others to decide on our own decisions. Sure reviews help but go along and decide for yourself.
I’ve been 3 times. All last summer. I enjoyed every visit as I went for me!
Tony (2)
Play nice...... Play Naked!
....IMHO people who are happy say nothing....
Much the same as with anything else, people will often comment about a bad experience with a utility company or restaurant, of course some have positive things to say about them too. I certainly value the views posted on NC and have visited, new to us, places where we could be nude because of the impressions gained from reading them. However its very easy to get a distorted view from say 8 bad experiences and 2 good ones when in reality many more have had a good time but didn't say so on here.
We're more inclined to give somewhere a go, unless its very obvious its not somewhere that you can experience the sort of social nudity that we appreciate.
Couldn't agree more Nik.
The reason I asked the question was because I am planning to try out various beaches in the south east later this year. Leysdown was one mentioned to me but it is a longer trip for me to get there than various others. So I wanted to make sure it was worth the journey given there are plenty of others on the south coast that are nearer to me.
As for earlier comments, of course I appreciate that everyone will base their advice about these sort of things on subjective factors and indeed I know that nothing beats finding out for yourself. Nevertheless, there's no harm in asking as I like to think that is one of the reasons we have joined NC.
Harry S.
We have a few local beaches that we tend to visit most because of convenience and for the socialising with friends at them. We used to live in London and had to venture much further to get to a clothing-optional beach. Leysdown was one of the beaches we used, once a month or so, in those days. I first went there +30 years ago. We still visit other beaches when in other parts of the country (we like the variety when we get there!) but haven't been to places like Leysdown or Shoreham more than once or twice a year for about 10 years now.
My other half is working away a lot currently, our tendency to stay local is down to us both, but I'm looking at making more trips further afield this year, for beaches and nude walking, as well as possibly events like Nudefest and Party in the Stark. I'd like to try and catch up with old friends that we've not seen for some time and more actively explore the clothes-free world.
So, I've got a vested interest in threads like this too. If and when I get anywhere I'll try and feedback.
I'd forgotten that we did make a trip to Leysdown last year with friends who live in Faversham, they use Leysdown quite a bit. Our view on it was much the same as its always been. Its fine for what it is. We were on the ridge where the beach joins the dunes because it was a bit breezy and it was sheltered there. People nearby were all there for the same reasons, enjoying a sunny day while socialising naked, some of them were really friendly. There were a few 'walkers', single males we saw pass by regularly and possibly something that was attracting them going on some way off in the dunes. We don't know for sure as we were not interested. Sadly anywhere like-minded people gather in public to be naked can attract other 'interests', so it was no different to a a fair number of other places we've been to, but it didn't intrude on us directly.
There were +100 naturists there that day, not really sure how many, probably a lot more. The mud still sticks to your feet if you venture into the water when the tide is low, swimming when it was in was quite pleasant. Overall it was a good day, but we're only likely to go again to meet friends from nearby, we like our local places.