Beach Report – Eastney Beach with Hayley!

For our latest beach excursion, Britain Uncovered made our first ever trip down to Eastney Beach, an official naturist beach which has been welcoming clothes-free sunseekers for the better part of 70 years! To help with the festivities, we had the pleasure of being joined by local artist and previous interviewee, Hayley, who was once again willing to bare all in the name of body freedom and self-expression. Here, in words and pictures, is an exclusive round-up of how our day unfolded.

Four months on from our previous collaboration, Hayley arrives at the beach ready for our latest photoshoot

Since launching Britain Uncovered in the summer of 2020 and hosting our very first beach photoshoot just weeks later, our annual beach shoots have become such an important (and well-received) part of our content here on the site; and the opportunity to showcase everyday people enjoying social nudity experiences – in some instances, for the very first time – has really resonated with our readership in the five years we’ve had the pleasure of hosting these special days.

We’re incredibly proud to continue this tradition with each passing summer, and by showcasing individuals candidly experimenting with social nudity in such a natural setting, and in such a nonchalant and desexualised manner, we’re not only striving to normalise nudity and the human body, but we’re also encouraging others to follow in their footsteps.

Every body truly is a beach body, after all, and we want every single one of our readers to feel as though these experiences are just as accessible to them as they are for those shown in our write-ups. Speaking from first-hand experience, we cannot understate just how beneficial these types of activities can be, not only in terms of body confidence, but with regards to overall confidence, mental health and wellbeing likewise. We really hope our review below inspires you to give it a try!

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With the naturist beach located in a fairly busy area, we decided to bide our time before officially getting started

With the majority of Britain Uncovered’s beach shoots having taken place in Brighton and Fairlight Cove, earlier this year we decided to stray from our usual format, and stepped outside our comfort zones for a road trip down to Eastney Beach on the outskirts of Portsmouth – which is reportedly one of the few remaining official naturist beaches left on the south coast of England.

The final stretch of this wide, shingle beach has been designated an official naturist beach for nearly seven decades, our sources indicate – but with the proposed demolition of the close-by Fraser Range (a former naval gunnery turned historical landmark, pictured below), and the potential development of new housing in the works, the naturist portion of the beach does seem to find itself in a little jeopardy at present. So with the future of the beach up in the air, and to make the most of the opportunity available to us while we still have the chance, we decided to head down there on a warm, weekday morning in the early spring to find out exactly what this shingle shoreline has to offer.

To join us for this latest escapade, we once again enlisted the assistance of talented artist and occasional model, Hayley, who many of our readers will be familiar with as a result of our two-part artist profile piece at the back-end of 2024 (which you can find in our recent archives here). In the weeks and months that followed our previous collaboration last December, Hayley had been working intensely in the lead-up to her final Fine Art Painting exhibit at the University of Brighton – which was due to take place several weeks after our day at the beach – and a break from the preparations, and the prospect of a naked splash along the shoreline, definitely seemed like it would provide some much-needed respite.

Once the coast was clear, Hayley felt comfortable disrobing and made her way down to the water

As we approached the beach on the morning of our visit, it was somewhat challenging locating the car park that seemed closest to the naturist beach, and after an accidental detour through a closed community caravan park, we ultimately settled for parking up a fair way down the road along Eastney Esplanade. Once on foot, we then made the casual 10-minute stroll over to the area of the beach we were seeking, even managing to sneak in a coffee and some brunch from Icebergs, a friendly and conveniently-positioned food and drink van, along the way.

Although a perfectly sunny day in spring, we were somewhat surprised to discover that there wasn’t anyone using the naturist portion of the beach at all. Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly summer season by this point, but it was still a bright, warm day for the most part, and with this being the only naturist beach in the area, we’d definitely envisioned a healthy throng of beach-goers in place by the time of our arrival.

Hayley says that modelling improves her confidence and helps her to get in touch with her feminine power

We were also very aware that we were still in close proximity to the ‘textile’ area of the beach, which did seem to have a reasonable amount of footfall in the form of dog walkers, kite fliers, and others enjoying the sea air – and they were still very nearby and visible as we reached the naturist area (which is a fairy small stretch, all things considered). And without any other free spirits leading the way, we did feel a little self-conscious about being naked here, and were even second-guessing whether or not we were on the right part of the shoreline for a frolic sans clothing. But with the disused military base in the background serving as a rather handy, albeit eerie, reference point, we came to the realisation that we likely were in the correct spot – and that the naturist beach simply wasn’t as popular as we’d anticipated (at least not on the day of our visit, anyway).

