thinking back navarre beach - englin afb
years ago we use to visit a nudist camp in milton florida and while exploring area someone mentioned a nude beach at navarre that bumped up to englin afb , needless to say we searched the area but traffic was crazy i think it was the weekend and we never found the nude beach this was back in late 80's maybe early 90's ??? did anyone ever go was there a nude beach or is there one now ? back than no computer but now there is but i read where the county cracked down in 2000 something but i suspect some don't pay attention .
If you look at the post about Johnson Beach (about 5 or so below this one) you will see that GSNPhil made a reference to the nude beach near / at Navarre. He also mentions where the local politicians clamped down on it & basically closed it. I have read where a few folks go there during off times but thats about it. And, I like your idea about an approved nude beach, the question is which one would work the best without a lot of stink?
well from what i remember what others said the nude part was on federal land belonging to englin afb and what i've always read is that there is no law against nudity on federal law which i'm still not clear how true that is but i still think it would be a cool thing . to me mere nudity isn't as sexual as a women or man in a see thru thong - g string at the beach .
We visited the nude beach at Navarre several times. There was usually a good crowd there on the weekends. It was on part of the Air Force base and required a walk from the available parking. After 9-11 when things tightened up security wise the area was patrolled, we heard a fence was erected, and it was no longer allowed for people to get to the beach that was used.
The area of beach under Eglin AFB's control that the nudist used to use was my first full fledged social nude outing back in the mid '90's as I recall. I remember it well. Never could figure out why people felt a need to wear clothing on the beach in the summer.
GSNPhil made a reference to the nude beach near / at Navarre. He also mentions where the local politicians clamped down on it & basically closed it.
It's true that the nudist area was on Air Force Base property. And from what I understand, federal agencies whether military or parks or whatever, tend to cooperate and work with local officials and basically go with the flow as far as nudity is concerned. That's why some federal property is ok with nudity and other federal property is not. And if I recall correctly, it was the local officials that had the problem at Navarre so the base commander closed it. Whether the base did the enforcing or the local officials did, I don't recall. Just seemed to me it was the locals.
Also, I was thinking it was closed before 9-11 but that's been awhile and my memory of the exact time line is a bit suspect. But closing it because of 9-11 would certainly make sense. And it's also possible there was more than one reason for the closure. Just sayin'.
I was turned around last week just going for a walk.
Wow. That's interesting. And brings up all sorts of questions in my mind. Were you walking along the waterline? And who turned you around? Military police? I wonder what would have happened if you'd been in a kayak paddling or a Hobie Cat sailing along, for example, 50'-100' out. And how far out would they want you to be? Seems like they'd run themselves ragged running people off during tourist season.
I was walking along the water line like i do often. There were two. One was definitively Air Force and another dressed in black.
Im wondering the same thing. I kayak and paddleboard along the sound in that area frequently. And almost always pull up on the beach for a spell. But also boaters pull up in their boats or pontoon boats with groups and set up beach tents. Never been or seen anyone turned away before.
I'm no lawyer but where I'm from, even on privately owned beaches, as long as you're no further inland than the high tide line, it's not considered trespassing. I have no clue if that would apply to military base property or not. You did the right thing though turning around without protesting. Ya just never know what those guys in black are packin'. lol!
If you learn any more about rules and/or what's going on there, don't forget to fill us in here.
I, for one, am really curious about the situation there.