San Jose, Cabo de Gata, Spain

I'm not sure how much I should say about this place actually, as it's relatively untouched by commercialism, and certainly absent the scourge British tourism seem to bring in its wake to the rest of southern Spain. HOWEVER, it's not invisible to (British and otherwise) tourists willing to step outside the English speaking enclaves, doesn't currently have package tours visiting, nor mega cruiseships. The Cabo de Gata really is a great example of a high nudity tolerance place to visit in general, so I can't really know about this place and not rave about it.

It does involve hiring a car to take full advantage of the experience, and the facilities (in terms of good restaurants) are pretty light in the shoulder seasons. There were a few great options in San Jose township though, and certainly picnicking your way around during the day can be done, as there was at least one reasonable mini supermarket. Speaking more than 'basic tourist' Spanish goes a long way, especially as some forms of accommodation don't have any English speaking staff (long may this continue)!

The two most accessible beaches from San Jose are the main beach (which doesn't have any nudity that I could see) and Genoveses beach. The former is right in the middle of the township, and is filled with children, and swathes of others who like to congregate together in clumps, and who clearly don't find 'family beaches' repulsive. It's still gorgeous, and quiet by the standards of almost any other beach in Southern Spain. It's the beach in the distance in the first pic below. There was another smaller beach nearer to the end the photo was taken, but it was a little rockier and less interesting than any other beach in the area. It was close to some of the apartment type accommodation options though, so people were using it as their 'local beach.'

The town side (above)was good for food, and the necessities of a traveling person, but really, why would you go to the beaches on the side when you can walk for 20 minutes (OK, I'm answering my own question), and get this...

Getting there if you're more central than we were means walking about 10-15 minutes toward the smaller beach in the first pic, following the road up a hill, then entering onto a track. The track is very straightforward and flat, but quite exposed. it's then about 15 minutes when you reach the track, with the view above getting closer and closer.

Genoveses is the perfect, relatively untouched beach. No facilities to speak of, and the water was a little cooler on the other side of summer, but perfect for all of that. Filled with locals (and Spanish tourists), with small numbers of other groups, this place was a wonderland of casual nudity. Lots of people wearing swimsuits, but at least half of the women were topfree, and maybe a quarter of both genders  were naked. The nudity seemed to happen at the edges of the main beach (some of the first people you come across will be clothesless), or over a rock formation at the far end, but there were definitely people mixing it up throughout. We saw a group of three women walking down the beach together, one nude, one topfree, and one wearing her swimsuit. Summed up the beach perfectly. High season may change the shape of this a bit, but it was quite incredible as these things go. At times there would be a shift in the make up of the beach the arrival of larger groups of clothed people 'insisting upon themselves' in the more nude majority areas, and this was sometimes a bit unfortunate, but there were always places to retreat if you preferred to be away from others.

We found a nice spot at the far end, where there was lots of variation. I whipped off my clothes almost immediately, my partner wore her swimsuit initially, then gradually 'lost' more and more of it as the day went on. Long days mean you have to take your own water, snacks, and if you're paler lots of sunscreen and an umbrella, but I can't rate this place high enough for nude recreation. A week here wasn't long enough, and there were plenty of other beaches around to visit, some with 'nude only' vibes where the clothed insisters weren't apparent, and some mixed like Genoveses. I'd holiday there every year if I could.

Grade: 10/10
Difficulty of access: 1/10 (if you're able to walk for 20 minutes)
Likelihood of others being around: 10/10
Ease for a skinny dipping newbie: 9/10