Every year, nudists and naturalists across the world have the opportunity to let it all hang out for a good cause.
On the second Saturday of July, hundreds of people celebrate International Skinny Dip Day, officially recognized by the American Association for Nude Recreation in 2018.
And while many participants do report that the event boosts their confidence, it’s all for a cause much bigger than a nude swim.
Since the event began in 2019, Skinny Dip Day has raised thousands for the Fistula Foundation, a charity that funds surgeries for women in Africa and Asia with fistula and severe perineal tears.
Obstetric fistulas are a painful childbirth injury that leave women incontinent and often shunned by their community. The Fistula Foundation primarily works with vetted doctors in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia to provide fistula treatment — a procedure that costs just about $624 per intervention.
After the July 11 event in 2026, the collective of skinny dippers has officially surpassed the $60,000 fundraising mark, which provides approximately 96 women with the surgery they need to heal and live full lives.
Organizers call their work “dippin’ on a mission,” urging participants to “experience body positivity while raising money to cure women of horrific body shame.”
While it’s unclear how many people partake in the annual event, there were 571 people alone at Blind Creek Nude Beach in Fort Pierce, Florida this past Skinny Dip Day.
In 2025, there were 22 independently hosted Skinny Dip Day events, and 29 held in various locations across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Portugal, and Uganda in 2026.
“This year, Skinny Dip Day as a whole raised over $18,000, blowing past its $15,000 goal, with 263 supporters across 32 teams,” participant Evan Nicks, writer of Planet Nude, shared about this year’s event.
“That’s roughly 28 surgeries funded in a single season.”
Each year, the movement seems to grow.
“This is a strange little tradition, a bunch of naked people raising money to cure a disease most of the world has never heard of,” Nicks wrote for Planet Nude. “It’s one of the things I’m proudest of.”
And altruism isn’t the only reason people participate. Many report a feeling of liberation when skinny dipping, and a 2021 study even points to communal nudity offering people improved appreciation of their own bodies.
“I didn’t know what to expect, and didn’t know if I would be comfortable,” a 2025 participant, Erika, said in a testimonial for Skinny Dip Day.
“I felt welcomed immediately. Everyone was very casual and friendly. It made me feel a lot better about my own body, and it was cool to experience a new ‘subculture’ of our collective society and get fresh perspectives on what it means to be alive in this world.”
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Featured Image: Courtesy of Planet Nude
