Beach Trip Packing List

Let’s be honest — going to the beach is not as simple as it sounds. There are all kinds of things to take into consideration, from sunscreen to shade to entertainment. This means bring prepared with a beach trip packing list is an absolute must.

When we go to the beach, it’s usually on a week-long vacation where the beach basically becomes an extended room of our beach house. This means we need all the beach essentials with us so we aren’t having to trek back up to the beach house constantly.

So here is a list of things we’ve found useful from years of beach vacations, so you can make sure you don’t forget anything on your beach trip packing list!

PS — we’re not going to go through regular trip essentials here, like clothes and toiletries. Let’s assume you know what you need to pack for every day and just focus on packing items that make a beach vacation packing list unique.

Beach Packing List: Personal Items

Swimsuits

Obviously you’ll need swimsuits at the beach, preferably more than one. I’m not even going to try to get into the swimsuit recommendation game. I’ve had ones I’ve loved from Target and ones I’ve loved from Boden, so just find the swimsuits that make you feel the best and enjoy the beach!

Cover-Up

A cover-up isn’t just good for walking down to the beach with something more than just your swimsuit on. It also comes in handy when you might need to block yourself from the sun just a little extra. I’ve had the same cover-up from Old Navy for YEARS, but there are tons of options out there.

Something else to consider with a cover-up is how much you’ll be walking. Do you need something with shorts to help prevent chafing?

Sunscreen

Sunscreen is of course ESSENTIAL to your beach trip. I love using mineral sunscreens. Instead of chemicals absorbing into your body, the ingredients sit on top of your skin and reflect the suns rays. PLUS they don’t feel greasy on your skin and they don’t turn your white clothes and swimsuits yellow!

Mineral sunscreens are also reef safe. And some places (like Hawaii) have banned non-reef safe sunscreens.

Here are some of my favorite sunscreens:

Sun Bum. I love every single sunscreen they make. They have non-mineral sprays, but I also love their mineral sunscreens and I don’t even know how many of their face sticks we’ve gone through.
Blue Lizard. Fantastic mineral sunscreen and it has a cap that turns purple in UV light which is fun!
Thinksport Mineral Sunscreen. We also used this sunscreen a lot in Hawaii and I thought it was great!

Sunglasses

Protect your eyes at the beach too! These are my absolute favorite sunglasses that I’ve had for years (I’m on my second pair right now after the first inevitably wore down after much use.)

Sandals

Although you may want to be barefoot in the sand, I always bring some sandals down to the beach with me because in the summer that sand can get HOT.

While you’ll see all kinds of nice sandals “perfect” for the beach, I honestly just prefer a pair of cheap flip-flops that I designate my beach sandals so I don’t care how much sand gets stuck in them.

Hat

For even more sun protection a hat is always a good idea!

You can always take a baseball cap, but I love this floppy beach hat that’s also super packable!

Aloe Lotion

Even with the best sunscreen application, you may still get a little too much sun.

We always bring aloe gel, but I also love this Vaseline lotion that has aloe and vitamin E in it — it helps your skin to heal while also keeping it moisturized (and prevents it from flaking too soon and getting itchy).

Snacks

Snacks are a MUST for the beach, especially when you are there with kids. Playing hard means you’re going to get hungry more often! We pack snacks in small bags, so a little bit a sand somewhere doesn’t ruin a whole big batch of snacks!

Water Bottles

We always fill up our reusable water bottles with ice water to take down the beach. We love our Nalgene bottles for the beach because they can hold tons of water and are easy to throw in the dishwasher when they get caked with a bit too much sand. Plus they’re pretty basic, which means not a lot of crevices for sand to get stuck in.

Close-up of a purple beach bucket in soft white sand with drippy sandcastles nearby, set against a backdrop of beach cottages and a bright yellow kayak. A playful and practical reminder to pack beach toys for your trip.

