A Global Guide to Nude & Topless Sunbathing

We design our swimsuits and bikinis to make you feel and look fabulous, but we know some of you love to ditch your swimwear and show some more skin in order to soak up as much vitamin D as possible. In fact, there were over 687,000 Google searches made in the United Kingdom last year for things like ‘nudist beaches’ and ‘sunbathe nude’.

With warmer weather just around the corner, we’ve completed a study that will be super useful to those of you who love to go topless when sunbathing on holiday, or even go fully in the buff! We’ve looked at each country’s rules and regulations* when it comes to naked sunbathing, and created a handy map to give you an immediate idea of where to go on holiday if you love to sunbathe starkers.

Egypt – Amber: Although many travel threads say that topless sunbathing at the beach or pool is fine, many believe it’s culturally insensitive due to Egypt’s Muslim population.

Cameroon – Amber: There are laws against public nudity that’s intended to offend – for sunbathing purposes the rules are ambiguous.

Ethiopia – Amber: Public nudity is the cultural norm for some tribes, however for tourists the attitudes towards naked sunbathing are mixed.

Kenya – Red: Topless sunbathing is illegal

Madagascar – Red: Public nudity, including topless sunbathing is illegal.

Mauritius – Green: Whilst full nudity is prohibited on this exotic island, topless beach sunbathing is generally accepted.

Morocco – Red: Topless or nude sunbathing is not permitted.

Mozambique – Red: Topless or nude sunbathing is not permitted.

Namibia – Amber: Generally not deemed socially acceptable in any form, but there are private nudist resorts.

Seychelles – Amber: Nudity is illegal, but partial/naked sunbathing is allowed on some unofficial beaches and private hotel beaches.

Tanzania – Red: It’s advised to avoid topless or nude sunbathing.

Tunisia – Amber: Deemed OK in private hotels and resorts, but generally not acceptable at public beaches or parks.

South Africa – Amber: Amber: Public nudity is illegal, however there is an official nudist beach in Cape Town called Sandy Bay.

Other African countries: Not enough classification information available

Antigua and Barbuda – Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless in public.

Bahamas – Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless in public.

Canada – Green: Whilst topless sunbathing is generally unacceptable, there are multiple official designated nudist beaches and areas.

Costa Rica – Amber: Public nudity is technically illegal, but there are unofficial naturist resorts and beaches.

Cuba – Amber: Forums say that although public nudity is banned, topless sunbathing is generally tolerated.

Grenada – Red: Nude sunbathing is prohibited.

Honduras – Amber: Generally it’s a no for any kind of naked sunbathing, but there is at least one naturist resort.

Jamaica – Amber: Topless sunbathing is pretty common but technically it’s illegal to be naked in public.

Mexico – Amber: Technically illegal to perform sunbathing topless, but a couple of nudist beaches exist.

Panama – Amber: Generally frowned upon but there are some safe nudist beaches such as La Sueca Nudist Beach.

Saint Kitts and Nevis – Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless in public.

Saint Lucia – Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless in public.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Topless sunbathing strongly discouraged.

Trinidad & Tobago – Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless in public.

USA – Amber: For 32 states you shouldn’t have any legal worries about nude sunbathing, however it isn’t allowed in Utah, Indiana or Tennesse, and is ambiguous in the remaining states. Check out our USA Nude Sunbathing Guide for more info.

Other North American countries: Not enough classification information available

Argentina – Green: Nude beaches exist. There is some controversy around topless sunbathing. Protests were held in 2017, as women appealed for the same bare-top rights on the beach, with a judge ruling that it wasn’t a crime for women to sunbathe topless. Proceed cautiously.

Brazil – Green: Generally illegal but there are dedicated nudist beaches around the country.

Chile – Amber: One nudist beach on the entire coastline, and laws are ambiguous.

Colombia – Amber: Illegal and can result in fines if done in the wrong location, however nudist beaches are available.

Ecuador – Amber: It doesn’t seem to be illegal and nude beaches exists, but forums say it’s frowned upon.

Peru – Amber: Topless and nude sunbathing isn’t tolerated, but nudist associations exist.

Uruguay – Green: Generally topless sunbathing is allowed and nude beaches exist.

Other South American countries: Not enough classification information available

Bahrain – Red: All public nudity is illegal.

Bangladesh – Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless in public.

Cambodia – Amber: Generally illegal, but one nude beach listed in Koh Rong Samloem.

China – Red: There have been reports of police cracking down on naked sunbathing in places that were once considered nudist beaches. Hong Kong has a number of unofficial places, and in Taiwan it’s illegal but does occur.

India – Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless or nude. Some private organizations allow it for members only.

Indonesia – Amber: Technically illegal but there are multiple unofficial nudist beaches and private naturist resorts.

Iran – Amber: Technically illegal for women to show their bodies in public, but Kish island is a popular place for females only to go nude.

Israel – Green: Although not very common, it’s not actually illegal to sunbathe topless and nude beaches exist.

Japan – Green: Although there aren’t many nudist beaches, onsens (hot water springs) are usually attended in the nude.

Kuwait – Red: Illegal to sunbathe naked or topless, even wearing a bikini unacceptable in public.

Kyrgyzstan – Amber: Has a nude beach according to Wikipedia, although limited info.

Malaysia – Red: Both nude and topless sunbathing is illegal.

Maldives – Red: Both nude and topless sunbathing is illegal.

Nepal – Red: Technically not illegal, but culturally unacceptable.

Oman – Red: Topless and nude sunbathing is not permitted.

Philippines – Red: Both nude and topless sunbathing is illegal.

Quatar – Red: Topless and nude sunbathing are both strictly prohibited.

Saudi Arabia – Red: All public nudity is illegal.

