Best Nude Beaches in the World

It’s a big world out there, with plenty of private little nooks and crannies for getting naked in nature, as God originally intended.

If you want to be sure you’re not hassled, here are 10 popular beaches where bathing attire – actually, any attire at all – is optional.

Little Beach

Maui, Hawaii 

 What good is a Garden of Eden type Paradise if you can’t enjoy it Adam and Eve style? Fortunately, the authorities in charge of Makena State Park, on the island of Maui, understand that – and the locals appreciate the tourism dollars naturist travelers bring.

No less beautiful than Big Beach, Little Beach is kept clean and sociable by the Friends of Little Beach/Maui Sunseekers, who also sponsor nude half-day cruises several times a year. littlebeachmaui.com

Wreck Beach
Vancouver, British Columbia

The setting of Wreck Beach, Canada’s first and largest legal clothing-optional beach, couldn’t be more different from the tropics – but it is no less stunning.

Located at the confluence of the Frasier River with the Straits of Georgia and English Bay, this 5-mile long beach draws more than 500,000 visitors annually to admire the surrounding white cliffs and emerald-green forest. As befits one of the largest nude beaches in the world, it enjoys the allegiance of the Wreck Beach Preservation Society. www.wreckbeach.org/

San Onofre State Beach
Orange County, California

Yet another enclave defended by an active “Friends of” organization is the two-mile stretch of beach at the southern end of San Onofre State Park in the sun-drenched OC. A judge just ruled that the clothing optional section of the beach could stay that way, so come down and help the naturist enthusiasts celebrate their 30-year tradition.

Not far away along this surfers’ paradise coast is another Southern California clothing optional recreational area, San Diego’s Blacks Beach. friendsofsanonofre.org

Cap d’Agde
Vermeille Coast, France

Cap d’Agde is much more than just a nude beach: it is the “World Capital of Nudism.” In the “naturist quarter” of this Mediterranean resort town, nudity is legal not only on the beach but also in banks, restaurants and shops.

Of course, France is the home of laissez-faire, so just about every beach in southern France is topless. While the clothing optional atmosphere here is as wholesome as anywhere, there are sections of the beach at night where friskier activities are reported to take place. www.capdagde.com
 

Haulover Beach
Miami, Florida

This lovely beach in metropolitan Miami has been featured as one of the Travel Channel’s “Top Beaches” – and 1,000,000 visitors a year give it its reputations as one of the most popular clothing optional beaches in the country.

Haulover was once a very unsavory place, until it was reclaimed from drug dealers by naturist activists; to make sure it stays family-friendly, the city of Miami maintains the amenities, including patrolling lifeguards, barbecue grills, refreshment stands and showers. If you get bored just soaking up rays, there are volleyball games and even occasional surfing contests.

Apollo Beach
Volusia County, Florida

More centrally located in the Sunshine State than Haulover, Apollo Beach is at the north end of Canaveral National Seashore, an undeveloped area (i.e., few amenities) shared by hardy beach enthusiasts and a number of endangered species under the protection of the U.S. National Park Service.

“What’s not to love about a nude beach in Florida?” says Steve Vickers, 28, who works for AANR (the American Association for Nude Recreation). “It’s a great place where my friends and I escape for a ‘detox weekend.’”

Available parking (in lot number 5) has not kept up with the demand, so plan to arrive early. And don’t come expecting a bird’s eye view of a shuttle launch: Apollo is closed the week of a planned space shot.
 

Hanlan’s Point Beach
Toronto, Canada

Hanlan’s Point Beach was an experiment that succeeded: nude sunbathers who had been frequenting the place for years persuaded local authorities to declare it officially clothing optional on a trial basis, and it soon became more popular than the “textile” (i.e., swimsuit) area.

Access to Hanlan’s Point is via a 15-minute ferry ride from downtown Toronto, followed by a 10-minute walk to the clothing optional area of the beach. The Hanlan’s Beach Naturists have equipped the beach with courts for playing volleyball, European “lengoteke” and French petanque. www.pathcom.com/~frebeach

Gunnison Beach
Sandy Hook, N.J.

