The Essential Beach Packing List: What to Pack for a Beach Vacation

Planning a trip includes coming up with the perfect vacation packing list, and a trip to the beach is no different. This essential beach packing list will help you know what to bring to cover not just the necessities but also the comforts that will make your beach vacation amazing.

Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase.

---

Personal Items for Your Beach Vacation Packing List

---

What to pack for a beach vacation starts with your personal accessories. Maybe you wear them or maybe you pack them, but you certainly don’t want to forget them!

Swimsuits

Can you really pack for a beach trip without a swimsuit? It’s the number one core item to include in your beach vacation packing list! If you’re planning to go for multiple days, try to pack multiple swimsuits as putting on a damp swimsuit is the worst!

Sunscreen and SPF Lip Balm

Beach days expose you to a lot of elements, particularly the sun. Plan ahead and pack plenty of sunscreen to reapply every couple hours. As a bonus, there are now a number of sunscreens that are reef friendly so you won’t be damaging the ocean when you swim!

You’ll also want to treat your lips with some extra care as they too can burn in the sun! Pack a lip balm with SPF and reapply regularly. Just be forewarned that most chapsticks do melt from the heat of the beach, so try to keep them out of direct sunlight.

Sunglasses and Hats

The sun can be brutal at the beach. Protect your eyes and skin with a bit of extra coverage. From sunglasses to the perfect beach hat, they’ll keep you from squinting at the sun and keep your face protected from some of the sun’s UV rays.

Coverups

Cute coverups are beach vacation essentials. You will wear them when going through your beachfront resort, walking on the beach, and no doubt be seen in pictures wearing it. This could be a sun dress, an actual beach coverup, or maybe just a sarong!

Flip-flops, Sandals, or Water Shoes

Depending what your beach trip entails and which beach you’re going to, your shoe choice may vary. For your everyday beach trip, flip-flops are the perfect solution, but if you’re headed to the beach with plans to go directly to dinner, a slightly nicer sandal may be an excellent choice.

Alternatively, if you are headed to a rocky or coral filled beach, take water shoes! They will protect your feet from the sharp edges that are often widespread on some of the best snorkeling beaches.

After Sun

Lastly, after you’re out of the sun, you’ll want to give your skin a little extra care. Skip the weird green aloe vera and go for an after sun that’s not as sticky. Sun Bum After Sun Cool Down Gel gets my vote! It offers an awesome cooling sensation while hydrating your post-sun skin.

---

Comfort Items to Pack for a Beach Trip

---

There are a number of essential beach items you won’t want to leave behind. They will make your day at the beach a pleasure and leave you wanting to stay for a full week of fun in the sun!

Beach Bag

As your beach essentials grow, you’ll need a way to corral them. Find a beach bag that serves a practical purpose and looks cute! Maybe you want a mesh bag to help filter sand out, or perhaps you’ll prefer a beach bag that keeps sand out all together.

Beach Umbrella or Beach Tent

It can be hard to find a break from the harsh sun. Add a beach umbrella to beach tent to your beach packing list to provide some shade any time of day. Even if you’re a sun worshiper, having breaks in the shade will help you stay cool and relaxed out on the beach.

Beach Towel

A critical component to any beach packing list is a beach towel. It will help you dry off after all of those dips in the ocean. Not to mention it can play a major role in getting the sunscreen out of your eyes or toweling off simply from sitting in the hot sun!

Beach Blanket

Sitting on the sand is so much nicer with a beach blanket to sit on! It helps you keep the sand from sticking to you, but it also helps keep the sand away from your beach snacks or phone.

Beach Chairs

Not looking forward to sitting (or getting up from) the sandy ground? Bring a beach chair. They can also be easy to rent or your beach accommodations may already have them waiting for you. It’s worth finding out before lugging them to the beach with you!

Water Bottle

Staying hydrated at the beach is important. Between the sun and all of the activities you may do, drink lots of water! It can literally be a life saver.

Packing an insulated water bottle will help you stay hydrated while keeping your water cold all day long. If you’re flying to the beach, take a collapsable water bottle to save space in your luggage.

