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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask what you do with your belongings when you go to the beach solo?

215 replies

drinksdilemma · 29/05/2026 15:58

I’m not new to solo travel, but I am new to solo summer travel.

I have a few beach visits planned and don’t really know what to do with my stuff if I go to the beach? Do I just leave my bag on the beach and hope it doesn’t get knicked, or do I accept that I just won’t be going in the sea unless I book into a beach club?

OP posts:
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15
Awfulinlaws · 29/05/2026 17:48

This is the type of bag I mentioned. Mine is great. Could always add another dry bag inside. https://www.simplyswim.com/products/swim-safety-buoy-and-tow-bag

To ask what you do with your belongings when you go to the beach solo?
OrangeJellySnakes · 29/05/2026 17:46

Take a tow float as someone else suggested

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 29/05/2026 17:44

I would leave any valuables in the hotel rooms personally.

Bjorkdidit · 29/05/2026 17:41

drinksdilemma · 29/05/2026 17:38

I’m asking because I obviously don’t want my £1000 camera to get ruined and I’ve been bitten on the arse by cheap products before.

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Do you really need to carry a £1000 camera around with you? Why not just enjoy the beach and take a few snaps with your phone, and if it worries you that much, use a cheap second phone for the day.

Or you can spend a lot of money on fully waterproof camera housings designed for scuba divers if you so wish.

TheChosenTwo · 29/05/2026 17:41

I have a tow float that acts as a dry bag because i go open water swimming a lot in a lake, never taken it to the beach but maybe i should!
Usually we just shove everything in my bag and hope it’s still there when we get back. It’s always been okay up until now but obviously it’s a risk.

Octavia64 · 29/05/2026 17:41

drinksdilemma · 29/05/2026 17:38

I’m asking because I obviously don’t want my £1000 camera to get ruined and I’ve been bitten on the arse by cheap products before.

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I was quite skeptical about the phone waterproof pouches so the first time I used it I didn’t put my phone in it just a tissue.

mile long swim in a river and no water inside.

Allseeingallknowing · 29/05/2026 17:40

Fillybuster · 29/05/2026 17:32

I usually leave everything as tucked away as possible and then ask the nearest nice looking people to keep an eye on my stuff. Never had a problem over the years, many beach visits solo with valuables on me.

Until one day…

Original poster
drinksdilemma · 29/05/2026 17:38

I do like the idea of the bag for open water swimming. Quite intrigued

OP posts:
Jopo12 · 29/05/2026 17:38

Some beaches have lockers (Famagusta region of Cyprus eg)
We bought some waterproof bum bags and over the shoulder phone cases on Amazon. Great for phones and a debit card, and you can go in the sea or pool with them. I've used them in water parks too where they get very wet on the outside but dry inside.
The rest of my gear I leave on the sun lounger.

Original poster
drinksdilemma · 29/05/2026 17:38

ColdAsAWitches · 29/05/2026 17:09

You're making this very hard work. People are giving you cheap answers to your (not really a) problem and you're complaining that they're not expensive enough! Why should they be more expensive? It's just cheap plastic.

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I’m asking because I obviously don’t want my £1000 camera to get ruined and I’ve been bitten on the arse by cheap products before.

OP posts:
Fillybuster · 29/05/2026 17:32

I usually leave everything as tucked away as possible and then ask the nearest nice looking people to keep an eye on my stuff. Never had a problem over the years, many beach visits solo with valuables on me.

Allseeingallknowing · 29/05/2026 17:32

Pungifries · 29/05/2026 17:30

I “hide” mine, under a towel/ clothes and hope for the best.
if there’s the option of a locker at a beach bar, I would use that though as it will stop the anxiety ruining your bucket list moment

Just don’t take that risk! The loss of a phone is a horrendous thing!

Pungifries · 29/05/2026 17:30

I “hide” mine, under a towel/ clothes and hope for the best.
if there’s the option of a locker at a beach bar, I would use that though as it will stop the anxiety ruining your bucket list moment

Octavia64 · 29/05/2026 17:29

ginasevern · 29/05/2026 17:17

I would! I've been dreaming of taking myself off to a beach for the day but I've got nobody to go with and I wouldn't take the car.

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Huh?

what’s the reason you don’t go?

you can go in your own, I frequently do.

Bjorkdidit · 29/05/2026 17:27

LondonElle · 29/05/2026 17:25

Random one but put your valuables in a clean but folded over nappy and leave under your towel- people won’t go near it.

Edited

I don't know, so many people share the 'nappy tip' that thieves must know that most nappies with people's stuff on beaches are full of keys, wallets and phones.

Swissmeringue · 29/05/2026 17:25

Waterproof bag clipped to a waist belt. DH and I were once at the most incredible waterfall in the Philippines but it was a known theft spot and we had a rented moped that we couldn't risk the keys getting nicked for. We ended up taking it in turns to swim which was rubbish, so now we always have a little dry bag with us big enough for phones and keys.

AplineDaisies · 29/05/2026 17:25

We use a waterproof phone pouch - DH had it around his neck. It has worked for several years. Just from Amazon

LondonElle · 29/05/2026 17:25

Random one but put your valuables in a clean but folded over nappy and leave under your towel- people won’t go near it.

viques · 29/05/2026 17:24

swoosher · 29/05/2026 16:15

You can buy a small portable mini safe with combination lock, I would put my credit card/key etc in that under a beach towel. Not sure what I would do with a camera though.

I have a vision of beach thieves arming themselves with tiny amounts of explosive to blow up the mini safe, or carrying little acetylene torches to cut their way in. Or more likely just picking up the mini safe, shoving it in a back pack and carrying it back to their thieves den to break in at leisure.

Tortephant · 29/05/2026 17:23

drinksdilemma · 29/05/2026 16:15

I’ve just had this dream of swimming in this area for so long, I’d not really considered it properly to be honest

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A friend of mine has a waterproof camera to at she takes in the sea with her attached to her wrist

CMOTDibbler · 29/05/2026 17:23

I'd take a tow float, camera and phone in another waterproof bag inside it just in case, but if you don't overfill them they are brilliant (the ones labelled dry bag, the doughnut ones tend to leak ime) and you can pop it in a drawstring pe type bag then use it as your bag for stuff in the day

Awfulinlaws · 29/05/2026 17:22

You can get flotation bags for open water swimming. They are really waterproof with a compartment to put valuable. Bright orange and have a foot leash.

singlepringle12 · 29/05/2026 17:21

I have an awesome towel that has a secret zip pouch in one of the corners, fits my phone & key. It’s great as nobody would steal a towel laid out on the sand so valuables go in there! I can’t remember the brand but there are lots of things like it out there.