It’s not exactly the kind of news that matters to most people in St. Petersburg — there are bigger things to worry about these days. But we still decided to write about it, mostly because it reminded us of our old post about the city’s spontaneous nudist beach, and the whole situation seemed a little amusing.
You’d think that after more than half a century, a nudist beach would be left in peace. Not in St. Petersburg. The Dunes area on the Gulf of Finland — the city’s long running, unofficial naturist spot — is once again at the center of attention. Local officials are complaining, parents are writing letters, and now there’s a new character in this story: a surveillance camera pointed right where people prefer to wear nothing at all.
A Beach That Never Quite Disappears
The naturist stretch near Dunes has been quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) used since the 1960s. In the 1990s it became widely known as the city’s nudist beach, and in 2008 it even made it into the American guide “1000 Best Nudist Beaches and Resorts in the World.” For a place that was never officially designated, it has an impressive résumé. But its fame comes with a price: every few years someone decides it’s time to “restore order.”
Complaints, Cameras and Concerns
Recently, a local parliament member went on radio to complain that parents are tired of explaining to their kids why some people on the nearby shore aren’t wearing swimsuits. He compared a walk past the naturist area to stepping into a shady alley and suggested that nudists could even be fined for “minor hooliganism.” Around the same time, the municipal company in charge of the coastline proudly reported upgrades along the Gulf: new lighting, new infrastructure, and — yes — cameras on poles. When asked whether the nudist section was included, the official answer was that it was actually the first place to get one.
This is hardly the first attempt to tame the Dunes. Locals have been complaining about nudists for years. Back in 2014, authorities announced that the beach would be closed and promised to find a more secluded alternative for naturists. A year later they declared the beach shut and quietly dropped the idea of any replacement. Benches appeared, a children’s playground was built nearby, and the message seemed clear: families welcome, nudists not so much.
When Improvements Get Complicated
Still, the beach refuses to fully change character. In 2024, the Dunes area received new 2.5‑meter‑high changing cabins — each costing about one million rubles (roughly $11,000) for a single unit. Yet in the summer of 2025, naturists were still there, sunbathing among the rocks in one part of the beach as if nothing had happened — just with a bit more lighting and, apparently, a camera watching from above.
What Happens Next
For now, St. Petersburg’s only naturist spot continues to exist in its usual gray zone: unofficial, controversial, and surprisingly resilient. The main part of Dunes functions as a regular public beach for families, while the naturist crowd gravitates to the more hidden, rocky section of the shore. Whether the new surveillance and recurring moral panic will finally change that is anyone’s guess — but history suggests the nudists are not so easy to chase away.
AI generated illustration used for this story
