Playalinda Beach
11 miles E-NE of Titusville, FL United States
Some come because its a regular habit. Others come because they've heard about it. What have they heard? That Playalinda beach is one of Florida's few nude beaches. They heard correctly.Playalinda is located within the Cape Canaveral National Seashore and is a federally owned beach. Whether...
Camping?
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Years ago one could get a "backcountry permit" certain times of the year to camp directly on the beach here. Does anyone know if this is still available? I'm thinking about taking a trip here in mid-July 2016 on my motorcycle and doing a little solo camping. Anyone else planning on visiting during this time?
Is it ok to be nude in the back country section of beach? I was there last weekend and hoped to go for a nude run, but was dismayed to see the sign that a permit was required. Would gladly pay for the privilege of running nude on such a long stretch of empty beach!
Good to know the word on camping here. That would have been too good to be true. Or a mess that would ruin the place.
I was at Playalinda today for the very first time! It was President's Day holiday, and the entrance fee was waived (boy do I have good luck). The place was packed, solid nude section ran all the way south past Parking lot 12.
A NPS ranger/LEO came by on an ATV, not to bother the nude folks, but went straight to the "Backcountry by permit only" sign and began going to each of the 10 or so individuals or groups, asking if they had backcountry permit. If not, move it south of the sign, NOW. She was all business, then road on out south past a hundred or so nude sun-worshipers , like they weren't even there!
PS- it was a very diverse group- young, old, saggy, firm, male, females (no kids that I saw). clothed spouse/naked spouse, students doing homework, fisherman, runners, everybody enjoying a fantastic warm day, and behaving themselves (99% at least, some subtle stuff)
Good to know the word on camping here. That would have been too good to be true. Or a mess that would ruin the place.
I was at Playalinda today for the very first time! It was President's Day holiday, and the entrance fee was waived (boy do I have good luck). The place was packed, solid nude section ran all the way south past Parking lot 12.
A NPS ranger/LEO came by on an ATV, not to bother the nude folks, but went straight to the "Backcountry by permit only" sign and began going to each of the 10 or so individuals or groups, asking if they had backcountry permit. If not, move it south of the sign, NOW. She was all business, then road on out south past a hundred or so nude sun-worshipers , like they weren't even there!
PS- it was a very diverse group- young, old, saggy, firm, male, females (no kids that I saw). clothed spouse/naked spouse, students doing homework, fisherman, runners, everybody enjoying a fantastic warm day, and behaving themselves (99% at least, some subtle stuff)
The beach camping doesnt exist anymore. You can camp at the Apollo beach side. However these sites are on the islands that are in Mosquito Lagoon and you need a boat to get to them. They will rent you a kayak or canoe but only for the first 5 sites.
I looked for hiking/kayak camping information recently in the Canaveral Seashore and Mosquito Lagoon area and from what I have seen what Maxxx reported a couple of years ago seems to be the case.
There are established boat/kayak/canoe sites in the northern half of Mosquito Lagoon that can be reserved through the NPS web site (for serious campers or those with a good deal of boat support). These have various limits for the number of campers permitted. So I guess the status there would depend on your campground neighbors.
I did not see that Back Country hiking permits for the National Seashore (basically a trail inshore of the dunes from what I can tell ) would allow beach camping. I expect that in sea turtle nesting season, beach camping would not be something the Park Service would provide. And, of course, tromping across the dunes off the trails is a bad idea for the dune conservation.
This is a remarkable undeveloped section of the central east Florida coast (no cars on the beach or condos/hotels on or just behind the beach dunes). As I'm sure is obvious to prior visitors, the conservation (National Seashore) aspect of this area is a priority. Those making use of the clothing optional status should be clear on that (which seems to be the case from what I've seen). Also, based on a couple of prior visits, it is not obvious to all visitors that this is a nude beach. In the first half mile or so to the south of the ramp in the off-season (when there is parking available), one might expect some typical getting-away-from-winter tourists walking the beach who didn't expect a nude beach. It seems to work from what I've seen.
I'll be back. Surf fishing on a nude beach turned out to be a good day the last time I tried it.
Re: Permit and running. People often go nude on the stretch of beach between the Apollo to the North and Playalinda to the South. You can purchase a backpacking permit for $2 at either gate. Spend the money so you avoid any hassle. Rangers do patrol these areas. They will not hassle you being naked, but they might if you do not have a permit to be there. The Rangers are all real nice and accommodating, so no reason to make trouble.