Gunnison Beach, the largest clothing optional beach on the Atlantic coast of the United States, is one of several beaches in northern New Jersey’s Gateway National Recreation Area. Located on the Sandy Hook peninsula, Gunnison affords a panoramic view of New York Harbor and the famous skyline of lower Manhattan.

Legally recognized as clothing optional, with official signs, a lifeguard and police protection, Gunnison’s proximity to metropolitan New York means it can draw in excess of 5,000 visitors a day on a sunny summer weekend. gunnisonbeach.org

Samurai Beach
Port Stephens, Australia

The Beijing Olympics are over, but there’s no need to wait another four years to watch – or even participate in – riveting Olympic games of a totally different sort: the annual Nude Olympics held every November at Samurai Beach on Australia’s east coast.

Located within the bounds of Tomaree National Park, about 120 miles north of Sydney, ruggedly unspoiled Samurai Beach was one of the first legal nude beaches Down Under. Even when not hosting events like the Nude Torch Relay, the fun-loving Samurai Beach crowd gets to frolic in the Pacific Ocean in gorgeous weather all year round.

Anse de Grand Saline/Anse du Gouverneur
St. Barthelemy

All of the beaches on tiny St. Barts are topless (that good old French influence), and two of them are topless and bottomless, Anse de Grand Saline and Anse du Gouverneur. Lesser known than the clothing optional Orient Bay Beach on St. Martin, these fairly long beaches are consequently less crowded.

On the other hand, neither Anse de Grand Saline nor Anse du Gouverneur have any facilities whatsoever — no food or drink for sale, changing facilities or even public restrooms – so come prepared.

Amazing and Spectacular Pits

Do you not know what to do with your personal debt? With the economy down I set off in search of some really big pits to dump our problems in. So here you have it - some really impressive man made holes on Earth:

The Big Hole

My favorite, the deepest hand dug open mine pit in the world - Kimberley Mine in South Africa, appropriately called Big Hole . It was hand dug to 240m after diamonds were first discovered in 1866. Later the underground mine was mined to a depth of 1097m. The mine covers 17 hectares and is 463 meters wide. It yielded 2,722 kg of diamonds - now you know why they're so hellishly expensive.

Mirny Mine

Second position on my list goes to the largest open pit diamond mine in the world, the Mirny Mine in Rusia:

The pit is 1200m in diameter and 525 meters deep. It takes a truck 2 hrs to drive from the bottom of the mine to the rim! This shot gives you a better scale of its size:

It is so huge that it creates a downdraft that has sucked in some helicopters flying above so now it's a no flyover zone.

La Herradura

Although diamond mines are big enough to dump even the US deficit into them and have a beautifully circular shape, I find them lacking in color. For a true feast of hues you should visit , well, a gold mine. Check out this Mexican gold mine La Herradura:

Or if Cebu, Philippines is closer to you go and check this gigantic pit:

Cebu Open Pit Mine

Where to hide US financial problems

Almost forgot that with US deficit exceeding $11 trillion (how many zeros is that?) American need some really big holes to dump their problems into. No worries though, a hole in the budget is not the only one they have:

Open Pit Mine, Nevada

Neveda mine.

or equally pictureqsue one in sunny Arizona:

Lavender Pit, Arizona

by kevindooley

The Lavender Pit is a now defunct mine in Bisbee, Arizona. About 256 million tons of waste were stripped to mine copper, gold and silver as well as turquoise. The toxic, acidic leftovers make for some beautiful colorations.

How you dig them

Remember the good old days when nobody cared about work safety and cheap labor was so abundant that picks and shovels sufficed to tear deep into the earth's bowels? Well, these days it's different and you need true monsters like this one to rip into the ground:

World's biggest land vehicle.

This monstrosity straight out of the latest Terminator movie is a gigantic bucketwheel excavator built by Krupp. It stands over 95 metres tall, is 215 metres long and weighs over 45,500 tons !

Got some gardening to do?

Its gigantic bucket-wheel can remove over 76,455 cubic meters of overburden each day! It's used for strip mining coal in Germany.

So if you're feeling down and can't cope with your problems anymore just visit the neerest pit and let go off all your problems into one of them:)

Most Hottest Places on Earth.

