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…

[quote GimletGal]@Qwerty789 I've never bought swimwear or a towel specifically for the beach and until a minute ago I'd never heard of neoprene shoes. I wasn't being judgy, I was genuinely surprised. Perhaps living so close to the beach means I need less stuff since visits aren't all day affairs. It's not something I'd thought of before.[/quote]
You’ve obviously never stepped on a weever fish!

I also live by the sea and don’t have anything special. The joy of it is being able to walk to it most days with the dog and just sit on the beach and simply it enjoy it. We sometimes go a another local beach which sells ice lollies which we often but after a walk so I guess something to pay for them is useful.

I’ve lived by the sea for almost 30 years now and have nothing for the beach😳

I love the sea more than anything but hardly ever swim in the sea, just walk a long the promenade and enjoy the serenity and peace that being near the sea brings. I spent the first 19 years land locked and am forever grateful I had the opportunity to move to the sea, it’s just a wonderful thing. I hope you enjoy it OP as much as I do😎😊

My dses on the other hand have grown up close to the sea and have no interest in it at all🤣

Ah, no weever fish here, I'd not heard of them before either! We get jellyfish, but when they show up it's in huge numbers and I go nowhere near the water.

Weever fis are found on Atlantic and North Sea shores. If you get stung use hot water, as hot as you can bare and a paracetomal

@Hen2018

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

Exactly what I was thinking and, in fact, was wondering only yesterday! So a bit surprised to see people recommending it on this thread today.

I haven’t even seen talc in a shop for ages.

Oh , about the neoprene shoes, its for walkng in the sea for x Km also in winter. You need the equipment. (
I'm not in the UK

I haven’t even seen talc in a shop for ages

Thats strange because its in the baby section of every major supermarket and chemists. Also if you use it to get sand off your feet I dont think it is likely to cause female cancer.

I keep in the car
A beach tent (has 3 sides the fourth is open).
Beach shoes
Towels 1 per person
A picnic rug with waterproof backing
Swimsuits
Couple of old blankets
A few pegs
A ball.

If dc were younger would have a bucket and spade each.

Dc have a body board and lilo's but they stay indoors and I usually forget to bring them.

@Pommes

Dinghy for any small folk!

No! In theory this is safe with a rope to hold onto, but I've seen far too many tragic deaths due to this (see also inner tubes, blow-up mattress thingies etc).

The best thing you can have is good local advice about tides and currents. The rest is all optional. My house is about 5o metres from a beach, and we don't take anything really- we just whistle to the dog and head down to the shore. However, we know where the currents run, where they are the most dangerous and where the sand is unstable.

Money for the extortionate car parking.

Depending which beach you mean the north east, south Shields has a surf club that teaches, roker has kayak club/sailing and there's often people also swimming in the North sea around seaburn.

Also if your youngest children are like mine, a bag/bucket for bringing back all those shells/interesting (yes dear can totally see that looks like Ryder off paw patrol) rock

@Qwerty789 really didn’t mean to offend you which I clearly did.

Sorry.

Just wanted to take part on the conversation.

I used the beach, as I said, just didn’t have any equipment. If I swam I used a swim suit, which I already owned for the pool. I also already owned towels, flips flops etc.

Bu the weather was never that great, so while he beach was pretty I didn’t need to buy anything to enjoy it,

Sorry my experience very is different to yours. I am not judging you, I am sire you are a much better person than I am!

I would think that most people aren't specifically buying extra swimwear for the beach? This conversation was just about what would be needed for the beach, so people are saying swimwear. We have tonnes of swimwear around as we also pool swim at my parents' house a few times a week, so at this time.of year always have bag with towelling hoodies and swimsuits in the back of the van. That bag is also used on the beach

No, well @Hellocatshome, I suppose I probably haven’t been looking for talcum powder. I definitely wouldn’t use it on my baby, even just her feet.

I really mean, I remember tins of scented talc being very much a thing, and now they aren’t.

I really mean, I remember tins of scented talc being very much a thing, and now they aren’t ah yes I know the type you mean my Nanny used to have lavender talc in a tin with a purple poofy thing inside to apply it to your body.

I'm not at all offended, I'm merely pointing out that when you actually do stuff at the beach, you need stuff for it! You seem surprised that people need stuff to do things...it's very odd. 50 years by the beach and you've never seen people swim or surf or sail or do all the things that need acoutrements? I find that hard to believe....

Okay you are being completely rodiculous and twisting my words.

Not interested.

Have a lovely evening.

@Querty, from the way you just had a go at me you do seem offended. How lovely though that you can make full use of the beach. Bully for you.

north sea is warmer for swimming than the atlantic

Sometimes when you live near somewhere you don't use it, when we lived in London we very rarely went into the city although I think you used to have to pay for museums etc back then.

When we moved to the seaside its a novelty that's never really worn off. I can see the sea from my classroom and lots of my students have never been, it's just there, it's nothing special to them and we have a lovely sandy beach.

On our beaches the tide goes out a VERY long way affecting where and how you walk the best thing you can do if your in a similar situation is download a free ride times app I use it all the time.

I live about 25/30 mins drive from closest beach and was brilliant last summer.
We dont have seperate beach or pool swimsuits and dont bother with neoprone shoes, although i would get those for the atlantic coast because of weaver fish, but we dont get them this end.
A waterproof picnic mat is useful and thin compact towels such as those turkish hammam towels. Goggles for the kids if they prefer them and waterproof sandals

it's the chairs that surprised me. Those are big & awkward to carry if you have to walk half a mile after parking. People sit on a ground sheet here.

... and if you do bring so much stuff, a folding wagon is useful. I have seen these, esp. if people do bring sun-tent, chairs, windbreaker, etc.

they often have neoprene shoes in the random aisle of Aldi - not just good for weever fish, also for pebbles!