Quote:
Originally Posted by brunettesrule
Those are good questions, but here are some of the differences I see between the two beaches:
1. Gunnison is used by literally thousands of nude beach goers on a good summer day. Not sure about Lighthouse Beach, but I always thought it was significantly less.
2. Gunnison has a bathroom and shower area that is fairly close to the beach. It's only a little bit of a walk and it's mainly due to the fact that Gunnison has so much distance from the dunes to the shoreline. As a result, I don't think I've ever seen someone try to vacate their bowels in the dunes.
3. It seems to me like over-the-top sexual behavior at Gunnison has gone down dramatically over the years. I haven't seen any lewd behavior there in years. And I don't think I ever saw any of that kind of behavior in the dunes.
4. Gunnison has two to three lifeguard stations on the nude portion of the beach throughout the summer.
5. Gunnison is so isolated from the roadway that there is literally no chance that someone is going to accidentally see a nude beachgoer no matter how much erosion the beach has experienced due to the recent storm.
6. There is plenty of parking for Gunnison. While the main lot fills up relatively quickly, there is an overflow lot about 1/4 mile down the road that people can park at.
The wildcard could be how the rangers and park service actually feel about Gunnison. From what I can see, it's not a problem beach for them in that it seems to be very self maintaining. I also think that beachgoers generate a huge amount of income for Sandy Hook National Seashore because of all the people paying the $15 daily visitor pass for cars. It seems like they would be cutting their own throats to cut off that funding.
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every one of your points about gunnison is spot-on.
lighthouse beach is REALLY popular and crowded. young, old, single, families, just about every type of person you can imagine. i was there three times last summer and it was packed with people from the dunes to the water. these crowds, combined with the lack of lifeguards, has always been a touchy point with the NPS. with the dunes washed away, the "privacy" of the beach has also been washed away. perhaps this is a big deal to the NPS.
i'm going to remain optimistic about gunnison, but unless there are people using the beach starting in a couple of months, the wildlife will claim it for the summer and we all may be out of luck. gunnison is by far the most crowded beach at sandy hook and the rangers and lifeguards keep any unsavory behavior at bay.
i just grumpy because i selfishly love going to both of these beaches with my wife and friends, and this year we may have neither.