What are your best beach day trip buys?

[Bubblesbubblesmybubbles]

We live by a quiet beach (thankful for it still being quiet!!) and want to get sorted to be able to do full days at the beach with DC. What purchases have you made which have been invaluable?

A pull along trolley? If so which one there seem to be so many!
Sunshade?
Cool box?

Sunshade is essential for me, I won't sit in the sun, we have one of those half tent things and a picnic blanket to go in front of it. We take food in a coolbag rucksack, buckets and spades, balls, frisbee, nets for rockpooling. Talc for sandy feet. We rarely last more than a couple of hours though, my DCs just aren't big beach fans.

Wetsuit. Bodyboard. Towel. Food. Drink. Book.

I can’t bear lugging piles of stuff around and packing unpacking packing up again and unpacking at home. Takes the shine off for me

saw someone dragging a huge trolley full of stuff with small narrow wheels across Holkham beach last year that look like really hard work as it needed two of them eventually
If u get a trolley make it one with wide big wheels !

Travel light is key for me , the half tent , a towel ,sunscreen , water and a great book

Yes definitely keen to take the minimal, the DC are only small though so we need to be prepared

Been looking at different brands of pop up sunshade, are they all pretty much the same?

I don't know if they're all the same, we've had ours for years, it folds up tiny and very light. We have one rucksack for food, one for picnic blanket, towels (we have microfibre ones which pack up tiny) etc and bucket, ball, sunshade etc are just carried, we've never needed a trolley or similar, I agree with keeping it light.

Rucksack each and a massive golfing umbrella for shade

If you get a parasol there are special bags you can fill with sand or rocks to stand it in. Wide wheeled trolley. No idea of make sorry!

My parents live near the beach and have a beach hut to store everything in. Plus they can make food and drinks and lock valuables away. Is that an option?

Rather than a cool box freeze 20% water or pop in a bottle - then add more before you go and the drink stays cold all day and keeps the food fresh.

If you have very small children then a paddling pool !
Sounds weird but friends use one for their baby and in fact all the children love it .
It keeps their smallest occupied without her crawling into the waves .
Yes to talc for sandy feet .
We have to drive to our beach but friends who live close enough to walk have trolleys .
I am having a shower attachment fitted outside the house to hose small tired children down with warm water when they get home !

Those shortie wetsuits for kids so they stay warm in the water.
Change of swimming costume, so they can have lunch back in shorts and t-shirts, then get back into a dry costume.
(DS1 loves the water but is skinny and gets cold quickly)

Watershoes if you have pebbles.

Lightweight towels a la foutala or similar.

Plastic bags to separate out dry, wet etc.

Beach shoes if not sandy.

Cool bag, not too big, for drinks and any food that can't warm up.

A ball, spade for littles.

A towelling hoodie for each child for after, they normally go home in them.

Shortie wetsuits for all if not really warm.

All of the above fits in an old large shopping bag, and the non food stuff lives in it in the porch when not in use for easy grabbing. We go to the beach a lot! 😂

We have body boards for the kids that live in the back of the van anyway, and depending on where we are going we may take stand up paddle boards. These stay inflated in the garage anyway then just go on the roof. This means taking life jackets too.

The best thing about the beach is that you need nothing.
Towel. Suncream. Swimsuit. Water. Book. Fruit. Bucket and spade if you have kids. Stay all day.

Thanks all, DC are newborn and toddler so only little (so slightly more needed). Definitely wouldn't have thought of the paddling pool or talc!!