Apparently we are the second keenest nation on sunbathing sans clothing, and there is research to back that up.
Swimwear company Pour Moi analysed Google search data to reveal which nation of beachgoers is the most likely to take it all off and catch some rays - and New Zealand is second only to our neighbours across the ditch, Australia.
It comes in the midst of winter as we’re all rugging up against the cold, but unsurprisingly our minds are turning to sunnier surroundings.
Roughly 67,000 Kiwis search for ‘nude beach’ online every year, following around 440,200 Aussies, while it’s the Netherlands that lands in third place with 215,700 searching for a nude beach each year.
The Canadians and the Irish complete the top five countries, in all of which nude sunbathing is legal. The US, Spain and the UK also appear in the top ten - with the States said to be home to the best nude beach in the world, Florida’s Haulover Beach Park.
Following Haulover Beach Park is Brazil’s Praia de Tambaba, with Santorini’s Red Beach completing the top three.
Spain might just be the best place to take up nude sunbathing as it takes the cake for the most number of nude beaches in the world’s top 20. Both culture and temperature might have something to do with this - though a nude beach in Canada does appear on this list despite the country’s reputation for brutal winter weather.
Pour Moi analysed reviews of several hundred nudist beaches around the world, creating an index score out of 100 based on the beach’s number and quality of reviews.
In November 2022, Sydney’s most iconic beach legally became a nude beach for several hours, thanks to a small section of legislation hidden in the council’s laws known as section 633.
Aussies got to strip down for a good cause to help form an installation on Bondi Beach by world-renowned photographer Spenser Tunick to raise awareness around sun safety and skin cancer.
According to Skin Check Champions CEO Scott Maggs, organising the event with this scale of public nudity was challenge.
“Basically, we had to work with the council and we are legally going to classify Bondi as a nude beach just for the installation,” he told local media at the time.
"We’re literally making history by doing that for the first time at Bondi Beach.”
The council agreed to declare Bondi Beach a nude beach for several hours during the installation, making public nudity legal on the beach for a set time period.
