Moving to the seaside. What do I really need?

[Chipsahoy]

Having spent all my life living as far from the beach as you can get in England, in two weeks we move to a ten min journey from the sea! To say I am excited is an understatement.

What do we need for regular beach use? Water shoes, specific towels, something to sit on? Talc for sand? Rash vests?

I’d like to just have this stuff ready in a bag to shove in the car for my many many many trips to the beach that will definitely be happening at least when we first move.

If you live at the seaside, what do you own for the beach?

Oh and it’s north east so don’t suppose there will be much sea swimming in the chilly North Sea…

The big blue IKEA bags!!! Everything goes in them especially when wet things! Old towels, beach rug, sun cream, plastic cups, thermos, one for tea and one for hot chocolate. Wetsuits are useful and rash vests. We use old trainers rather than beach shoes.

I find the N Sea good for swimming in. It is a shallow sea (relatively speaking) so has warmed up by mid summer. It has always seemed warmer than the s Devon/ Cornwall Atlantic to me, anyway.

An industrial strength hoover and a magic mat.

Water shoes are a gamechanger, though I live by a pebble beach.

The brilliant thing about living by the sea is that you don't need any of that stuff! It's no longer a whole day's expedition.

I pop down with just a towel that has a safety pin to attach my key to. When I'm getting sunburned/thirsty/cold I go home.

I have a beach trolley that lives in the garage, I think I got it in Aldi. I keep towels, suncream, hats, rashies and magazines in it. I have a drawer full of bathers, that we put on before we go (beach is 5 mins away). Apart from that we just take a cool bag with drinks and maybe snacks. I also keep a small beach bag just for me that has a sand free towel, my nice suncream and a book, all I need to grab is a cold drink phone and purse. I go to the beach a lot, so like to be able to go on a whim!

Half filled water bottles in the freezer - top up with cold water before you go.

Does anyone take a beach umbrella?

@dontgobaconmyheart

I grew up right next to the seaside, beach a 2 min walk and have lived within 5 minutes of it every since wherever I've lived.

In all honesty I don't have anything 'for the beach' it's just normal lifestyle items I'd have anyway, like a decent wind proof waterproof jacket and woolly hat and gloves for cold weather walking, a pair of beach suitable old trainers and sandals, season dependent, I usually wear whatever is on the way out and don't lond getting dirty, I would wear SPF wherever I'm going.

If you live near the beach you can just grab stuff from home whenever you go, like a towel, cold bag if you're planning a picnic etc

Obviously I'd you've got kids maybe you'd want buckets and spades etc but we almost never bothered and just took what we fancied on the day, since we don't do the same thing every time we go.

Glad someone else said this - have lived by the sea all my life (with kids now) and have never had any sort of special gear. I don't even know where the buckets and spades are - the kids just get on with it. If you are going that often, carting all of these things every time would be too much. Equally we don't tend to go for hours and hours at a time - either earlyish in the morning or later in the afternoon when it is quiter (and if a hot day it means you are out of midday sun) and we tend to base visits around tide times so we can go rock pooling or walk out on the sand for miles. That's the joy of living by the beach - you don't have to pack for the whole day

I live in Melbourne, by the sea, and have most of the things mentioned here.

The thing I'd add is a pop up sun shelter. Seriously, it does get sunny in the UK, as you're probably finding out.

Portable foot powered shower. We fill it with hot water so we can shower off and get dressed without having to go home first, before popping into town for shopping etc. About £30 online. Also changing robe (to be worn as a coat at all times so people know you’re local!)

A big warm waterproof coat and lined wellies for beach walks in the typical north east weather

Does anyone use talc anymore? It’s linked with female cancers.

We’re right on a beach and I’m quite rubbish so for me it’s just a bikini/wetsuit, neoprene boots, a towel and a robe.

@Hen2018 I’m not sure that talcing your feet increases your risk of cancer but happy to be corrected.

Well, I don’t think anyone applied it directly to their ovaries.

My mil lives in Seaham in County Durham. We always have folding chairs, towels, beach shoes, buckets, swim gear (including wet suits), big bottle of sun cream in the boot.

It's NE England. The best thing you can have living near the sea up there is a window. From your nice warm cosy living room.
Seriously though; I lived right opposite the sea in the south and I rarely went to the beach. I used to walk along the promenade but in the summer was an absolute nightmare and in the winter too many dogs on the beach for me so there you go.
I did used to let my dc go though and on their return I'd simply dust sand off and quickly shove them in the shower. We didn't have anything extra except a large collection of buckets and spades that now we don't live near the sea we have never used.

A large canvas bag with multiple lightweight hammam type towels, swimmers, rash vest, wetsuit shoes.

If you find you go out of season then wetsuits

A towelling hoodie per person

A beach hut would make transportation of stuff much easier. We leave bare minumum there over winter and open up at Easter. All we take with us is clean swimwear and food/drink.

Need more info.
Many beach places have a little shop where you can buy paraphinalia as and when.
how old are your kids?

I live 5 miles from beach & don't own or bring most this stuff.

I have tried many of the items but didn't get much use out of them.
If I chose anything that we don't have, a wind break would be nice.

Bucket & spade is top of list for us -- we bring full size spades nowadays. My teenagers can still spend ages dam-building.

ps: oh, and figure out where you can park for free. Usually a simple 5 minute walk extra.

I went swimming in the sea the other morning, changed in toilets and walked around sightseeing for most of day then drove 2 hours home. It was fine! Seriously, people live near the beach and take a portable shower with them to get the salt off?

The only thing I’d keep in the car is towels and swimming costumes. We often had impromptu swims in vests and pants when I was little.

In my boot I have folding chairs, picnic rug, beach towels and swim wear. We have a marine lake so swim 5 months of the year - might buy wetsuits for winter