Best beach gear for 2023
With the upcoming summer season upon us and many of you visiting warm destinations for Spring Break, let’s talk about getting stocked up with your beach essentials along with some fun gadgets. Get your best beach gear with some of our favorite items this year.
Our Favorite Beach Gear This Season
Beach towels
Instead of the traditional fluffy terrycloth beach towels, for the sand we recommend a few more sand friendly options.
Turkish beach towels: these are cotton woven, thin blanket like. This is a pretty inexpensive version.
Sand Cloud: a premium version of the Turkish beach towels, their designs and quality are fantastic.
Beach Bags
There are two routes to go down. One is your basic tote for all your personal items, the other is one meant to be a personal cooler.
For beach totes, we recommended making sure it has two features: 1) has a zipper closure at top, 2) is lined to protect against sand and water. We also like canvas bags because they are durable, washable, and have the old school beach style to them. Here’s an example that meets all the above criteria.
Now if it’s just you and another person and you don’t want to lug around a heavy cooler, a bag that can keep you beverages and lunch insulated while still carrying some personal items might be your preferred option. This backpack fits the bill along with this tote bag with an insulated compartment.
Sun Hats
Love this version of the straw hat for ladies. It’s foldable, has a strap when needed, and still has some structure in the fiber to mold to you face and style.
For the guys, a baseball cap will always do, but if you want something with better protection (ears, neck,etc.), this Quiksilver hat will serve you well. Want a little extra style? Try a fedora/panama hat.
Seating/Chairs
While most camping chairs will work, especially those that are low profile (low to the ground), we are partial to the Tommy Bahama beach chair. It has lots of pockets, a headrest, and backpack straps for easy carry.
This is the basic essential list to get you started. We’ll add more as the season kicks off and we continue to add to our collection and test out more.
Beach Umbrellas
I was a late adopter in bringing an umbrella. Thinking it was just another thing to carry and didn’t want the hassle, it wasn’t until this year I saw the light (or the shade actually). A good beach umbrella is light weight and easy to set up. With the intensity of the sun ever increasing, having an umbrella is now a must. Here are a couple good options: Blissun, Lurasel
Snorkels
There are two options for snorkel masks. The first being the classic scuba mask, the second being a full face. They both have benefits so it’s a matter of personal choice which way you go. The scuba style covers your eyes and nose with a separate air intake mouth piece. The benefits of this style is it can also be used as your mask for scuba diving and the mask is easy to clear if you get water or fog inside. The full face variety allows for more natural breathing with the ability to breath through both your nose and mouth.
Here are some good masks to investigate for your next excursion: Scuba Style, Full face
Shoes
Getting a good pair (or three) of flip flops is a must. In addition, to your standard flip flop, there are also a few other varieties of shoes you might want to consider depending on your activity. For flip flops, my all-time favorites are Reefs. They are comfortable and last years. Reefs: Women’s, Men’s. My second favorite if you want some that are a little more stylish and higher end, OluKai makes very nice sandals.
If you are going to go kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, or the ocean bottom you’ll be swimming in is rocky, I suggest getting some water shoes. You can start with these inexpensive version. If you want a shoe that goes easily between walking around town to walking on the beach, go with a more durable hiking variety.
