Destination - Tyagarah beach
Location - Tyagarah, Near Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
Official link - N/A
Review period - 29th Dec, 2019, a weekend.
Review type - User contributed.Background
Although this article is part of the @nudistcalendar project, I am not going to recommend this place as an awesome destination for the month of April, rather I would label it as a place you should not go during April. Note that, it is not about the place alone, but the time of year which matters a lot. I have had several such visits to places over the last couple of years, which were not so great, but those experiences too were useful in my journey later. I will try to add some more of these places to this list of "nudist destinations you shouldn't visit during a specific month". I will deviate a bit from the usual bullet point style of reviewing for such visits and would write more about my feelings, though I will try to add visitor information wherever applicable.
Quick review
Visit instagram page for more bullet points on this destination.
The beach visit
I booked two bus tickets the earlier day, one each for the morning and evening respectively. I had almost 3 hours in hand there, roughly between 12 and 3 pm. I spent some time at the main beach in Byron Bay and inquired about the public transports available from there to Tyagarah beach. I came to know from the tourist info center that the frequency of buses in that route (Ballina to Mullumbimby) was almost once every one and half hours, and the beach appeared to be at 5 to 10 kms walking distance from the nearest bus stop. So, this was definitely not a good option for that day, as I needed at least an hour to spend at the beach. From my previous experiences of searching for nude beaches or nudist sections (which were only from Spain so far), I knew that this much time was the bare minimum, as nudist sections are sometimes at a specific part and one may need some help with directions. So, the only option available was to hire a cab. Given the weather, which was partly cloudy and windy, and a temperature of hardly 20 degrees Celsius, I knew it was not a great day for being nude at the beach. However, I still decided to take a cab, because this was my only opportunity for now. The cab cost me somewhere around a 100 AUD one way. The cab driver was a real gentleman who shared lots of stories and travel tips and also his number so that I could call him in case I faced any problems and after I was done at the beach, if I wanted him to drop me back to Byron Bay at a discounted fare. The road from the nearest bus stop from the highway was secluded and surrounded by the forests of the Tyagarah Nature reserve. I realized that I made a good decision taking a cab, as I could get confused or lost and even creeped out otherwise.
Once I reached, I saw a few camping vans and cars parked at the entrance. This is how the beach looked that day -
Definitely not a great day to be naked. The nudist stretch seemed to be long and broad, but that day, there were rarely any people visible from far away. It felt thrilling to walk naked along the beach though. I had so far, not got a chance to do that, in this trip, so was excited, yet conscious because of some previous creepy experiences with male visitors in Barcelona, Spain. I was thrilled at the chance of being seen naked by women but was also scared a bit, at the same time, to be seen by men. I walked till the far South end of the beach and gathered courage to take off everything and took a dip in the cold sea water and then started walking. I put my towel over my shoulders and put my backpack as a additional shield, to cover my male parts, if I felt the need for it. From far it would sometimes be difficult to identify if an approaching person was a woman or a man. That was the most thrilling moment for me. I decided to cover up, in advance, if I could identify a man and let it be if it was a couple or a female. I remember walking past, almost face to face with an old clothed couple and it felt like a mixture of thrill and a confidence boost and collection of several other feelings that are difficult to explain now.
After returning back from the far South end of the beach, towards the entry point, I remember walking past a white couple, probably aged more than 40, which was lying down away from the shore. The male was probably half naked and the female was clothed. I continued walking towards the North end of the beach and got sight of a brown looking man, probably in his late thirtees, who was also walking naked, like me, carrying his backpack. We crossed each other when he returned. We respected each other's privacy and continued walking. I knew that the majority of men visiting nude beaches were nice, but I needed a real experience to feel so and with this experience probably, I started to feel comfortable being naked in front of men. I returned from the North far end of the beach and stopped for a while near the entrance, where the couple was stationed. Meanwhile I made a call to the cab driver to come and pick me up. I stood there naked for a while, near the shore, when the lady of the couple was also standing within speaking range. She was clothed and was comfortable being around me. We did not exchange any conversation. I sat for a while, a little far from the shore and got dressed. I did not want my cab driver to come down and catch me naked. That would be awkward for me, even though we had discussed about a nude beaches that I should see on my next stop at Sydney.
There, I had finally got the thrill of being naked in a designated nude beach, irrespective of the gender of the people who would see me. I did it after desperately looking for it during my trip, while in Melbourne, Cairns and Gold Coast. While in Melbourne, it was too cold during April. I was aware of the temperatures at that time, but I had hopes from Cairns and Gold Coast, but due to lack of proper research, I came to know only after reaching Cairns that the entire state of Queensland had a no nudity law in public and there was not a single legal nude beach. This came as a big frustration to me as Queensland boasts itself to be the "Sunshine state". My observation in the beaches of Cairns and Gold Coast was that nobody was nude anywhere. There were very few women topless on one beach but they were very discreet about it or were lying on their chest. I searched a lot for information and posted on Tripadvisor but mostly got trolled for my nudist intentions and the posts were later removed. I wanted to find out if I could rather go to Darwin, instead of Gold Coast, given that it was further up North, and could be warmer and there seemed to be nude beaches there. However, I was not confident of getting nice beach days, as it was difficult to predict the weather there. The weather those days in Cairns and Gold Coast used to be rainy a lot. This was the biggest challenge in locating a nude beach in my trip and I realized, how important, it was, to bring in more information in more blogs on nude beaches. That is how the idea of a Nudist Calendar came to my mind.
