For the novel by Carl Hiaasen, see Skinny Dip.

Skinny dipping, or skinny-dipping is swimming naked. The term is derived by a somewhat archaic use of the word skinny, meaning "having to do with skin".

The term is commonly used to describe swimming in unheated water, but is also used when referring to going naked in hot tubs and hot springs, or to mischievous swimming excursions (often under cover of darkness) in pools or at beaches where one would be expected to wear swimsuits. In this last sense, skinny-dipping in mixed company (i.e. both males and females) has an element of sexual rebelliousness to it, though sexual activity does not necessarily take place.

Skinny dipping was once very common, especially for young boys and girls swimming in a secluded pond, swimming hole, or section of a river. Swimsuits were originally uncommon in these settings, as they were made out of materials such as wool that required extra care to deal with, and were of limited practical benefit. Although modern swimwear is more practical, skinny dipping remains a fairly common activity in rural areas.

Before the YMCA began to admit females in the early 1960s, swimming trunks were not allowed in the pools, and high school swimming classes for boys sometimes had similar policies, citing the impracticality of providing and maintaining sanitary swimming gear. These practices were common because of the perception that there was nothing wrong or sexual about seeing members of the same gender in the nude.

Examples of skinny dipping in modern culture

• On Golden Pond [1] (1981) Family skinny dipping to demonstrate open-minded nature of parents
• Hair [2] (1979) Emphasizes anarchic Hippie style
• many, many other films use skinny-dipping to suggest trust, emotional intimacy, intimacy with Nature, even shades of baptism, but often just for the nudity and often leading to activity that is not skinny-dipping.
• Skinny-dipping (Au Pairs, The) (2005) ISBN 1416903828 For Grade 9 and up. Culturally, cutting edge.
• Several other popular books use, essentially, Skinny-dipping as the title.
• Most literature on Naturism uses the phrase "skinny-dipping" to set a relaxed tone, as in the YMCA photo
• Skinny dipping can refer to swimming offshore from Nudist Beaches
• Norman Rockwell painting for Saturday Evening Post
• Common subject of Old Masters oil paintings, usually bucolic
• The R.E.M. song Nightswimming refers to skinny dipping (specifically at night!)

Places where skinny dipping takes place

• Columbia River, Washington (half of the Oregon side)
• Russian River, California
• Canfield Marsh, Long Island Sound, Norwalk CT
• Hippie Hollow Park, Lake Travis, Austin TX

• Haulover Beach, Miami, FL