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Extreme Nudity
The Top Spots to be in the Buff

By David Friedland

Our picks for ten of the best (and most surprising) places to hike, snowshoe, fly-fish, snorkel, body-surf, or bird watch in the buff.

Plage de Tarare, Grande-Terre Island, Guadeloupe
Snorkeling
Just below Pointe de Chateaux, a sloping, mile-long bluff jutting east from Grande-Terre, sits the island's only coral reef. Look for octopuses, barracuda, cuttlefish, and bare bums. Directions: Guadeloupe Tourist Info, 011-590-820930.

Stanley Hot Springs, Idaho
Snowshoeing
Located deep in the Selway Bitterroot National Forest, where even grizzlies are making a comeback, these springs are crowded during summer. But snowshoe up the narrow five-mile trail in the cold, and you will likely have to share one of the pools with a moose. Directions: Kooskia Ranger Station, 208-926-4274

Verde Hot Springs, Arizona
Hiking
A now-defunct 1930s wilderness health spa at the junction of Tonto and Coconino National Forests two hours north of Phoenix, Verde's spa buildings are gone, but the half-dozen tubs ranging from 90- to 104-degrees are still there. Requires a mile hike in from a forest road. Directions: azhoffs.home. mindspring.com/verdehotspring.html.

Chapada Dos Guimaraes National Park, Brazil
Wildlife-watching
A national park in name only, this 33-million-acre preserve is pretty much left alone by the Brazilian park service. Skinny-dipping traditions that started in the 1970s have held strong, as have common sightings of jaguars, tapir, and coatis. Directions: Dos Guimaraes Tourist Agency, 011-55-65-791-1133.

Red Rock Beach, California
Climbing, surfing
The red sandstone walls that separate Red Rock Beach from the "textile" (i.e., clothing mandatory) Stinson Beach next door have a series of intermediate, edgy face routes. Or bring a surfboard to shred the breaks and you'll be spared the inevitable wedgie. Directions: www.redrockbeach.com/home.html.