The End of the Beach

I’ve written about how much I enjoy visiting the nude beach in San Gregorio. I’ve been visiting there for more than twenty years, yet in all that time I’d never made it to the end of the beach. Specifically, I’d never made it to the north end. Until now.

When coming down the trail from the bluffs and reaching the beach, there are broad expanses of beach to the left and right. Conventional wisdom is that the straight people tend to go to the left (south) and the gay people go to the right (north). The beach is meant to get gayer and gayer the further one goes north.

The thing is, the beach is really, really long. In all the years, where I’ve dutifully made my right turn and headed north, I’ve never made it all the way to the end of the beach. I’d see the bluffs in the distance marking the end of the beach, and wonder who was there and what was going on there. But then I’d see a nice spot to drop my towel, and my clothes, and that’s as far as I’d get.

Last month on a Sunday afternoon it was a clear sunny day and I headed to the beach. However it turned out there was a chilly wind, so while the sky and air were sparkling clear, it wasn’t ideal beach weather for laying out and catching rays. So instead of finding a place somewhere mid-beach, as usual, I kept walking north. The further I walked, the more determined I was to make it to the end.

What was I expecting to find at the end of the beach? Oz? Or more likely, some hanky panky, as that tends to be what happens at the far reaches of gay beaches.

The beach terminates in a sandy cove surrounded with dramatic cliffs.Given the chilly weather, there were relatively few people. Some naked, some clothed, and while I’m sure there were some goings-ons here and there, it was overall pretty sedate.

I did finally get the courage to strip down and walk back down the beach naked. I’d never had the gusto to do this before – I’d only gone as far as shirtless – but when I’d seen others do this I wondered what it felt like. So this would seem to be the time to do it. Even with the chilly air, it felt really really good.

So next time, when it’s truly warm beach weather without the chilly wind, I’ll venture out to the end of the beach again. Each experience to this beach is different, and I’m sure there will be more to discover next time.