Gunnison Beach occupies the northernmost stretch of Sandy Hook, a barrier spit that juts into Lower New York Bay. You reach it via a sandy path through beach plum and bayberry, emerging onto a wide strand where the Atlantic crashes in gray-green rollers and the Manhattan skyline floats on the southern horizon. Since 1975, this has been the only federally recognized clothing-optional beach on the Atlantic coast, drawing sun worshippers who value bodily autonomy and the absence of tan lines.
“It remains the only federally designated clothing-optional beach on the entire eastern seaboard.”
Credit: Unsplasha sandy beach with a body of water in the background
The beach itself stretches nearly a mile, backed by low dunes and fronted by coarse sand that squeaks underfoot. Lifeguards are absent—this is unsupervised swimming—but the shorebreak is manageable on calm days. You'll share the sand with a cross-section of humanity: retirees who've been coming for decades, young professionals fleeing Brooklyn, families teaching their children that bodies are nothing to hide. The atmosphere leans egalitarian, almost communal, with an unspoken code of respect.
Visit outside July and August and you'll have acres to yourself, the wind strong enough to sandblast your calves, the water bracingly cold even in June. Bring everything—water, shade, snacks—because services stop at the parking lot. What Gunnison offers isn't convenience. It's the rare sensation of standing unclothed before the open ocean, sun on skin, salt on lips, utterly unbothered.
