That's right, not only the crowds & gawkers, but these days, the size of the nude area has been substantially limited due to the bird nesting zone being cordoned off, and the dunes being closed.
regarding the crowds:
In the 90's when it started getting crazy crowded on the weekends, GF-then-wife Bonnie was uncomforable with the mob scene. So sometimes instead of Gunnison beach, we'd go to North Beach at Sandy Hook and walk north away from the main beach and get naked there even though nudity isn't allowed. Seems she enjoyed showing it all to the ocassional beachcomber or fisherman, and the fact that nudity isn't allowed there seemed to make it more exciting for her. Gotta say it made me nervous though. More than once we'd see a Ranger coming and I'd pull on a pair of shorts, and Bonnie would do the same, but leave her top off in defiance. So yeah, more than once she got a warning!
And sometimes we'd do a similar routine, but we'd park at the fishing area, (parking lot F?) and walk north toward Gunnison and drop our blanket there, a 1/8 mile or so short of the other end of the bird sanctuary, which is also the end of the nude area. Seldom anyone around, and Bonnie could still get her cheap thrills showing off to the fishermen! LOL. There was a side benefit of being at that spot vs. North beach. On a busy weekend couples from Gunnison would sometimes hike down to the end of the bird sanctuary, see from a distance that we might be nude, and continue down to our location, which was well beyond the nude area. You see, I like looking at the nude women! They'd always ask why we weren't at Gunnison... "a long story" we'd say..... LOL If we were comfortable with their company, we'd offer to share a beer or water with them. Because, hey, it's a long walk back.
A few times we've met the same people when we'd go to Gunnison and have a laugh about our alternative beach location.