In search for the perfect holiday spot with endless summer, shining sun and hot weather, be cautious not to pick up the hottest place on Earth. The extremely high temperatures may turn your paradise into the hell. Literally.

Here is the list of the hottest (in terms of temperature) places on Earth.

 

Africa 57.8°C

Danakil depression in Ethiopia is considered to be the world’s hottest places. During the dry season the average temperature totals to 48°C (118 °F)!

Desert in Ethiopia.

However, that is EL Azizia in Libya that hit the record-breaking result of 57.8°C (135.9 °F). Well, that was on 13 September 1922, but, I bet, there’s still someone alive who remembers that hot day.

Libya

North America 56.7°C

Death Valley, California, U.S.A reached 56.7°C (134° F) on 10 July, 1913.

Death Valley

Deatn Valley

Asia 53.9°C

Israel reported 53.9°C (°F 129)  in Tirat Tzvi in 1944. It is still hot nowadays in the country where the temperature exceeds 40°C on average during the summer.

Israel

Dried river bank, Israel.

Australia 50.7°C

It can get really hot (and bad) in Australia when bushfires and droughts spread throughout the continent. 2008/2009 summer with its 47°C was close to the record of 1960 when Oodnadatta in South Australia reported 50.7°C (123.3°F).

Road in Oodnadatta

Lake Hume, Australia.

Europe 50°C

Try to walk through the centre of Sevilla in Spain at noon in July and you will know what it means to live in the hottest place in Europe. It easily gets over 40°C during the summer in the town. That was on 4 August 1881, however, when Sevilla reported 50°C (122 °F) – the hottest day recorded in Europe.

Sevilla's street in shade

Five Most Dangerous Cities in The World

The crime statistics of world's five most dangerous cities are disheartening and shocking. With such high rates of homicide, robberies and violence these cities deservedly bear the names of 'the places of chaos and death' or 'the murder capitals of the world'. Despite the scary data, some of them still remain wanted tourist destinations, though extreme caution is strongly advised when visiting. 

5. Cape Town. South Africa.

62 killings per 100 000 residents

Cape Town.

Crime has been a major problem in South Africa (both for locals and travelers) for many years now, and the murder and robbery statistics loom large in today's society.
The "good" news is that the number of killings declined by 3.4% to around 18 000 (sic!) between April 2008 and March 2009. Still there are 50 murders a day in South Africa. The latest data shows that there have been 71,500 sexual offenses (10% increase), 18,400 burglaries (27% increase), and 13,900 business robberies (41% increase) reported from April 2008 to March 2009. If it's any consolation, the street robbery declined by 7% to 72,194.

Cape Town by night.

The beautifully located Cape Town is among the most dangerous towns in the country due to its high level of robberies, rapes, kidnappings and murders. The city is about the same size as Caracas and it has a murder rate of 62 per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the police, the homicides usually occur in the poorer districts and suburbs of the town rather than in upscale areas. Due to the poverty (the country has been facing a deep recession) the robberies are common. Therefore, traveling alone and using ATM's at night is not advised.

4. New Orleans. The USA. 

95 killings per 100 000 residents

New Orleans, French Quarter.

The homicide rate in New Orleans ranks way above other American cities and towns, and therefore the city has been named the murder capital of the USA. The total number of murders equaled 179 in 2008 in this small city of around 300,000 residents. Nevertheless, there have been 15% fewer killings in 2008 than in 2007 when the police reported 210 murders. Also other crime rates are dropping in the town. Rape went down by 44% and armed robbery 4.85% in 2008 in comparison to 2007.

Downtown New Orleans.

Still, according to the FBI data there have been 95 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2008. In turn New Orleans Police Department reported 67 murders per 100,000 in 2008. A scary comparison has recently been made by the Time magazine stating that Baghdad in Iraq with its murder rate of about 48 per 100,000 people is now being safer, considering the statistics, than New Orleans.
Violent crime is a serious problem especially in the low-income neighborhoods of the town. Lonely Planet advises travelers to New Orleans to be cautious and avoid walks at night, especially if you are alone.

3. Caracas. Venezuela.

130 killings per 100 000 residents

Caracas.