Although this article is part of the @nudistcalendar project, I am not going to recommend this place as an awesome destination for the month of April, rather I would label it as a place you should not go during April. Note that, it is not about the place alone, but the time of year which matters a lot. I have had several such visits to places over the last couple of years, which were not so great, but those experiences too were useful in my journey later. I will try to add some more of these places to this list of "nudist destinations you shouldn't visit during a specific month". I will deviate a bit from the usual bullet point style of reviewing for such visits and would write more about my feelings, though I will try to add visitor information wherever applicable.
Quick review
Visit instagram page for more bullet points on this destination.
The beach visit
I booked two bus tickets the earlier day, one each for the morning and evening respectively. I had almost 3 hours in hand there, roughly between 12 and 3 pm. I spent some time at the main beach in Byron Bay and inquired about the public transports available from there to Tyagarah beach. I came to know from the tourist info center that the frequency of buses in that route (Ballina to Mullumbimby) was almost once every one and half hours, and the beach appeared to be at 5 to 10 kms walking distance from the nearest bus stop. So, this was definitely not a good option for that day, as I needed at least an hour to spend at the beach. From my previous experiences of searching for nude beaches or nudist sections (which were only from Spain so far), I knew that this much time was the bare minimum, as nudist sections are sometimes at a specific part and one may need some help with directions. So, the only option available was to hire a cab. Given the weather, which was partly cloudy and windy, and a temperature of hardly 20 degrees Celsius, I knew it was not a great day for being nude at the beach. However, I still decided to take a cab, because this was my only opportunity for now. The cab cost me somewhere around a 100 AUD one way. The cab driver was a real gentleman who shared lots of stories and travel tips and also his number so that I could call him in case I faced any problems and after I was done at the beach, if I wanted him to drop me back to Byron Bay at a discounted fare. The road from the nearest bus stop from the highway was secluded and surrounded by the forests of the Tyagarah Nature reserve. I realized that I made a good decision taking a cab, as I could get confused or lost and even creeped out otherwise.
Once I reached, I saw a few camping vans and cars parked at the entrance. This is how the beach looked that day -
Definitely not a great day to be naked. The nudist stretch seemed to be long and broad, but that day, there were rarely any people visible from far away. It felt thrilling to walk naked along the beach though. I had so far, not got a chance to do that, in this trip, so was excited, yet conscious because of some previous creepy experiences with male visitors in Barcelona, Spain. I was thrilled at the chance of being seen naked by women but was also scared a bit, at the same time, to be seen by men. I walked till the far South end of the beach and gathered courage to take off everything and took a dip in the cold sea water and then started walking. I put my towel over my shoulders and put my backpack as a additional shield, to cover my male parts, if I felt the need for it. From far it would sometimes be difficult to identify if an approaching person was a woman or a man. That was the most thrilling moment for me. I decided to cover up, in advance, if I could identify a man and let it be if it was a couple or a female. I remember walking past, almost face to face with an old clothed couple and it felt like a mixture of thrill and a confidence boost and collection of several other feelings that are difficult to explain now.
After returning back from the far South end of the beach, towards the entry point, I remember walking past a white couple, probably aged more than 40, which was lying down away from the shore. The male was probably half naked and the female was clothed. I continued walking towards the North end of the beach and got sight of a brown looking man, probably in his late thirtees, who was also walking naked, like me, carrying his backpack. We crossed each other when he returned. We respected each other's privacy and continued walking. I knew that the majority of men visiting nude beaches were nice, but I needed a real experience to feel so and with this experience probably, I started to feel comfortable being naked in front of men. I returned from the North far end of the beach and stopped for a while near the entrance, where the couple was stationed. Meanwhile I made a call to the cab driver to come and pick me up. I stood there naked for a while, near the shore, when the lady of the couple was also standing within speaking range. She was clothed and was comfortable being around me. We did not exchange any conversation. I sat for a while, a little far from the shore and got dressed. I did not want my cab driver to come down and catch me naked. That would be awkward for me, even though we had discussed about a nude beaches that I should see on my next stop at Sydney.
There, I had finally got the thrill of being naked in a designated nude beach, irrespective of the gender of the people who would see me. I did it after desperately looking for it during my trip, while in Melbourne, Cairns and Gold Coast. While in Melbourne, it was too cold during April. I was aware of the temperatures at that time, but I had hopes from Cairns and Gold Coast, but due to lack of proper research, I came to know only after reaching Cairns that the entire state of Queensland had a no nudity law in public and there was not a single legal nude beach. This came as a big frustration to me as Queensland boasts itself to be the "Sunshine state". My observation in the beaches of Cairns and Gold Coast was that nobody was nude anywhere. There were very few women topless on one beach but they were very discreet about it or were lying on their chest. I searched a lot for information and posted on Tripadvisor but mostly got trolled for my nudist intentions and the posts were later removed. I wanted to find out if I could rather go to Darwin, instead of Gold Coast, given that it was further up North, and could be warmer and there seemed to be nude beaches there. However, I was not confident of getting nice beach days, as it was difficult to predict the weather there. The weather those days in Cairns and Gold Coast used to be rainy a lot. This was the biggest challenge in locating a nude beach in my trip and I realized, how important, it was, to bring in more information in more blogs on nude beaches. That is how the idea of a Nudist Calendar came to my mind.
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