Would you take a speaker on a solo holiday?

And this pizza and cocktail evening will be will be too dangerous to wear headphones?

You sound selfish. It would really annoy me listening to your music at the beach and by the sound of it, from the messages above, a lot of other people too. I get the impression, you’ll just do it anyway!

It’s not fine and it’s actually illegal in some countries, like Portugal

Air bnb - yes. Not for use on the beach. This is anti-social behaviour.

The height of selfish, entitled behaviour when in a public place.

In the Airbnb fine.

Absolutely not in the beach or anywhere else in public unless you want to piss people off. Nobody wants to listen to other peoples music on the beach, it’s rude as fuck.

Why wouldn't you wear headphones on a beach. No one else wants to hear your choice of music on the beach. It's one of the many things which passes people off on the beach.

Why would it be more dangerous to wear headphones on a beach than to listen to a speaker? If you're worried that somebody can sneak up on you, then you're definitely too close to other people to use a speaker!

I don't care how nice you think your music is. It's not what anybody else is choosing to listen to in that moment. Please stick to headphones, the speaker inside the apartment and the sound of you ragebait posting on mumsnet for your ambience.

I want to know what @GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing thinks! 😜😂

Why can’t you just use headphones? It’s only you listening to it.

Here's a thought: maybe you don't have to be listening to music every waking minute. You could take some time to listen to the natural sounds of the sea and be alone with your thoughts, assuming that you have any.

So why are you asking? (Almost?) everyone has said don’t do it. You know that the majority will find it really annoying and yet you continue to push the idea that it’s ok and you should feel entitled to do it.

And no, while Olivia Dean isn’t ‘shite’, she’s not everyone’s cup of tea and on the beach, some people would prefer no tea at all, and to enjoy the sounds of the sea, the seagulls and relaxing peace of being out in nature. Of course if you find yourself in a secluded cove with nobody around it’s absolutely fine, but given you seem to think it’s unsafe to have headphones in I don’t think you’ll be veering too far away from the crowds.

Instead of latching on the the yob part of the post above, how about engaging with the suggestion of bone conducting headphones? They would be the perfect answer to this issue.

As the majority have said - fine for the Airbnb, not for the beach.

Ear buds for the beach.

As the majority have said - fine for the Airbnb, not for the beach.

Ear buds for the beach.

As the majority have said - fine for the Airbnb, not for the beach.

Ear buds for the beach.

As the majority have said - fine for the Airbnb, not for the beach.

Ear buds for the beach.

As the majority have said - fine for the Airbnb, not for the beach.

Ear buds for the beach.

As the majority have said - fine for the Airbnb, not for the beach.

Ear buds for the beach.

And as I have said above, I’m Aussie and, barring Xmas day or Australia Day, I don’t want to hear other peoples music at the beach. I am lucky enough to live near a huge and fairly empty beach, people with speakers inevitably set up near me despite there being miles of empty beach to share! It drives me crazy, just fuck off up the beach a bit so I don’t have to hear your crappy music! Or use headphones, or you know enjoy sitting on a glorious empty beach watching the dolphins!

You’re thinking from a different cultural perspective, people are less uptight and upset about things in Australia- all sorts happen here that people don’t get upset about that would have mumsnet clutching for their pearls in the UK.

This is a pretty unreasonable leap!

But it completely depends on the beach. A busy resort beach in a big seaside town where you can probably already hear music from beach cafes and stuff anyway and there are groups of people playing frisbee and whatever - fairly normal.

A quiet beach out of town where people go to relax, read and enjoy peaceful natural surroundings - absolutely not normal or OK to play music on a speaker. And of course you're not in danger wearing headphones on a bloody beach. Get a grip.

just some quiet Olivia dean or something

What do you mean 'just'? Why do you think that would somehow be more acceptable than any other music? What part of 'other people don't necessarily like the same music as you' don't you understand? I can't stand the sort of music Olivia Dean makes. Really, really not my thing at all; it really grates on me. You saying 'just some quiet Olivia Dean or something' is like me saying 'just some quiet Nine Inch Nails' or 'it's fine because it's only The Fall'.

And I respect your opinion of course, but I would say that for every person who doesn’t mind, there will be another person who does. The only way to listen to music while respecting the people around you who’ll be disturbed by it, is to use headphones. That way, your music doesn’t impact anyone and people of all opinions are happy.

I sometimes hear music from another garden. I really don't mind. We occasionally play music outside. No-one has every complained. Though we do have a fairly large garden and small portable speakers so I doubt anyone can hear much.

I loathe people playing music on trains. I don't even like people talking loudly. But outside in a park/beach/garden I don't understand the objection to some low level noise from a small portable speaker ( as opposed to blaring music)