How to Skinny Dip with Friends

• Find a public place where you can skinny dip legally, or plan to do it in a private lake or pool.
• Suggest skinny dipping when it's dark outside and everyone's had a chance to chat and mingle together.
• Stash your clothes in a place that's hidden but accessible so you can find them later.
• Respect your friends by not taking photos while anyone’s undressed.

Planning Your Adventure

Choose the location wisely. Public nudity is illegal in most parts of the United States, and some areas of other countries. If you're planning on skinny dipping, choose an area that's been specifically designated as a nude or clothing-optional beach, or strip down in a private lake or pool. It's a good idea to check up on local regulations before you take the plunge. Your friend’s pool is the best bet, but it’s hardly the most exciting. If you are planning on doing it somewhere public, make sure you have a plan to avoid getting caught, too. Skinny-dipping is not as much fun when there are fines involved.

Find a co-conspirator. Though all your friends will have to know about the plan eventually, you’ll have a stronger argument if you have a friend backing you up. Talk to one of your best buds about getting everyone on board for skinny dipping. Together the two of you can divide and conquer. Let’s say there’s a party or a get-together some night. After a meaningful head nod or brief text conversation, you can broach the topic and get everyone jazzed. When you two are super excited, people will feel compelled to be excited, too, and not feel like boring dissenters.

Choose when to do it. There is probably a perfect opportunity coming up, like a pool party, that made you think of this idea. But if there isn’t, you’ll have to plan when to have it all go down. And better yet: morning or night? It’s best to do it as part of a vacation or an after-party. That way, everyone is bustling and ready to go, feeding off the energy of the occasion. If a party isn’t coming up, schedule one! Night-time skinny dipping adds a sense of adventure and can help the more self-conscious come out of their shells. But daytime skinny dipping is an option, too, especially if you're somewhere private. And hello to no tan lines.

Give your friends a day or so’s notice. Yes, spontaneous skinny dipping is a thing, but premeditated skinny dipping generally works a lot better. With the right crowd, shedding your clothes and hoping everyone follows suit could work, but you’re better off giving everyone notice. Imagine if you went for it and everyone just looked at you like a loon. Why is this so beneficial? Most people are self-conscious and worried about what they’ll look like. Giving them some notice gives them time to shave or, to be frank, wear a tampon. Let them primp beforehand to up your chances of making it a group endeavor.

Doing the Deed

Bring it up after everyone’s settled in. Don't try to break out the skinny dipping at the beginning of a party or gathering. Instead, let things wind down a little bit. Wait until after everyone's arrived, eaten and had time to mingle. When the mood seems mellow, get ready to bring up the topic. You’ll probably also want to wait for the sun, too. Sunrise, sunset, and when the moon is high in the sky are all great times to skinny dip. If you’re doing it illegally, the timing is right when the authorities are gone. You’ll need to familiarize yourself with their check-up schedule and act accordingly.

Introduce the idea. You can either announce to the people around you that it’s skinny dipping time, or simply walk to the water and start undressing. In either case, encourage the person you talked to earlier about it. Everyone else will start to get jazzed about the idea when they see another person join. If you're feeling particularly bold, pull an attention-grabbing stunt. If everybody's practicing their cannonballs and you're up on the diving board, take your suit off at that moment. You'll make a bigger "skinny-dipping entrance."

Lead the undressing, and undress with confidence. You won't feel comfortable getting naked if you're extremely critical or self-conscious about the way that you look. Take your clothes off without hesitation, and without grimacing at your perceived flaws. Think positive things about yourself, and focus on the body parts you like. No one is perfect, so learn to appreciate the body that you have. Encourage the people around you to be confident, as well. If any friends are hesitant about joining you, try to help them see that flaws are no big deal and that they look fine. Self-consciousness is one of the biggest mental barriers to skinny dipping.

Hide your clothes. When you’re down to your skivvies, take a moment to put your clothes in the right place. If you’re in public, you want them somewhere accessible to you but not accessible to others. In other words, somewhere nearby but hidden. Sometimes there’s that person in the group who thinks it’d be funny to steal everyone’s clothes. This is the person you’re accounting for. However, there’s also strength in numbers and visibility: you could also leave everyone’s clothes in a big pile right in front of everyone. That way they’re right there and no one will be tempted to try to be sneaky.

Take your underwear off in the water to be discreet. A more modest approach to skinny dipping is to shed your clothes and jump in with your underwear on. Consider yourself so excited to skinny dip that you couldn’t even wait to shed them all. Then, once half-concealed by that sparkly shield of H20, the underwear comes off. It’s likely others will find this comforting, since plenty of people are nervous about being naked (and jumping around) in front of their peers. If you do it this way, you might find that your friends are less hesitant to join in your fun.

Play in the water. Swim, splash around and dive to have fun while naked. Be careful about brushing up against other dippers, unless you're sure they're receptive to the contact. Try to keep the mood light and make the event fun, not weird. While you're playing, keep an eye out on your surroundings, especially if you're somewhere you shouldn't be. If someone else is uncomfortable skinny dipping, tell them you need a lookout anyway—this way they can feel less embarrassed about being embarrassed.

Being Smart and Staying Safe

Never go skinny dipping while drunk. Though being drunk often makes it easy to think skinny dipping is a good idea, it’s not. It is straight up unsafe to swim while drunk. If you or a friend gets into trouble, you need to be able to help them out. If any of your friends is drunk, consider all bets as off. Make sure the party beforehand is relatively tame or that people get some time to come down from their buzz before you all dip into the water.

Don’t let your friends take pictures. A good adventure can easily get ruined by a nude picture scandal (just ask almost every celebrity ever). What’s more, if you’re somewhere it’s illegal to be skinny dipping, you do not want proof floating around. All phones and cameras need to stay away from the water. Again, be courteous of your friends. Most people do not want pictures of themselves to be public domain. The night will just turn into something you regret.

Don’t go if you feel uncomfortable. If you’ve changed your mind or there’s something off about the particular moment, don’t go. No one is pressuring you. You’re still cool. If you were the instigator, know that you don’t owe anyone an explanation. You’re just not feeling it. This goes double if someone is making you feel uncomfortable. Let’s say you were at this party ready to go, and there’s been a creeper on the prowl all night long that’s been hitting on you. Simply tell your friends that you aren’t feeling it, and go somewhere else to hang out.

Don’t go alone. If you’re in a public area, do not go skinny dipping alone. You could be found, your clothes and valuables could be stolen, and a number of ensuing unfortunate instances could arise. It’s safer to do in numbers. If your friends aren’t up for it, don’t go by yourself. All of a sudden you’ll become the naked person that makes others feel slightly uncomfortable. That’s a title that’ll be hard to get rid of. Save it for when other people are feeling it, too.