Nude sunbathing in Estonia


Bare butt on beach blanket

Well, I would not call myself an exhibitionist, but I do indeed enjoy my butt naked when I sunbathe on beach or splash around in water. One can guess that some snobs might have problems with me flashing my butt on public beaches. Oh sure, Estonia has couple official nude beaches, but I am not eager to drive 200 km each time I want to drop my shorts.

Estonian laws are somewhat vague regarding the naturism. Since 2007 there has been a draft of a public policy law [EST] which states that nudity, except in designated places, is violation of public policy code ‘if it significantly disturbs purposeful use of the place for someone else’.

I wonder how does my bare rare end significantly obstruct someone’s purposeful use of the beach? …is it the aesthetics? On any day on the beach there is more severe eye-cracking material than my butt, even despite their ‘decent’ beach clothing. …is it the fear for children’s safety? Surely, as soon as I lay down on the sand with butt exposed to snore I transform into a dangerous children trap; one way more dangerous than a ‘decent’ saggy old guy in the water of public beach doing some odd jerky movements under water while looking at children with a grin.

The city government of Tartu seems to receive letters with requests for official nude beach every year and the requests are rejected every year due to lack of interest. This year, although, the discussion of the city government on this subject gave some precious pearls (news report in Estonian). One member of the city government shared that he also goes to swim naked but he does it at his lake, not at a public beach. Apparently the city government of Tartu has an impression that every citizen of Tartu has one’s own lake where one could go skinny dipping, and the only reason to ask for a public nude beach is to perversely exercise their interest of exhibitionism. And here are the pearls from our mayor Urmas Kruuse: ‘..I see no reason why such beach should exist. We could also have a discussion, that maybe someone wants to ski down the hill naked..‘. Sure, dear Mayor, the only thing that I wish more than having a right to avoid tan lines, is a right to freeze off my balls.

The photo — captured on my camera by Aare at the beginning of the sunbathing season in 2006. I thought a black and white version would turn this exposure from indecent to artistic; that is how porn is turned into art too, right? You can have a look at an earlier post for some more decent photos of that day.

If You looked around on my blog before, You know that there are couple nude beach photos out there so I must have some experience with the local nude beaches. I haven’t been to all that are nude officially or by rumors, but here are what I have tried.

Pärnu nude beach. My favorite beach in Estonia and definitely best for beach photo shoots. Too long drive from Tartu though. In fact, not completely legal either. Next to public beach there is official designated beach for ladies and next to that is the beach for those who don’t qualify as ladies and is just known as clothing optional area. As it is not designated area, anyone can point finger at You and scream how Your nudity severely disturbs them and so on and on, but I haven’t heard of it happening there. Be aware — when enjoying the nature in the dunes and bushes on the other side of the ridge, You might stumble upon some sexual activities :) And by what I have heard, not just raunchy gay guys, but by rumors there is also one stud making a day for ladies, up to four ladies a day.

Tartu nude beach. That is where the photo of this post was taken at. It is the closest somewhat nude beach I have. It probably became a nude beach because it is somewhat secluded in the bushes, but it is still not accepted or designated as one. With no warning signs, shocked unaware citizens can be seen running away from the beach. Unfortunately, as the beach is secluded and somewhat deserted, it is also the place where some drunk teenagers like to drive to, careless whether they run someone over, finish up their beverages and shatter the bottles. Stepping on pieces of glass and seeing flabby old guys jerking off in bushes while staring with a drool at sunbathers are quite common on this beach.

Any beach without a lifeguard. Estonians are rather conservative so random guys flaunting their dicks on a beach is not accepted and usually gets loud and angry response, ..unless You are (or play) drunk and dumb. As God is said to protect the dumb and drunk ones, people also know it is useless to ask them to behave. So while stripping down, hold on to a beer can, mumble something, assume a dumb face, and off You go to the water! Indecent exposure and public alcohol consumption are both violations of the public policy code, but people don’t tend to bother calling a police to a lake far far away.

