Tunisian has many amazing beaches and is a wonderful place to experience the Mediterranean Sea. If you are wondering whether or not to pack that bikini on your visit, go ahead and bring it along. However, DON’T FORGET to bring a good cover up. If you are planning to visit only touristic beaches, or stay on the beach near a resort, you will be fine with wearing your bikini. But, if you are going to visit any of the other beautiful beaches, such as the northernmost point of Africa, the beautiful Cap Bon, or other amazing off-the-beaten-path places between towns, you’ll want to make sure you have more conservative swim wear with you.
It is legal and appropriate as a tourist to wear a bikini when on the beaches in a touristic area. However, a minimum of a coverup is required when going to or leaving the beach. It would not be culturally appropriate to wear a bikini anywhere outside of this specific environment.
I am a woman who has been living in Tunisia for over four years. I’ve gone parasailing in Djerba, jet skiing in Kantaoui, fishing with locals in Kerkennah, horseback riding on the beach in Nabeul, picnicking on the beach in Gammart, and much more. In my two years in Southern Tunisia and over two years in the Capital, I have visited many beaches, both public and private, and I want to share both my observations and my research on this topic in more detail. For more information, please read on!
The Official Laws Regarding Bikinis
There is no official law that prohibits women from wearing bikinis anywhere on the beach. However, Tunisia is a Muslim country. In the first article of the constitution of Tunisia adopted in 2014, it states that Tunisia is an Arabic-speaking, Muslim country. Islam requires women to dress in a way that their whole bodies are covered except their face and hands.
Many Muslim countries have strict laws that enforce this religious rule on anyone in the country. In Saudi Arabia, there are fines given to women who do not dress or act in the manner they think is proper. Also, from what I’ve read about the UAE and other countries, they have minimum dress signs to inform tourist’s on how to dress on their beaches. But, you will not find these signs in Tunisia.
Tunisia has a strong tourism industry. Tourism accounts for 14 percent of their GDP. Tunisia has 713 miles of coast along the Mediterranean, and there are many beautiful resorts that attract millions of international tourists. Tunisians are very friendly and welcoming to these tourists. You will find many tourists and even some locals on the beaches wearing bikinis.
What Do the Locals Say About Wearing Bikinis?
To research for this article, we visited five all-inclusive resorts in the beach town of Hammamet and asked them the following question: “Is it okay for women to wear bikinis on the beach?” All five were in agreement that there would be no problem for women to wear a bikini as long as they’re in the touristic areas.
Some of the hotel workers we asked also made sure to tell us that it would not be appropriate to wear a bikini anywhere outside of the beach or pool areas, like the hotel lobby or dining areas. In the United States, I often see women wearing bikinis all around the beach towns, while shopping or walking along the boardwalk. This is not the case in Tunisia! You will need to wear a cover up when you are not in a swimming area.
These hotel workers also informed us that if you leave the “touristic zone,” you should not wear a bikini. In some cities there are signs marking the touristic zone, but it is not clearly defined where this starts and ends. You will have to use a little bit of observation and cultural awareness to know what is appropriate on the section of beach where you are currently.
What Are the Unwritten, Cultural Modesty Rules?
I want to throw out some caution here. Although there may not be any official laws prohibiting bikinis, there are still some cultural norms that we should be aware of when visiting Tunisian beaches.
With Tunisia being a Muslim country, many women are dressed much more modestly than in the “Western World.” As you explore Tunisia, you will notice some women will dress in traditional Djellabas with their heads covered with a scarf- sure not to show a hair outside their hijab. The majority of women will be wearing pants rather than shorts, shirts that may be a little longer length, and may or may not cover their hair. During my time here, I have asked people when they started covering, I’ve found that many people chose to start covering around college age or later. Also, as you walk around , you will see a smaller portion of women in all black Abiyahs and also a smaller portion of women in shorter skirts and/or tank tops.
There is a strong European fashion influence and this shows through in dress. It is a strange mixture of European and Middle Eastern fashion. If you want to read more about why there is a strong French influence in Tunisia, see our other post, “Why Tunisia is a French Speaking Country?” Andy goes in great detail about France’s impact on Tunisia.