Singapore – Red: Illegal to be nude in public and topless sunbathing is prohibited.

South Korea – Green: There are designated nude spots, naked forest bathing and nude beaches on Jeju Island.

Sri Lanka – Red: It’s illegal to go topless or nude when sunbathing publicly.

Taiwan – Red: Both nude and topless sunbathing is illegal.

Thailand – Green: Multiple official nude beaches but you can only topless sunbathe in official designated areas.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Red: Illegal to sunbathe topless or go nude.

Vietnam – Green: Although the laws are ambiguous, topless and naked sunbathing is becoming more popular and acceptable, with some official nudist beaches.

Other Asian countries: Not enough classification information available

Albania – Red: All public nudity is illegal.

Austria – Green: Completely legal and very common to see topless or nude tanning.

Belarus – Red: Public nudity of any kind is illegal.

Belgium – Green: Topless sunbathing is fine, but bottoms halves need to stay on, except for one nudist beach.

Bulgaria – Green: Boasts a nice selection of nudist beaches.

Croatia – Green: Topless and nude sunbathing is legal and practiced pretty much everywhere.

Cyrus – Amber: Public nudity is illegal, however police are known to ‘turn a blind eye’ to unofficial nudist beaches.

Czech Republic – Green: Topless sunbathing is allowed in public.

Denmark – Green: Public nude sunbathing and topless sunbathing are both legal and common to see.

Estonia – Green: Both official and unofficial nudist beaches.

Finland – Amber: Not illegal but people have been removed from beaches for topless sunbathing, despite nudity in saunas being acceptable.

France – Green: Common and acceptable to sunbathe topless, and a large selection of nudist beaches.

Germany – Green: Plenty of nudist beaches and park – topless sunbathing acceptable and common.

Greece – Green: Topless sunbathing is legal and common.

Hungary – Green: Nude beaches are quite common and not illegal to sunbathe naked.

Iceland – Green: Not very common but perfectly legal.

Italy – Green: Not illegal to sunbathe topless, plenty of designated areas for naked sunbathing and dedicated nudist beaches.

Latvia – Green: Topless tanning is totally acceptable, and there are multiple nudist beaches.

Lithuania – Green: Technically illegal but there is a selection of official and unofficial nudist beaches.

Luxembourg – Green: Still a relatively new concept, but there are official nudist beaches.

Malta – Red: Both nude and topless sunbathing is illegal.

Monaco – Amber: Not common, but some naturist associations use unofficial beaches.

Montenegro – Green: Legal specific areas for both nude and topless sunbathing.

Netherlands – Green: Topless sunbathing is common and allowed in designated areas.

Norway – Green: There have been reports of some problems for topless sunbathers, but there are some nudist beaches.

Poland – Amber: Topless sunbathing is legal and common.

Portugal – Green: Not common but it’s legal to sunbathe naked.

Romania – Amber: Top less sunbathing is generally permitted, but there are no official nudist beaches.

Russia – Red: Topless and nude sunbathing is strictly prohibited.

Serbia – Green: There are several nudist beaches.

Slovakia – Green: Nudist societies and official nudist beaches exist.

Slovenia – Green: Common to see topless sunbathing and there is a selection of nudist beaches.

Spain – Green: Legal to sunbathe naked or topless and it’s a fairly common sight.

Sweden – Green: Recent law passed making it legal to be naked in public so that people can sunbathe topless. Official nudist beaches exist.

Switzerland – Green: Legal to sunbathe topless, and there is also lots of naked hiking!

Turkey – Amber: Technically illegal to do, but it’s common to see tourists sunbathing topless. There are no official nudist beaches.

Ukraine – Green: Has a selection of nudist beaches.

United Kingdom – Green: Topless sunbathing is completely legal and nudist beaches exist.

Other European countries: Not enough classification information available

Australia – Amber: You can only be naked on specific beaches that are legally designated, and a little limited. In the state of Queensland, it is illegal to be naked on any beach and nudity can be prosecuted.

New Zealand – Green: It is not illegal to be naked on any beach, and as such there are no official designated nudist beaches, because it is not necessary - nudity is not policed, only offensive behaviour. 

Fiji – Red: Illegal to be topless or nude

Vanuatu – Red: Nude or topless sunbathing isn't permitted.

Samoa – Red: Both nudity and topless sunbathing is forbidden.

Other countries in Oceania: Not enough classification information available.

We also found out which places across the world are the most interested in nudist sunbathing, by looking at the number of Google searches that the population of countries made over the last 12 months for the three most popular nudist phrases:

• Nudist beaches
• Nudist resorts
• Sunbathe nude

We cross-referenced the number of Google searches with each country’s population size to find where in the world is most obsessed with sunbathing nude.

The study revealed the top 15 countries who are (per person) most interested in spending time in the sun naked are:

• Australia
• New Zealand
• Ireland
• USA
• Canada
• Netherlands
• UK
• Japan
• Spain
• Hungary
• Chile
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Uruguay
• Israel

Data from Google Keyword Planner and correct as of March 2021.

*All information is based on online research from the following sources. Always check with officials about local sunbathing laws and etiquettes.

Sources:

• https://www.oyster.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org
• https://english.elpais.com
• https://www.nakedwanderings.com
• http://self.gutenberg.org
• https://worldpopulationreview.com
• https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk
• www.NudeZealand.nz

If this has got you in the mood to sunbathe topless or even in the nude, then good for you! However, topless sunbathing might still be a pipe dream for now, but not to worry, swimwear at Pour Moi can still give you all the thrills and spills, with fabulously fitting bikini, supportive bikini briefs and sculpting swimsuits. Check out our top swimwear picks below.