For years I had heard about a nude beach not too far from my house; it is an excellent surf spot, a great spot for hang-gliding, and is not as crowded as Southern California beaches usually are.

Going to a nude beach though – was that something I was really comfortable with? Not to mention, I didn't want to go to a place like that by myself. But who could I take? I mean, we would be naked together! Ultimately, I knew it was something I wanted to try at some point in my life, but I had no idea when or where.

I ended up going one day with one of my best friends from high school. We went to school together, and did and shared everything with one another. From sports teams to family camping trips to discovering things about ourselves; nothing was secret, nothing was too personal, nothing was unsharable.

We were a little nervous when we approached the beach, but definitely more excited.

If I had to describe what I was expecting, it would have been along the lines of either a hot teen orgy or a retirement community field trip. That’s what the movies always made it seem like. As we got down the last flight of stairs, and let me tell you, there were a LOT of stairs, we were greeted by a beautiful, secluded beach filled half-way with regular people enjoying the sunshine in their clothes, and half-way with regular people enjoying the sunshine sans clothing.

Yes, most of the people who had neglected their clothes were older men. And the two of us were of the only few our age. The rest of the patrons, though, were of a wide variety of ages and groups, like the middle-aged couples with friends and the young mother with her husband and two small kids.

We had been expecting to only be confident enough to undress partway, topless if you will. However it only took a matter of minutes for us to be comfortable enough to strip down all the way.

As we lay out à la carte, I was overwhelmed by how comfortable I was to be out there. I had never been naked and in sight of someone I was not personally connected to in my entire life, yet here I was with dozens of strangers of all ages enjoying their flesh without any anxiety.

No one was staring at anyone else. No one was checking to see if they were being stared at. No one was fidgeting or trying to hide their problem areas. No one was trying to draw attention to their assets or prove a point. No one was flirting or being sexual.

At a normal beach, all of those things would have been happening.

At a nude beach, everyone could just be themselves.

For the first time since before puberty, I didn’t feel judged about my body or what I looked like. I didn’t indulge in swimming like my friend did, but when she came back she described the feeling of being nude in the ocean by saying that she “felt like a real mermaid. Like nothing else mattered besides me and the water.”

I saw a lot of hairy old man butts my first time at a nude beach, but the experience was more than that. I left the beach sunburned (for future reference, nips do get sunburned) and dehydrated, but also more confident and self-assured. I do plan to revisit a nude beach at some point in time, and I absolutely recommend it to everyone out there. Take someone you trust and respect and by visiting these beaches. It might help you learn to trust and respect yourself.