How Tunisian Women Dress on the Beach
On the beaches, the mixture of European and Middle Eastern fashion continues. Some local women will be in the water still completely covered from ankle to head, while just a few feet away you’ll see a young girl in the water in her bikini. I have noticed that women tend to immediately put on some sort of cover up when they are out of the water.
I once attended an event in the city of Sfax that was celebrating the opening of a beachfront that an organization of young local enthusiasts from the city had cleaned up and fixed to be a local public beach. I went with a group of local friends. One of the girls and I went in the water, and she was wearing skirt and short sleeve shirt. She took these outer clothes off revealing a more modest bikini that she wore while swimming. Immediately leaving the water, she put back on these clothes.
Another time, I was on a fishing boat with a group of local friends. We were out in middle of the sea and we decided to jump in. The girls then took off their cover ups, most of them wearing more conservative swim wear and one girl had a bikini. As in the previous story, once we were back on the boat, everyone placed their coverups back on.
I went to a beach house with neighbors for a day at the beach. The mom wore a head covering whenever out in public. When we went to the beach, she got in the water with her long everyday Djilaba and head scarf still in place. Her daughter who does not wear a head scarf wore a more conservative one piece suit in the water and always had a cover up on when out of the water.
My observation is that most women who make a point to cover their heads in public will just wear lightweight normal clothes in the water. They still enjoy the beach. When I visited Bahrain, I saw “Birkinis” for sale. A fully covered outfit with headpiece made out of swim suit fabric. I haven’t yet seen these for sale in Tunisia.
As I see many local women wearing bikinis, I was interested in knowing how hard it would be to find bikinis for sale. I went to a local mall, Marsa Center, to see how difficult it would be to find a bikini for sale, and saw they were easily found in clothing stores.
My Experience as a Tourist
As you cross in front of the beaches connected to a resort, you often see many tourists sun bathing in bikinis without any harassment. When I entered the touristic zone beaches in Kantaoui near Sousse, I felt as if I were on an American beach with the amount of white skin and bikinis with the addition of men in speedos. They were walking along the beach and coming and going in the water. In this area, you’ll also find the jet skis, parasailing, banana boats, and all the fun water sports.
My best friend Kate came to visit and were able to enjoy the beach in Kantaoui with little attention from local men. Earlier that same week, we had visited a public beach called Chaffar which you can get to by luage (a shared taxi). We were wearing short sleeve shirts and shorts over our conservative bathing suits and were still constantly being approached by local boys with a variety of excuses. One asked if we had a lighter, another purposefully kicked a soccer ball at us to get us to interact, others were more direct just approaching us to ask where we were from. Two white blonde girls alone, outside a touristic zone, stood out and warranted the attention of apparently everyone on the beach.
Good Beaches to Visit in Your Bikini
I would recommend that if you plan to sunbathe on the beach, that you stay at a resort along the beach or visit a beach like Gammart in Northern Tunis, Hammamet on the cape, Kantaoui near Sousse, or Djerba in the south. These are all gorgeous spots.
However, when visiting the northernmost point of Africa, there also is a great place to swim. The Marsa Beach in the Capitol, the beaches near Nabeul and Hammamet, and many other locations have great places to swim. Keep your cover up close at hand and pay attention to the people around you. If you are in a group with men, you will most likely have less unsolicited attention.
Abi’s Personal Advice
I am a blonde-haired, blue-eyed American that sticks out in this country. I love making friends here, but do not enjoy the unsolicited male attention that is easy to attain. I dress on the more modest end of fashion even in America. I don’t even wear a bikini on the beaches of America.
My advice to women visiting here is to think about where you are, what you are comfortable with, and always have options. If you are wearing the least amount of clothing around, you will receive the most attention around. If you want to sun-bathe on the beach, be sure to pick a touristic area or a resort. If you are exploring outside of these areas, bring layers that you can adapt what you are wearing based on the people you see around you. I would often go to the beach wearing light linen pants and tee shirt, layer down to cover up and bathing suit on the beach, and wear just my suit while swimming. It was nice to be able to quickly adjust to the situation.
This is a beautiful country with gorgeous beaches and resorts. You will even have an opportunity to swim in the desert, since the resorts will have great pools for swimming. I hope you come and experience all that this country has to offer for tourists, and I hope this information gives you some help in feeling comfortable in planning for your visit!
