I went to Canada's largest nude beach — these 7 things surprised me the most

You don't actually HAVE to get naked

This will either be extremely relieving or disappointing, depending on where you land on the prude-to-incel spectrum.

Despite Wreck Beach's "nude beach" reputation, it's actually a "clothing-optional" beach. Which means there is no strip search at the bottom of the stairs.

Before I visited Wreck, I wasn't sure about this undress code. My friends assured me I could wear whatever I wanted (big T-shirt?), but I thought maybe it was like wearing jeans to a wedding. Like, yes... You technically can wear whatever you want, but that doesn't mean you should. Although in this case, jeans would actually make me overdressed, not underdressed... but you get the picture.

Turns out — no.

Nobody cares. There were people completely naked, people in bathing suits and people wearing full outfits. There wasn't some unspoken pressure to strip down the second my feet hit the sand.

At Wreck, "clothing optional" really does mean optional.

That said, I'd wait until you at least set up your beach towel to disrobe. The UBC professors in the parking lot didn't sign up for this.

The night was young but the crowd wasn't (really)

I'd say you have a higher chance of running into your grandma than you do your ex and her new BF. And that's not a diss —it's just the reality!

Wreck Beach has nothing if not a loyal clientele. The people who were coming to sunbathe butt-naked back in the 70s? Yeah, well, now they're in their 70's. If you're expecting Too Hot Too Handle – I'd pivot more towards Golden Girls.

Honestly, I think this was part of what made Wreck way less intimidating than I expected. There's something about seeing a 70-year-old man peacefully reading a book in the buff that immediately takes the scandal out of public nudity.

It's Facebook Marketplace down there

Unlike most people with a healthy fear of germs and the FDA — I actually prefer cubed fruit that has been sitting in a hot plastic cup at a vending cart.

I have been offered a range of things to buy down there — from fruit and roses to a friendship bracelet and, well, substances.

So if you forgot to pack something for the beach or haven't found that perfect piece of local art for your living room, don't panic. There's a decent chance a half-naked homie will be along shortly to sell it to you.

The stairs aren't that bad

People love to treat the Wreck Beach staircase like it's climbing Mount Everest, but I'm here to say it's mass hysteria.

As someone who failed P.E. 10 — you can trust me when I say the stairs aren't that bad. They're not an escalator, OK. But it's not as brutal as The Beep Test.

If you're the kind of person who likes going to the beach (not yours truly), you will not be fazed by the infamous Wreck Beach staircase. In fact, I feel like that's the whole thing with going to the beach? It's inconvenient as hell. Walking miles on the side of the road in wet flip-flops — carrying a red cooler and some beach chairs with your college buddies — is the real walk of shame, and you can't convince me otherwise.

Its maybe the nicest beach in Vancouver

I regret to inform my fellow prudes that Wreck Beach is... really nice.

Like, maybe the nicest beach in Vancouver? It's huge, surrounded by forest, has incredible views and somehow feels completely removed from the city. As someone who has already established that she doesn't even like beaches and has a deadly fear of the water after reading the Bethany Hamilton story for summer reading, I don't make this endorsement lightly.

The nudists ate with this one.

Nobody is checking you out

Hopefully this one wasn't just me; otherwise, my self-esteem will be taking a hit it can't handle, but nobody really seems to be checking anyone out.

If anything, I'd say because there are so many naked people, everyone goes out of their way not to look. I've felt more perceived walking out of the Aritzia fitting room (may the people at Aritzia corporate strike until they give us fitting rooms with mirrors!!).

At Wreck, though? Eyes up. Eyes forward. Nothing to see here.

The community keeps out the creeps

I assumed a nude beach would naturally attract a few people who were there for, shall we say, the wrong reasons.

What surprised me was how protective the Wreck Beach community is of itself. If someone's staring, taking photos or generally acting like a creep, people aren't afraid to call them out.

It's like we're all aboard one naked warship, protecting our own. I don't know who the enemy is, I don't know who appointed the captain, and none of us have uniforms for obvious reasons — but somehow, we're all in this together.