Cooler Filled with Beach Snacks and Drinks

Packing for a day at the beach requires sustenance. After all, it’s exhausting being at the beach all day! Take a cooler to keep your beach snacks and drinks chilled.

I am a big fan of my soft-sided cooler as it’s easy and lightweight to travel with, but to keep things even colder, spring for a Yeti cooler. They are practically made for beach trips!

Waterproof Phone Case and Dry Bag

With water and sand everywhere, you’ll need to protect any electronics you take to the the beach. A dry bag will help keep your things safe from water, whether you leave them on the beach, take them swimming with you, or decide to do water sports like paddle boarding or kayaking.

I love my 20L Earth Pak dry bag, and it comes with a waterproof phone case, in case you want to take your phone on your adventures with you!

Float Straps for Your Keys and Camera

Some things you don’t want to take into the ocean with you, but you also don’t want to risk leaving them on the beach, like your keys or water camera. Take a floating strap for them to keep them with you while eliminating the concern of gifting them to the bottom of the ocean.

Beach Safe

Another safety beach hack is a small beach safe. These safes allow you to lock up the valuables you need to take to the beach, whether it be your wallet, your phone, your keys, etc.

There’s a wide variety of beach safes out there, from those you can lock to a stationary object for extra security or free standing ones. Select what works best for you!

Collapsible Beach Cart

Have a lot to carry to the beach? Make your life easier by taking a beach wagon or cart to wheel everything to the beach. You’ll be able to keep your hands free and corral all of your belongings in one place.

Read more: Everything You Need to Know about Traveling to Aruba

---

Entertainment for Your Beach Vacation

---

Laying on the beach can be relaxing for a day, but if you’re planning a beach vacation, you may want to prepare some beach entertainment!

Waterproof Camera

Waterproof cameras, like the famous GoPro, will elevate your beach experience by enabling you to take pictures in the water and under the water. Headed to snorkel? No problem. Kayaking? It’s got you. Even scuba diving is taken care of. And, you’ll have memories for a lifetime!

Portable Speaker or Headphones

Music at the beach is a must. It can set the mood for your relaxing day. Whether you want to share that music or keep it to yourself is up to you, but both portable bluetooth speakers and bluetooth headphones have become small, inexpensive, and waterproof!

While there are now endless brands in the wireless speaker game, I love the Anker brand for pretty much everything they sell, and their inexpensive, waterproof speaker is no different.

Beach Toys and Beach Sport Games

Spice up your day at the beach by packing beach toys! This could mean the stereotypical sand castle building toys like a shovel and bucket, but it can also take an adult spin.

Beach games have expanded in recent years from the more traditional beach tennis to corn hole, bocce ball, ladder ball, BucketBall (which is really just a large scale beer pong), TidalBall, and many others!

There are even combo games that make packing for the beach easy, like this cool ladderball, cornhole, and table combo! Bring the competition and maybe an adult drink to elevate your beach trip!

Floats, Boogie Boards, Skim Boards

Of course every beach packing list needs to include some water toys! Pack a water float or two to relax on the ocean waves. Or have fun body surfing or boogie boarding the waves. Another great option is a skim board to play in the surf.

Many beach communities have stores, like the giant Waves beach chain, that have these types of toys readily available if you don’t want to travel with them.

Snorkeling Gear

Headed to a beach with great snorkeling? Pack your snorkel gear! With snorkel gear and an underwater camera in hand, you’ll be ready for coral reefs, turtles, fish, stingrays or whatever the ocean holds for you!

Book or Kindle

Reading on the beach is one of life’s great pleasures. Curl up under your beach umbrella, leaned back in your beach chair, with the latest novel you’re working your way through.

Maybe you’re a physical book lover for that “new book” smell, or maybe a Kindle will help keep your beach packing list a bit lighter! As a bonus, the newest Kindles are also waterproof making it the perfect beach accompaniment!

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Visiting the San Blas Islands

---

Other Items to Add to Your Beach Trip Packing List

---

There are a number of other essential beach items that will make your trip to the beach packing list complete. Best of all, most of them are items you already have around your house!

