It’s day 4 of my 5 day trip to Summerland, B.C., Canada. On the 3rd day, despite calls for the weather to be less than exemplary, the friend of mine I’m staying with and I took off for a little clothing-optional beach outside of the nearby city of Penticton, called Three Mile Beach. If you google this beach, it states online that it is a nude beach and gives relevant information. As I am considering Penticton as an eventually place to settle (as the Sunshine Coast is quickly becoming unfit as a place to live), it’s imperative that the area have somewhere I can continue to go to ‘get my naked on’ as it were. So I was happily surprised to learn that this beach exists.
When we got to the beach, the weather had surprisingly decided to start co-operating. It was pleasantly warm, but not scorching hot, and the sun and clouds worked together to provide both times of shade and times of sun, keeping the temperature decent and providing a day where we didn’t have to worry about scorching ourselves or freezing from the lack of clothing. As for the beach itself, it is like other clothing optional beaches I’ve been to or have seen imagery of… tucked in an out of the way spot, away from gawkers and with quite a good amount of privacy. However, it was also surprisingly easy to get to, unlike some other places. Still quite ableist, unfortunately, but not so crazy that it is an absolute chore. It’s also quite easily accessible by boat, should anyone have one that could ferry the less abled… but that’s a whole other can of worms.
One thing that struck me that was different from many other nude or clothing-optional friendly areas was the absolute lack of any on-site signage that would designated the space as nude friendly or clothing-optional. You pretty much kind of have to know what it is before you go there, or you’re in for a bit of a shock. No “Clothing required beyond this point”, no “Nude sunbathers ahead”, no “Official Clothing-optional Beach” designation. The site on Google has this, but at the actual beach access? Nothing. I was a little surprised by that, but since this beach has been in operation as a nudist beach for years, I guess it works in the context. It certainly doesn’t seem to have a negative connotation. The fact that it’s also quite out of the way of general civilization probably helps as well. It’s about a 10 minute drive from the city, down an unremarkable road, and isn’t situated on University Campus grounds (cough, cough, Wreck Beach, cough cough). The lack of signage also means that it’s slightly more difficult to realize just where you’re allowed to be naked or not. Thankfully, on our trip, the beach had quite a few people on it, but I can imagine first-timers heading down not knowing what to expect, on a day where there were few to no bathers would be a little wary.
Once we got the the beach main, it was merely a matter of choosing a spot, stripping down, and enjoying ourselves… and enjoy ourselves we did. This beach has an immediate and wonderfully chill and relaxing vibe. It is NOT a beach of hundreds to thousands, it is a beach of tens. Almost every single person we encountered was nude or, in the case of some women, at least topless. I really only remember 3 or 4 people staying clothed, and they tended to keep themselves to either extreme end of the beach. The beach itself is only about a half-mile in length, starting just around the corner of a peninsula point, and extending towards a cliff face, then dog-legging to run parallel to the cliff for a short distance. The beach is a combination of a sandy main, running towards a more rocky or pebbly surface towards the cliff-face. The whole beach is really protected by a cliff-face, that runs shorter and shorter towards the peninsula, so that anyone coming into the beach access on the road isn’t going to easily see onto the beach. There are houses up on the top of the shorter cliff, where the road comes down, and by god if I had the money I would own one of those houses!
The beach is also filled with greenery of all kinds. My favourite are the two rather large willows that give the beach a wonderful sense of character, like a fantasy setting, and the silvery leaved trees that are possibly silver-leaf willows or another, invasive species that I can’t remember the name of. It’s really a gorgeous little spot all told, surrounded by arid sandstone cliff faces, sage and mountains. The beach is on Lake Okanagan, which is a lake in central B.C. famous for its legend of the Ogopogo, a “Loch Ness Monster” type creature said to inhabit the lake. The water was clear, warm and wonderful, and on the main part of the beach, super sandy out to neck deep, before lake weeds set in.
It really just has a sense of comfort and belonging. Like a warm hug on a cold day. Where Wreck Beach is unique in its culture and has a sense of community, Three Mile Beach is more like going to Grandmother’s cabin and being among family members (if family is positive and good). I talked to a person there that is one of 5 volunteers that helps maintain cleanliness and safety on the beach, and maintains communication with the city of Penticton. The agreement begin that as long as they do so, the city will step back and not interfere. These volunteers maintain garbage collection, a shed to store emergency supplies, a bin to store things for the city and a few entertainment items for regulars or newcomers to use at will. They have frequent music days, potluck dinners, and other small events. It was amazing to hear that level of dedication for such a small site, and it gives me much hope that has diminished for me in recent years.
The other thing that struck me was just how much of a balanced ratio there was between male and female. For such a small and intimate area, one would expect it would mostly be males, but apparently word is out in this area about the wholesomeness of this beach, and not only was it a good mix of gender, but a good mix of age. The person I talked to said that young people frequent the beach quite a lot, so it’s not just old men, like some places can be. That’s pretty good news. I saw signs of that on my visit, although I was late in the summer with a sketchy weather outlook, so the beach was apparently a lot less inhabited than usual. It didn’t make much of a difference. Those that were there definitely gave off the vibe that this little place was something special, and I appreciated that.
I don’t know how much of an opportunity I’ll have to revisit Three Mile Beach in the near future. My chance to travel is limited, and of course we are coming to the close of another year of outdoor nakedness, especially in the Okanagan where, when summer ends, it ENDS, so at best I won’t be back out this way until next summer. At worst I’ll have to wait two years when my plans for getting off the Coast may come into fruition. However, knowing this little place of heaven exists here is an extreme positive to any future plans I make… and it’s a comfort to a heart that has seen too much negativity in the naturist world over the last few years that things like this still exist out there, we just have to try and find them.
So try and find them I will. As often as I can, and I hope that others out there are trying as well, because even if society at large seems unfit to embrace the body, we can at least find a little solace in small slices of acceptance wherever we go… or possibly even create them, if we have the will.
Until next time Three Mile Beach, it was a pleasure.