Richard Mason, president of South Florida Free Beaches, has a message for you: No sex on the nude beach!"
The 78 year old, who helped start the nude beach at the north end of Haulover Park 20 years ago, called to complain about our recent story that said the facility was a great place to get it on.
"We draw more people to our 1/3 mile of Haulover than the Dolphins and Marlins combined, 1.3 million visitors," he says. "But we have zero tolerance for any type of sexual activity on that beach."
Mason recalls in the early days of the beach, after he and some others got booted from Virginia Key Beach, there were gangs and lots of criminal activity.
But they cleaned it up and recruited beach ambassadors, who report any untoward activity to the cops.
Of course, Haulover isn't having the kind of problems nude sunbathers presently face in California, where back in 2009, a ruling shut down most nude beaches in state parks. (Imagine that! California!!) Mason points out that rangers in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, had refused to take calls from sunbathers because they were nude! And now, no one can enjoy the sun's rays overall.
Mason is concerned the New Times story could awaken the "fascists" who have clamped down on nude sunbathing in other places. He's lobbied legislators in Tallahassee, and pointed out "there are probably more people having sex in the closets up there than there are on our beach."
A final note to you who would tempt the law: Have a wild time in the water up at Haulover and you might be violating state statues 800.03 or 800.04. If a cop or a judge gets you for that, well baby, it's jail time.
"Having sex there is a dangerous proposition," Mason says. "We'll report you and you'll go to jail."
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
