Beachgoers on a small stretch of coastline at San Onofre State park can continue tanning nude -- unless a judge decides otherwise.

On Wednesday, Orange County Judge Sheila Fell said she needed more time to review a request from nudists who want to stop state parks officials from nixing nakedness along a 1,000-foot stretch of beach 20 miles north of Oceanside that has quietly and unofficially been used by nudists for three decades.

Originally, the state parks department said it planned to ticket naked beachgoers starting the day after Labor Day. But nudists took the department to court to stop the ban on public nudity.

With no legal decision yet, no one will get a ticket for nakedness -- for the time being, state parks spokesman Roy Stearns said.

"We will have the present status quo until there is a decision," Stearns said Wednesday. "We won't be issuing tickets on Sept. 2, unless we have a ruling from the judge and a decision in our favor."

Orange County court officials said Fell has up to 90 days to issue her decision.

On Tuesday, Fell said she was leaning toward siding with the nudists. But after a hearing Wednesday morning, the judge opted to hold off on her decision.

Huntington Beach resident Allen Baylis, who is leading the fight to keep the beach known colloquially as "Trail 6" as a clothing-optional spot, said Wednesday that he remained hopeful.

"We believe there's no reason for the court to change its tentative ruling," Baylis said. "We are confident that it will be upheld."

The battle centers on a nearly 30-year-old policy from the California State Parks department, which allowed park officers to not enforce the law prohibiting nudity in state parks.

"The state essentially designated the clothing-optional beaches by failing to enforce," said Baylis. "It became policy through their actions. Not through their words, but through their actions."

But, Stearns said, there is a need for change.

Attendance at San Onofre park shot up from 1.6 million visitors a decade ago to 2.5 million last year -- and with the increased traffic came increased complaints about nudity on the remote beach.

In the last five years, state parks officers have issued 82 citations for lewd behavior in the area, and 35 citations for indecent exposure.

"The nudists are a good bunch of folks," Stearns said. "We have nothing against them. But by being nude, it became a draw for those with less honorable intentions, and our incidents of lewd behavior and indecent exposure went up."

In May, park officials decided they could no longer look the other way and began to spread the word to cover up or get a ticket after the summer season.

The change did not go over well with the naturalist crowd. In filing suit in Orange County, the groups argued that the state is not free to change policy without public hearings.

As for the beaches themselves, it depends on where you go. On the beach just north of the San Onofre nuclear power plant, everyone is clothed. There are warning signs posted against nudity. Families play in the sand. Surfers haul their boards into the water.

A quarter mile south, where there are no warning signs, the clothes disappear. Men and women of all ages take in the sun in their birthday suits.

An Oceanside man named Gary, who said he didn't want his last name used for fear of losing his government job, and his wife sat naked Tuesday under an umbrella, watching the surf. The couple said they had been making the 25-mile drive to sunbathe in the nude since 2000.

They said they were excited about the prospect that state parks might not be able to enforce its nudity ban.

"It's not hurting anybody," Gary said. "I could see the point that there should be some kind of sign, to warn people that the area up ahead is clothing optional. But this is not hurting anybody. Just look around. All you see are people relaxing."

Heather Curles, 22, of Redlands, said she disagrees with any attempt to enforce a nudity ban at San Onofre.

"I think it's kind of discrimination against the nudists, to tell you the truth," Curles said.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.