When I was 19, living at home with my parents in Japan, I had to make a decision about what to do after I graduated high school. I knew I wanted to study abroad. My family lived in Hawaii and New York for a bit when I was young, and I kind of wanted to go back. I read up on a bunch of different schools, and finally decided to go to Oceanview U. in California to study English.
When I chose Oceanview, I will admit I kind of knew that there is a nude beach here. On the travel sites, they mentioned. I didn't really know that much about nude beaches at the time. I don't think we have them in Japan, but I was a bit curious wondering what it would be like. Japan does have coed outdoor hot springs up in the mountains, but it's not quite the same. Springs do feel a bit sexy, but it's maybe not that common for complete strangers to bathe together. I think most women aim for off-hours, and try to nip in and out before any guys come along.
Anyway, I signed up for Oceanview U.'s English program, flew across, and started my new life. There I met Satomi, a fellow Japanese woman, who was also trying to get into their B.A. program. Satomi is nice, modest, studies hard, gets good grades, kind of like the picture I had of myself in those days. She is a cute girl, white as a sheet, but eyes that pop, long flowing hair dyed brown. Her eyelashes spike out making her look a bit like a cartoon character, Betty Boop or Snow White or someone. She sometimes wears strange clothes, a bit boyish like overalls or football jerseys, but she does wear these tight black jeans sometimes. Guys seem to like her, but she is quiet though, always hanging back a little when the conversation turns to racy stuff.
One day, Satomi and I were sitting in one of the cafeterias on campus. This American guy, Jim, spotted us, and came over. I didn't really know him, but I guess I'd seen him around. He looked pretty serious, glasses, a white button up shirt, a bit geeky maybe but fairly confident. The conversation started out normal enough, but after we'd been talking for a bit, he suddenly asked,
"Have you girls ever been to the nude beach? The one on campus?"
I don't know what brought that on. Both Satomi and I were wearing normal clothes, me in jeans, her in a dress, nothing that sexy. Satomi made one of her shocked faces, but I just scratched my nose, not wanting to let on that I knew there was a nude beach near here somewhere.
"What? There's a nude beach here?" I burbled, playing dumb.
"Yeah, it's just over there, the other side of the field in front of Havelock Hall? Do you know it?"
"I know Havelock Hall," I admitted, eyes wide.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. There are wooden stairs leading down if you know where to enter. At the bottom, it opens out onto a little cove with a sandy beach and blue ocean. It's kind of shielded by the cliffs jutting out into the ocean on either side, its own little community cut off from the outside world."
Satomi looked down, grimacing, playing with her food.
"Do people really get naked?" I asked, a bit skeptical.
"There's like a hardcore nudist group, true believers. But this time of year, there are students down there. They do get naked, men and women. Everyone is pretty cool about it."
"How many people?"
"At the height of summer, there's like hundreds. People come from all around."
It sounded a bit hard to believe, but I don't know. It was hard to know what was true without seeing it.
"Where's the entrance?" I asked, cautiously.
"It's like a hundred yards north of Havelock Hall across the roadway in the forest. You can probably tell when you get close because there is like a break in the trees."
Hmm. Interesting. I made a mental note.
"Do you girls want to go?"
"What?" Satomi balked. "Get naked like you mean?"
"Yeah, come on. Let's go. It'll be fun."
I guess it was kind of obvious that he was hitting on us, all pumped up at the thought of seeing us naked. I wasn't so offended. He seemed like an OK guy to me, gaunt, with a bit of a gravelly voice, but maybe trustworthy. I didn't really know what naturists are supposed to be like, but maybe he was one. Satomi made her classic frumpy face. I scratched my cheek, thinking, and then ended up telling him,
"Thanks... um... but I think we have to study. Big test coming up."
"Oh come on. We can go on a Saturday or something. Everyone needs a break now and then."
"No, that's OK. You go. Have fun."
Jim looked disappointed, but we didn't really know him. We chatted a bit more, and then he headed out to class or wherever. This whole conversation did kind of get me wondering about the beach though. I wanted to go see for myself, see if it really was like he said. I really didn't know. It could be anything.
That night I had supper with Satomi in the dining hall, and then went to the library to study. My heart wasn't in it though. I kind of wanted to go out, and do something. I sent a text to Ryosuke, my friend Asuna's cousin, a cute guy I'd been seeing a lot of. He responded, but he was already home, a bit far from campus. He promised to pop by our class, and say hi some day soon, but that still left me with no plan for tonight. I finally decided to go see if I could find this nude beach. It was supposed to be right nearby just over there a bit.
I left the library, walked through the arch in Satomi's dorm past the Arts building and Havelock Hall to the forest on the edge of campus. Jim said to look for a path. I eventually found one, and went in, trotting on down these wooden steps. It was a bit spooky. The woods were pretty quiet though, and it was a nice night out, so I clenched my fist, and continued on down. It was a long walk down the hill. When I finally got down to the bottom, I found a little box with some pamphlets on naturism in it. Wow! This is it! The nude beach.
It was a lot bigger than I expected. Off to the left, there is a sandbar that goes way out into the bay almost like a peninsula. I walked down to the shore, and stared out, trying to see. There was one dark patch off towards the sand bar, but it wasn't moving, so I guess it must have been a piece of wood or something.
I wanted to see how warm the water was, so I set down my back pack, and took off my shoes and socks. The soft sand felt nice on my bare feet. I dipped my toe in the water, and it wasn't that cold. I rolled up the cuffs of my jeans, and waded in a little, but the water splashed up, and my jeans got wet. I walked back to where my bag was, and took another look around. All I could hear was the sound of the waves and the rustling of the leaves in the trees. I saw something moving in the trees, but I guess it was just the branches blowing in the wind.
I wasn't really sure what I was doing down here anyway. I wanted to see it, and now I had. Should I just go back up? Seems kind of a waste. I am here after all. Gathering up my nerve, I slowly undid my belt and the button on the front of my jeans.
'This is a nude beach after all. There's nothing wrong with taking my clothes off,' I kept telling myself. Still, I couldn't help but feel nervous. I pulled down my jeans, and stepped out of them. I could feel the breeze on my legs and tummy. It was giving me butterflies.
Still wearing my panties and blouse, I waded out into the water, and turned to look back at the trees just to make sure no one was watching. I looked up at the trees at the top of the hill to see if I could see any of the university buildings, but I couldn't it. It was pretty secluded. I came back out of the water, and walked over to my bag debating what to do. It would be kind of crazy getting naked out here all by lonesome on this dark night so close to campus. But then again there doesn't seem to be anyone else around. It was kind of hard to see in the dark too. There were stars out and the moon, but it was kind of hard to make out things in the distance. That meant though that even if anyone was up there, they probably wouldn't be able to tell if I got naked. It was the perfect cover.
