Wellington Region
Wellington is one of the places Free Beaches NZ has a committee to organise things locally. In general, during the summer, local members go to Breaker Bay on the first Sunday of the month and to Peka Peka Beach (north end) on the second Sunday of the month.
There aren't many places available near Wellington city but the popular main beach is worthy of several pictures!
In general, the Wellington police and council have been more relaxed about nakedness than North Shore City (Auckland), in particular. In years past 'toplessness' has been noted on the roadside grass area across the busy road from Oriental Bay, less than 1 km from the CBD.
Nudity has also been noted in the 'bush' off Alexandra Rd (which runs the length of Mt Victoria, in the middle of the city) which the council asked their workers to ignore, in the 80s.
Other spots around Wellington include Princess Bay, occasionally; and further afield is Clouston Park (east end), in the Akatarawas.
Breaker Bay
Being at the bottom end of the Miramar peninsula, you can get there by bus. Its big advantage is the shelter it offers from the prevailing north westerly!
One of Wellington City's best-kept secrets
There is a car park at the access point to the beach, at the south end of the 'Pass of Branda' in the suburb of Seatoun. The area of the beach commonly used is from the 'hole in the rock' (about 100 m from the car park) out to the point, shown here. At the height of summer, clothes aren't needed until well after 8 pm - and some spectacular sunsets can be seen from here.
Wellington City's favourite clothes-optional beach
Apart from Princess Bay, to the south of the city, nakedness has also been known to occur on the beach between Eastbourne and Pencarrow Head (right behind the ferry).
You can wave to the ferry passengers...
The beach itself is mainly tiny pebbles rather than sand, but, from this fairly typical scene, it is obviously still quite a comfortable place to be for a lot of people.
'Being there is everything...'
Kapiti
Peka Peka is really the first beach north of Wellington on the Kapiti Coast where skinny-dipping is not only 'known to occur' thus: legally safe; there is also a sign to acknowledge it. The most commonly used area these days is north Peka Peka Beach, accessed from the end of Te Hapua Rd, 5 km north of Waikanae. (Although there have been occasional reports of skinny-dippers seen at Queen Elizabeth Park, near Paekakariki, about 20 km south.)
Peka Peka Beach
This was probably the first beach in the Wellington region to be recognised for skinny-dipping use. Since Te Hapua Rd was extended to the north end of the beach in the late 80s, the area used has moved north about 1 km due to its easier access. Recently, however, there has been a fairly unnecessary 'media storm', following typically alarmist headlines...
Peka Peka Beach is about 60km north of Wellington
Mangaone Valley
This area is about 10 km inland from Waikanae, off the Akatarawa road. It is a DoC reserve. This spot is just downstream from the car park, in the opposite direction to the walking track to Otaki Forks.
Mangaone Valley has a number of swimming spots