Any beach with a lifeguard. Carried out an experiment last week :) Got my butt naked a bit off the center from the public beach of lake Verevi, close to Tartu, and was laying there for a half an hour before lifeguard walked to me and politely asked me to cover myself. I told him my bare butt was a violation only if someone complained about it and I asked whether somebody did so. I got the poor boy so confused that he finally showed up some anger and said ‘Fine! I am the one who is disturbed and complains!’. Hence, seems that even lifeguard won’t run to handcuff and arrest nudists. Just in case You get charged for violation of the public policy law, the fine is up to 6000 EEK.

My balcony. With thin metal bars as front side it is great place for sunbathing starting from noon to late evening. The metal bars don’t block sun but they also don’t keep much of a privacy from the shopping center 150 meters away or from the 200 windows of the dormitory next to my balcony. Well, I have been acting by my logic — if I don’t put on my prescription glasses to see what is going on around, then they don’t see me either.

Added 23.07.2010 …

Stroomi nude beach. Nude area is short walk to left from the public beach. The nice sand patches are actually often under water, so the bare butt area is then limited to the high reed. Don’t be surprised to see horses strolling by — seems like they are brought there to cool down. I better not think what the horses leave behind there. Not an official nude area, but there are usually some more bare butts around.

Pikakari nude beach. 1.5 km walk from the public beach. Despite the dried weed on sand the beach was very nice. Walking into water deep enough takes ages. The people — all guys, all nude, likely all gays, average age surprisingly low :) I suppose the long walk to the beach is an obstacle for the saggy oldies I am used to see in Tartu beach. We arrived to beach in quite late hour, but by what we heard, earlier in the day there was a lot of man-on-man action in the water.


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7 thoughts on “Nude sunbathing in Estonia

  • R

    OIlen töötanud rannavalvena. Me ei pea aru andma ranna külastajatele… kes kelle peale kitse pani… aga külastajad peavad kinni pidama avaliku korra eeskirjadest… Oled proovinud päevitada viru keskuse esisel muruplatsil? :)

  • ranno Post author

    Tõsi, heast korrast hoolivate rannaliste turvalisuse mõttes on täiesti mõistlik, et rannavalve ei näita näpuga, kes kaebas. Pikema dialoogi lühikeseks selgituseks täpsustan, et küsisin rannavalvelt KAS keegi kaebas mu palja pepu üle. Sain vastuseks: “veel mitte”. Kui selgitasin, et vastavalt korrakaitse seaduse eelnõule, mille järgi enamus avaliku korra eeskirju näib olevat koostatud, rikun ma palja pepuga avalikku korda sel juhul, kui see kedagi häirib. Ja kuna keegi kurtnud polnud, polnud ma ka rikkunud ka avalikku korda. Seepeale ei jäänudki vaesel poisil muud üle, kui öelda, et teda häirib, mispeale katsin enda ilusti kinni nagu palutud, ja rannavalve poiss tänas. Ma küll ei küsinud rannavalve esindaja nime (ega numbrit), kuid tema käitumine oli üllatavalt kena ja viisakas.

    Ja siiski, veidi norides ja tsiteerides korrakaitse seaduse eelnõud: § 55 “Avalikus kohas on keelatud käituda teist isikut häirival või ohtu seadval viisil, eelkõige: .. 3) viibida alasti selleks mitte ette nähtud kohas, kui see oluliselt häirib teisel isikul koha sihipärast kasutamist;”. ..järgmine kord küsin selgitusi, kuidas minu pepu segab kellelgi ranna sihipärast kasutamist :)

    Muide, Elva linna avaliku korra eeskiri aastast 1998 ei maini avalikus kohas alasti olekut kui rikkumist, ehk siis pole Elva linna, sealhulgas Verevi järve äärsed paljad pepud seadusega vastuolus.

    Viru keskuse muruplatsiga on asi kahjuks suhteliselt selge — Tallinna linn on kehtestanud avaliku korra eeskirja, mis keelab alasti oleku avalikus kohas, olles julmalt jätnud välja ‘kui see oluliselt häirib teisel isikul koha sihipärast kasutamist’.

    PS olen üllatunud, et keegi tõesti viitsis mu pika jutuvada läbi lugeda :)

  • R

    Rannavalvur täitis oma kohustusi täpselt nagu eeskirjad ette näevad… Ta ennetas probleemi..(sinu peput) ja seda, et hiljem võib keegi kaebama tulla… Sama asi siis kui tullakse klaastaaraga randa.