Dogging in Hobart and Tasmania

Tasmania is small, cold for much of the year and famously close-knit, which is exactly why its adult scene keeps such a low profile. It’s there, though. Couples and singles from Hobart to the north-west coast are looking for company. Every winter, thousands of people strip off together in public for the state’s most famous nude swim. And locals are blunt that nothing much happens unless someone plans it – so the people who plan get the best of it.

Hobart: quiet on the surface

Hobart’s outdoor scene is small, and most of it runs on word of mouth. When someone new asks where people go, the answers point to the same two or three places, and the regulars know them well. One local reckons there are a couple of good spots further south too, for anyone willing to drive.

What Hobart doesn’t have is anywhere to go indoors. There’s no swingers’ club or sex-on-premises venue anywhere in Tasmania, and locals say the one that opened in Hobart briefly in the nineties was closed down by the council almost straight away. Plenty of people grumble about it – one pointed out that a venue would stop a lot of people doing it in public – but for now, the scene lives in cars, private homes and online.

An invitation-only state

Tasmania’s swingers are there if you know where to look. Locals say Hobart has several private groups, but you need to be in the know and get a personal invitation. Some couples find each other through kink-friendly social sites and the casual get-togethers they run. Others say a group gets in touch with couples it likes the look of.

A Melbourne couple who came down to play were told that locals don’t really play with locals – in a place this small, everyone worries about bumping into someone they know at the supermarket. Their advice to visitors: post your travel dates well in advance and line people up before you arrive. And the most common complaint from Tasmanians themselves is fakes and flakes in the free groups – people who chat for days and never turn up.

Where people go around Hobart

Hobart is a city of hills, water and long beaches, and its outdoor scene uses all three.

• Parkland on the hills close to the city, after dark.
• Lookouts on the eastern shore, with the city lights across the river.
• Long beaches out past the airport, for couples who want an audience.
• Quiet car parks south of the city, towards Kingston and beyond.

We don’t name exact spots. In a city of Hobart’s size, the places that get talked about publicly are the ones that attract the wrong crowd.

Watch out for the wrong crowd

That wrong crowd is a real problem. Hobart regulars warn that at one of the city’s best-known spots, groups of young people have spent months driving round to disturb anyone parked up – flashing lights, leaning on the horn, throwing rocks at cars and filming on their phones.

The answer is the same as anywhere: if a car turns up that doesn’t feel right, don’t wait to find out. Leave calmly, never confront anyone, and don’t give them a reason to come back. Meeting people you’ve already chatted to, somewhere you’ve agreed together, takes most of the risk away.

Launceston, the Tamar and the north-west

Launceston has fewer places and fewer people, and the same questions come up again and again: does anyone actually go anywhere? The honest local answer is that one well-known car park near the city is often empty at night, while another, at the top of a reserve, gets busier.

What surprises people is how spread out the interest is. When one Tasmanian group asked members where they were from, replies came from Hobart and Launceston, both sides of the Tamar, Devonport, Burnie, Ulverstone and Wynyard, and the east coast. There are people keen right across the state. They just aren’t in the same place at the same time unless somebody arranges it.

Nude beaches and the Solstice Swim

Tasmania has no official nude beach. West Tamar Council voted in December 2023 to make a beach in Narawntapu National Park clothing-optional, then reversed the decision in June 2024 after a public outcry. Locals still swim nude at a couple of quiet beaches, north and south, but none of them are legal. Regulars say to cover up for horse riders and dog walkers.

The big exception is one morning a year. The Nude Solstice Swim closes Hobart’s Dark Mofo winter festival: at sunrise on the shortest day, around 3,000 people ran into the River Derwent at Sandy Bay in 2025. It’s a nude swim, nothing more – but it says a lot about how relaxed Tasmanians can be about getting their kit off when everyone’s in on it.

Things to know before you go in Tasmania

• It’s cold. When a mainland couple asked about a July visit, one local joked that down here they do it with the blankets pulled all the way up. Summer evenings are the season for outdoor fun.
• Everyone knows everyone. Discretion matters more here than almost anywhere.
• Distances add up. Hobart to the north-west coast is a long drive, so agree plans first.
• Trust your instincts. If somewhere feels wrong, leave.

Staying on the right side of the law in Tasmania

Under Tasmania’s Police Offences Act, it’s an offence to expose yourself obscenely where the public can see, or to behave indecently. It also says people bathing in public must be decently clothed unless the council has said otherwise – and with no designated nude beaches, no council has.

Parking up after dark, or chatting to people online, isn’t against the law. Trouble comes from being seen by someone who didn’t choose to be there. Go late, pick somewhere out of the way, keep out of sight and move on the moment anyone else appears. Our guide Is dogging legal? has the wider picture, as general information rather than legal advice.

Meeting other doggers in Tasmania

In a state where the best nights come by invitation, getting to know people first is everything.

WhosDogging has been around since 2006, and a profile is free. Look up members in Hobart, Launceston and the north-west, get chatting, and settle the details in advance. Everyone you’ll find here is a genuine member who wants what you want – and if you’re visiting, you can line people up before you land. Heading to the mainland? Our Australia guide covers every state.