Becoming a Beach Bum-Beach Necessities!
If you are like me, a mom with little kiddos, but like to be out soaking up the sun outdoors, I have some items for you.
These are my necessities for the outdoors and summer sun!
Here are my summer must-haves!
This article contains some affiliate links.
Sunscreen is the first necessity for any outdoor activity-especially in the South.
My absolute favorite spray sunscreen for the family is Sun Bum.
Sun Bum is a little pricey, but it provides great protection for the entire family.
In fact, my daughter and I are much lighter complected than my son and husband.
I can get a much longer exposure time to the sun than other sun screens like Hawaiian Tropic.
I absolutely LOVE the smell of Hawaiian Tropic products, but it just isn’t enough protection for my family and I.
Hawaiian Tropic also isn’t super greasy either like some sunscreens.
The biggest draw back for me is that my daughter and I would burn after about an hour even with reapplying in the appropriate time frame.
Another essential for the beach are long-sleeved fishing shirts.
After a couple hours, my daughter and I usually put on a long-sleeved Columbia fishing shirt.
A washable beach bag is another beach must-have.
The bogg beach bag is a wonderful beach bag that reminds me of crocs.
You can literally just rinse it off with a water hose when you get home to clean it off.
I also really like how it stands on its own.
Unlike my other Consuela bags, which I love as well, the bogg bag retains its form.
The bogg bag isn’t just aesthetically pleasing, but is so useful when toting around extra clothes, snacks, or gear for sports as well.
I use my bogg bag for my children’s baseball season.
The Caribbean Joe folding beach chair is great for sitting in the water and watching the kiddos play while working on your tan.
Caribbean Joe chairs seem to be more sturdy than some other brands, and hold up well with extended use.
Furthermore, Caribbean Joe chairs come in several different patterns.
Some Caribbena Joe chairs come with a shade to protect your face a little more from the sun.
A collapsible wagon is another great must-have for the beach.
With a wagon, you can put all of your beach gear in one place, making it easier to get to your beach spot easily.
Especially when you tend to travel without another adult, it seems to really lighten the load.
I also use a foldable wagon for all of the youth sports events or even moving objects across the yard.
An adult boogie board is also something great to have.
You can have your child ride along with you, or if you are a larger individual, actually ride it.
I love the handles, being I’m not super graceful and fall over quite easily.
Additionally, my son, a decent sized kiddo also uses the boogie board. He really enjoys it.
Finally, this particular boogie board holds up well, especially compared to inflatable ones.
Another great find to add to your beach list for the kids is a Catch and Release Beach Aquarium.
This little aquarium is a nifty item to have for the kids to pick up hermit crabs, sand dollars, and other sealife.
The Beach Aquarium if wonderful, because it is clear, so you can see the wildlife up close.
Personally, this aquarium as been one of the best gifts that my children have gotten and invokes their spirits for learning and adventure.
And of course you must have toys for the sand no matter the age of the child.
Even teenagers will catch themselves building sandcastles like they did in their early childhood.
If you are like me, you are pressed for space, trying to save any room possible when packing or traveling.
Well, look no farther, because now there are now collapsible buckets for sand toys.
This particular set comes with a mesh bag, great for the sand to fall through back onto the beach BEFORE you load the vehicle back up to head home.
I know, a laundry basket may look silly at the beach, but it is actually awesome storage for sandy beach toys.
Collapsible laundry baskets are space saving when storing as well as keeping all beach toys together.
The link that I provided will bring you to super cute, travel sized portions of vinegar that you can easily put in your beach bag, keep in the vehicle, or send with older kids to keep with them.
Click here for the individual vinegar bottles!
A camping shower is something handy to have for leaving the beach.
If the beach that you go to doesn’t have a water near the sidewalk or road, you may aquire quite a bit of sand in your vehicle.
Even with WeatherTech mats, sand can still be a pain to clean up.
All you have to do is fill your camping shower bag before you head to the beach, leave it in the car or truck where it will heat up during your stay, and then rinse when you get back to the vehicle.
My children prefer the camping shower as it is nice and warm when washing off their feet and legs.
Another neecessity that you absolutely cannot forget for the beach is a decent, lightweight cooler.
I enjoy soft, collapsible coolers as they are usually easy to wash in the wash machine and air dry fairly quickly. Storage is also much easier than traditional hard-sided coolers.
You want to make sure that if you go to the beach with limited adult help, you pick a cooler that you can handle.
If it is too heavy for you, you may not be able to pick it up or carry it even a short distance.
The worst thing would be to get all the way down to the beach and hurt your back, ruining your fun day.
The cooler may also leave marks on your shoulders or arms from even a short walk.
I typically will make sure that I can lift the cooler easily enough into the back of my vehicle, and then safely into my collapsible wagon for beach transport.
Click here for a wonderful collapsible cooler!
Yes— a waterproof tacklebox is a wonderful thing to add to your list. I know it sounds crazy, but it really comes in handy with snacks!
A tacklebox is a great organized space to put food into, especially snack food.
Anytime we go on a boat ride or to the beach, we bring along at least one of these.
I typically put cheeses, lunchmeat, summer sausage, crackers, nuts like cashews, and pickles in mine. Fruit is also another great food item that organizes well in my tacklebox.
The waterproof part of this is the best part. No ice water leaking into your food and no food juices getting into your cooler.
It always just irks me when pickle juice leaks onto my drinks. It doesn’t harm my drink, but the smell annoys me on my drink container.
Another thing you can use your waterproof tacklebox for is a firstaid kit. I have one in our boat, just in case.
Click here for a waterproof tacklebox!
Another necessisty for any summer outing is a beach towel.
I personally enjoy oversized beach towels, like this one.
Finally, Shibumi Shade offers wonderful shade on the beach.
The Shibumi Shade is very easy to put together, but I would recommend having two people just for ease.
Shibumi Shade just flaps in the wind, working with the wind and not trying to hold up against it like the traditional umbrella or tent.
The Shade is super light weight to carry and sand doesn’t stick to it.
Finally, these are all items that work well for my family and I.
I hope that you are able to utilize some of these suggestions for your own beach trips.
Happy travels!