Beach Equipment Packing List

Beach Canopy

We always bring a canopy to the beach. While we’ve used pop-up tents like this one for years, we’ve now moved on to a canopy like this. They are easy to pack, easy to put up, and can adjust to block the sun from various angles and we’ve loved it!

Beach Chairs

If you want the most comfortable day at the beach, you’ll want a good quality beach chair. Things to look for in a beach chair: adjustability, a cup holder, and a padded head rest. We have chairs like these and love them.

Beach Towels

Whether you need them for sitting in the sand or for drying off after swimming, you have to have beach towels! We love getting jumbo sized ones, and while there are tons of great options out there, our recent favorites came from Costco.

Camp Tables

This may seem a little extra, but we love having small collapsible tables like these on our beach packing list. We use them all the time — for drinks, phones, books, and whatever seashells our kiddo finds and hands to us.

Beach Bag

A beach trip requires a good beach bag. Classic mesh beach bags like this make great options, but I actually prefer one made of a vinyl waterproof material and with pockets on the outside.

This is my current bag (although I have an older pattern that’s not available anymore) and I love it. I know my book, phone, and towels will stay dry and (mostly) sand-free inside, while our water bottles and small beach toys can be packed in the outside pockets.

Cooler

To pack up a day’s worth of drinks, you’ll want to bring a cooler.

We’ve always used softshell coolers like this because they are easy to pack and carry. But a hard shell cooler like this that still has a shoulder strap may be next on our list of things to get for the beach.

Beach Wagon

Okay, this is also extra. But if you are taking tons of equipment down to the beach for the day, you might find a sturdy wagon like this useful. Plus it’s collapsible to easily fit in your car.

Flotation Devices

When it comes to fun at the beach, it really is about safety first. Make sure your kids have the appropriate life jackets or flotation devices they need.

And if you’re planning on kayaking or paddle boarding, make sure you have the right adult life jackets, too. (Usually, if you are renting things like kayaks, the rental company will also provide life jackets.)

Turtle Safe Flashlights

If you are going to be down at the beach in the dark, you’ll want to use a turtle safe flashlight.

The beaches along the Florida coast we go to always have turtle nests, and you won’t want to risk confusing turtles with a source of light that would lead them away from the ocean! (This is also why it’s important to turn off porch lights and close your curtains at night on the beach!)

Colorful beach toys including a blue bucket, green pail, and plastic shovel sit next to a row of sandcastles on soft white sand, with clear blue water and a wide open sky in the background.

Beach Entertainment Packing List

Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker

This is a must for music at the beach! We’ve been using this one recently and love it. Always be considerate of other people on the beach though — they may not want to hear you blasting your music!

Beach Games

The beach is a great place for outdoor games! Some options include Bocce Ball, Spikeball, and Cornhole.

Beach Toys

If you have kiddos, you’ll want to have all the beach toys that make playing in the sand fun: buckets, shovels, sifters, etc. You can buy an all-in-one kit like this to make life easier.

Books

I ALWAYS have a good book (or 2 or 3) in my beach bag!

Some of my favorite beach reads from recent years: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, and People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.

Kites

We love flying kites at the beach! You can get a fun stunt kite like this, but we also have a kid-friendly octopus kite kind of like this that we fly up at the beginning of the day and attach to our canopy. It feels a little extra festive and makes it easy to see our tent if we’re out kayaking or up at the beach house.

Gentle waves roll onto the shore under a glowing sunset sky, with soft golden and blue hues reflecting off the water and wet sand. A seashell rests near the edge of the tide, capturing a quiet, dreamy beach evening.

Beach Trip Minimalist Packing List

Okay okay, this list is a lot of stuff, I know. But if you’re just going to the beach for one day (as opposed to the whole week that this list is geared for), here are some absolute essentials you should have:

Swimsuit
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Sandals
Snacks and Water
Some kind of shade — for a short day trip an umbrella might make more sense
Beach towels
Beach bag

What’s Next?

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