Another unsafe destination among world's most dangerous cities is Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
At the end of 2008 the Foreign Policy magazine called the city "the murder capital of the world". According to the official statistics there have been 130 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2008. Only in December 2008 there were at least 510 people killed in the capital, as CNN reported.

Caracas.

The problems of Caracas are not only drug trade and gang battles, but also increasing poverty of the city inhabited by around 4 million people. Murders mainly take place in the capital's poorest areas - between 1970s and 1990s the poverty rate increased by 300% to 65%. Although during the oil boom the economic situation improved, the poverty level remains very high.
Moreover, experts underline that the murder ratio has increased by 67% since President Chavez took control over the country. There is police abuse, no gun control, and no good control over the militias, as various media report.

2. Ciudad Juárez. Mexico

130 killings per 100 000 residents

Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.

Also Mexico, one of the world's greatest travel destinations thanks to its fascinating history and stunning natural sites, is, unfortunately, facing a serious problem of robbery, kidnapping, sexual assault and drug-related crimes.
Among worst affected areas in the country is the Chihuahua state and, above all, Ciudad Juárez. The city located across the U.S and Mexican border, home to 1.5 million people, has recently got a very bad reputation due to its shocking rates of violence. Bloody and violent fighting between the drug cartels have spread across the town, posing a serious threat to locals and travelers.

Ciudad Juarez.

Since January 2007 there have been 8330 drug-related murders reported in Mexico, of which 50% accounted for Ciudad Juárez. The city reports 130 murders per 100,000 inhabitants (as of August 2009), which is currently the world's highest murder rate ( outside the official war zone). In February 2009 the U.S. State Department announced that since January 2008 there had been 1,800 people killed in the city.

1. Mogadishu. Somalia. 

No data

Displaced people fleeing from Mogadishu.

The governments' warnings about traveling to Somalia are unanimous: this African country remains extremely dangerous and there is an enormous risk to anyone's security due to the threat of terrorism, clan-based and ethnic fighting as well as high level of kidnapping and piracy off the coast.

Mogadishu.

The epicenter of these brutal crimes and cruelty is Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. The city has been devastated by the ongoing civil war. As of 2008, around half of the city's population (0.5 million) have left the war-torn capital, according to the United Nations. Dozens of people are wounded every day in Mogadishu, and frequent bombings kill many of civilians. No one really knows how many people have been killed in the city, but without dispute Mogadishu remains the most lawless and dangerous city in the world. This is how BBC describes the everyday scenes in Mogadishu: "The crump of mortars; the crackle of gunfire; eerily empty streets; prowling guerrillas and looters; sprawling refugee camps; hospitals overflowing with casualties, their bodies smashed open by bullets, shells and shrapnel...".
Since the overthrowing of President Siad Barre in 1991 one million people have lost lives in Somalia due to the civil war and famine.

Strangest Museums on the Globe

Step off the beaten museum track and have a look inside the world's most bizarre, unique or quite freaky collections. From curried sausages and Napoleon's socks  to the longest human parasite (yuck!), these museums display truly fascinating yet sometimes striking artefacts.

 

1. The Toilet Seat Art Museum

Apparently, there is a museum of almost everything that plays an important role in our lives, and so is the museum of toilet seats (nobody would deny the importance of toilets for human beings). The Toilet Seat Art Museum, established and run by Barney Smith (now in his eighties) in San Antonio, Texas, displays a collection of around 900 toilet seats, all decorated by Mr. Smith, a retired plumber. The inspiration comes from the museum founder's trips around the world, and some of the decorations are also mailed to him from all over the world. If you are planning a visit to Mr. Smith's, keep in mind that there is no toilet in the garage-based museum.

2. The Meguro Parasitological Museum

Meguro Parasitological Museum. Tokyo, Japan. Dolphin's infected stomach.

Leeches, hookworms, roundworms, flukes, and nematodes create a gross yet fascinating collection presented in Tokyo's Meguro Parasitological Museum. In this wonderful world of worms, as the museum's slogan reads, one can find such quirky examples as a giant herpetological parasite poking out of a bottled turtle's head, a riddled dog's heart (due to heartworms attack), an 8.8-m-long tapeworm extracted from a human body (the world's longest tapeworm, by the way), or a stomach of an infected dolphin. The museum even houses a gift shop where one can buy a "nice" parasite souvenir.