Hairbrush and Hair Detangler

Between being in and out of the water and dealing with the wind and sand, your hair can easily become a tangled mess! Pack your hairbrush and even hair detangler spray to handle your hair while it’s still wet.

Change of Clothes

After a beach day, having a set of dry clothes to change into is key. Make sure you take everything you need, including clean underwear! It will make any post-beach drive so much more comfortable.

Battery Pack for Your Electronics

Batteries never stay charged long enough. Take an external battery pack and your charging cord to give your electronics extra juice when they need it. This is super handy if you’re using your phone for music, your Kindle for reading, or your wireless speaker. Don’t be caught unprepared!

Plastic Bags

Packing extra plastic bags for the beach gives you options. You can use them to carry items to the beach, gather your trash throughout the day, or for your wet swimsuit and towel when you leave the beach.

Ziplock Bags

Having a few ziplock bags handy will solve any last minute challenges. Whether you need to keep your phone protected from sand and water or you have food items that need protection from sand, an extra ziplock bag will make your life easier (and less sandy!).

Hand Sanitizer

Before digging into your snacks, sanitize your hands! Throughout your beach trip you’ll be touching all kinds of surfaces, including things like your phone which is proven to be a germ breeding ground. Not to mention this is particularly handy during COVID times.

Read more: Choosing which Islands to Visit in Fiji: The Mamanuca and Yasawa Island Groups

---

Planning for Your Beach Vacation

---

Your beach vacation packing list is complete, but there’s a few things that you need to consider as you start packing. How are you traveling to the beach? Are you going with friends or alone? How long are you staying? All of these can modify what you need to pack for a beach vacation.

Driving to the Beach vs. Flying to the Beach

If you’re taking a road trip to the beach, you’re in luck. You can bring everything from home and not worry about the amount of stuff on your packing list for the beach. However, if you’re flying to the beach, you’ll need to manager what you pack and only take the essentials for a beach vacation.

Fortunately, most beach destinations have plenty of shops willing to sell you anything you could possibly want. You just have to be willing to pay for it! Things like sunscreen suddenly become a “need to have” and prices will be at a premium!

My recommendation for packing for any trip is to lay out everything you want to take, in an ideal world, and then slowly parse it back to the need to pack for your beach trip. This way you’ll also know what you’ve cut from your vacation packing list, giving you great visibility into what you may need to buy when you arrive.

Read more: How to Pack in a Carry On – No Matter the Trip Length

Traveling Alone vs. Friend or Family Beach Trip

Going to the beach alone can make packing a bit more challenging. Do you leave things on the beach to swim? Will they still be there when you come back? Is it safe to swim alone? There are a lot of things to think about on a solo beach trip!

For one, definitely pack a Beach Safe to give you options while you’re on the beach! Also, try to go to a part of the beach where there are enough other people or lifeguards. It’s much safer than being on a deserted beach.

On the other hand, family beach trips can be amazing, but packing for a family beach vacation can leave you with a large pile of essentials! Make sure to take all the necessities and easy ways to carry all of them to and from the beach. Beach bags and carts will become invaluable in these circumstances!

Packing for a Day at the Beach vs. Packing for a Week at the Beach

Your packing list for a week at the beach will be similar to packing for a beach day, but you’ll want to take extra comforts. From more sunscreen and after sun to additional entertainment, your beach necessities will grow dramatically for your week at the beach packing list.

Additionally, if you’re only spending one day at the beach, you may be able to be in full sun all day with enough sunscreen, but for a week at the beach, your skin will need a break from the sun. This is where beach umbrellas and tents become crucial!

Read more: 10 Top Things to Do in San Juan for the Trip of a Lifetime

---

Take a Look at These Awesome Beach Destinations

---

Now that you know how to pack for a beach vacation, it’s time to take that beach packing list and hit the road! Here are some of my favorite beach destinations that aren’t pictured above!

• 10 Fun Things to Do in the Outer Banks for a Perfect Vacation
• Get to Know the ABC Islands in the Caribbean
• 10 Best Things to Do in Bonaire – Beyond Just Scuba Diving
• Planning a Trip to Curacao: A Complete Guide
• 6 Critical Things To Know Before Going to the Galapagos Islands

---

Like this post? Pin it.