Further complicating matters, there is also a path running alongside and above the beach where walkers and passers-by can look down on the entirety of the nudist beach, which meant there was never any real sense of privacy – which, for those looking to enjoy the sun’s rays au natural – could prove fairly off-putting, if not a deal-breaker. Unlike Fairlight Cove some 90 miles along the coast, which offers a huge amount of privacy away from prying eyes, Eastney does feel very open to the public, and – as you might expect, being down the road from Portsmouth – the setting itself feels rather industrial too.

Having spent the preceding weeks planning her exhibition in Brighton, Hayley enjoyed a day away from the studio

That said, despite the above reservations we were genuinely enjoying exploring a brand new location for our beach reports series, and were keen to make the best of what Eastney had to offer. After finishing off our coffees and waiting for a few early morning walkers to pass by (and for a gentleman with his metal detector to head off firmly in the opposite direction), we finally found a calm, quiet moment to ourselves, during which Hayley bravely disrobed to commence our website’s sixth annual beach photoshoot, and our first of 2025 also.

Living nearby to the naturist beach but never having visited herself, Hayley was also curious to discover what her nearest nude beach had to offer – and, probably more so than even ourselves behind the camera, Hayley did seem mostly relaxed and at ease as she splashed her way along the shoreline.

The artist mentioned to us during our original interview that she is happily naked as much as possible in the comfort of her own space; and in the months since our initial collaboration, Hayley has also been busy furthering her creative exploration through a new series of performance art films with varying degrees of nudity. It's fair to say that the artist definitely seemed relaxed and confident by the time our shoot got going, and we ended up with some really liberating images that were once again captured with the goal of normalising nudity, desexualising the female form, and placing body confidence firmly in the spotlight.

Despite people in the distance, Hayley later felt comfortable exploring the full length of the naturist beach

Speaking to Britain Uncovered on the beach about the modelling work she’s been involved in during the past year or so, Hayley explained to us, “It’s been good actually. It’s helped me get in touch with my feminine power a lot, and it’s been really good for my confidence. I got scouted many times as a child, but I was so shy and that really came across, so the opportunities just weren’t there. But I think as an adult I really work to empower myself and grow my confidence, and the modelling is really helping with that. It’s really enjoyable. It’s a creative endeavour, again, so, if I can find work that keeps me engaged like that, then I’m happy. It’s really nice to be an artist and a model.

“It’s nice being in this time, and I feel like I just want to live as much as I can without any regrets, and try everything. When I turned 25, I realised my prime is kind of here, and I know that lasts and that probably never really goes away if you’re living for yourself authentically, but I’ve had a journey with my body relationship and body confidence, and it just feels so beautiful to be in a space where I can fully enjoy this vessel, and everything I can do with it. Just having authority and autonomy over my own body and my own decisions is a beautiful thing.”

Although Hayley's body confidence journey has had its ups and downs, she's now living for herself authentically

With Eastney’s inhabitants continuing to stroll back and forth along the path that overlooks the beach, and some seemingly surprised at the sight of a naked body, we did second guess ourselves at times – and, sadly, I don’t feel as though it was an environment where we could ever truly switch off and relax. We definitely picked our moments for the shots, and did take a few breaks from shooting when it became busier nearby; and ultimately, I do think the open nature of the beach would deter a lot of people from dabbling in social nudity in this specific location.

Maybe in the heat of summer, with hundreds of like-minded naked souls alongside you, it would feel like there’s more of a community aspect and more of a culture for partaking in social nudity here – but on the day of our visit, and with Hayley the only one naked, it did feel like we were going against the grain. But to each their own, and if others don’t have privacy and seclusion on their list of priorities, then I’m sure this stretch of shingle on the Hampshire coast will more than suffice.

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Hayley is a hugely talented artist and model who we first had the pleasure of interviewing in Brighton back in December 2024. To read the write-ups from our previous collaboration, click here for part one and part two respectively.

For more from Hayley, be sure to visit her engaging @divinebodhiart channel over on Instagram. Britain Uncovered also had the pleasure of interviewing Hayley at her home one month after our day at the beach, so stay tuned for more in the coming weeks - and you can see a sneak peek from this extra collab on our Instagram by clicking here!