3. The Bata Shoe Museum

Napoleon Bonaparte's socks, on display at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. By mechanikat

Toronto, Canada, also has its own freaky museum. The Bata Shoe Museum displays 12,500 exhibits from socks to amazing footwear from all over the world and spans 4,500 years of history of shoes and related accessories. This unusual museum was established by Sonja Bata (from the shoe giant family) who travelled around the globe in order to build up a collection of traditional footwear from every corner of the world.

4. The Museum of Bad Arts

MOBA (the Museum of Bad Arts) exhibits "art too bad to be ignored". The museum's two galleries located in the basements of the Somerville Theatre and Dedham Community Theatre comprise around 500 really hopeless pieces of art, but only around 30 pictures are on public display at any one time. The museum's founders admit that something must have gone horribly wrong in the process of creating the pieces, but the artists were sincere enough to reveal their paintings.

5. The Geppi's Entertainment Museum

 Wall of comics in GEM.
Geppi's Entertainment Museum, located in Baltimore, the USA, is a journey through a fantasyland of childhood. The toy and gadget lovers will find a broad collection of pop culture artifacts here, from comic books, toys, and posters, to cereal boxes, dolls, badges and many other items. You can easily lose yourself in an array of 6,000 pop culture memorabilia that will easily lead your imagination to revisit the childhood and meet your favorite characters such as Superman or Mickey Mouse.

6. The Corkscrew Museum

 Barolo Museum of Corkscrews.

Beautiful Barolo, located in the Italian region of Piedmont, is home to the Corkscrew Museum. Where else could such museum be located if not in Italy, a country of the world's best wines and picturesque vineyards? The tiny museum surprises  with an excellent collection of corkscrews from all around the world. For example, did you know that corkscrews could be made of aluminium, bone, brass, iron, pearl, bronze, ivory, silver, wood or even tortoise shell? The museum exhibits 500 corkscrews dating from the 18th century until today as well as postcards depicting a great variety of them.

7. The Currywurst Museum

Given that around 800 million currywurst pieces per year are consumed in Germany, the Currywurst Museum located in Berlin strikes little wonder. The museum was opened in 2009, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the creation of the dish. Apparently, it was in 1949 that Herta Heuwer came up with the currywurst. She mixed ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, curry powder and poured it over a grilled sausage. Today, the dish is a national obsession.

 8. Velveteria

 Inside Velveteria.

You will never be the same after a visit to the Velveteria, as the museum's website informs. Whether it is a life-changing experience or not, the museum's weird collection has the potential to leave a big impression on its viewers. Velveteria, established by Caren Anderson and Carl Baldwin, a couple from Portland, USA, is the world's only museum devoted to black velvet paintings. The museum displays around 400 pictures, but it is only a sample of the 2,000 dark, mysterious pieces that can be found in the couple's personal collection. Apparently, the museum is about to close down and move to California soon.

9. The International UFO Museum

 At the International UFO Museum & Research Center

If you are looking for aliens, head to Roswell, a town in New Mexico, USA. Opened in 1991, the quirky museum and its research centre refer in their exhibits to the events of 1947. The legend has it that in July 1947 a ranch foreman discovered several alien bodies and a crashed flying saucer. The evidence was captured, however, by the US military and the government later claimed the flying object was a weather balloon. Today, the museum tries to rediscover the truth, presenting newspaper clippings, photographs and speculations about the Roswell incident. Among the museum's main attraction is a prop alien corpse dummy featured in the "Roswell: the UFO Coverup" movie.

10. The Kyoto International Manga Museum

 In fornt of Manga International Museum.

Germans have their currywurst, Italians cherish corkscrews, and the Japanese are manga fans. The Kyoto International Manga Museum opened in 2006 and became almost an institution for youngsters trying to look like nothing but the manga characters. Actually, the museum serves as a library with as many as 200,000 (!) books which can be read a paid admission. Among many historical items there is the first manga magazine Eshinbun Nihonchi from 1874 and the first children's manga magazine established in 1907.