The Ultimate Family Beach Trip Packing List: 20 Essentials To Make Your Stay Easy And Fun

It's officially beach season!

I'm heading off on our annual family beach trip next week and I'm so excited. Despite living in Asheville now, I was born and raised in Alabama, so my family's annual vacation spot is still the white sand beaches of the Alabama coast. Though it's about a 10-hour drive from our home, it is so worth it to enjoy that gorgeous Gulf Coast sunshine and reminisce about all the family beach trips I took there as a child.

Things look a little different now that I'm on the parent end of the equation–instead of rolling in and having the grown-ups take over, the grown-ups are...well, us!

With that in mind, I assembled a list of my beach essentials in hopes that it might make your next family beach trip a bit easier to pack for. Let's get into it!

A Great Cooler

Maybe the most essential item of all is an excellent cooler. Of course, you'll want something to store your drinks of all stripes (for me it's juice boxes for kids, La Croix, Diet Coke, and High Noons). Pack drinks and snacks to stay beach-side for hours. Don't forget your waters!

Sunglasses

Another "of course" item: sunnies–but not all are created equal. Polarized lenses can help your eyes feel less fatigued by reducing glare. A fun bonus? Polarized lenses act as a kind of x-ray vision in water, making aquatic life way easier to view at a distance (it's a crowd favorite a smash hit with little kids to wash schools of fish swimming from the sand!).

Cold Sandwiches...

Stay with me here: this is one of my favorite beach hacks. Grab a set of Hawaiian rolls and slice the entire set in half. Carefully remove the top from the bottom, then make little deli meat sliders (we usually go for ham, turkey, iceberg lettuce, mayo, mustard, banana peppers, salt and pepper!). Replace the top half of the rolls, put them back in the bag, and pop them in the fridge (or freezer if you're making them a few days in advance). When you're leaving for the beach, pop them in the cooler or snack bag to thaw for the perfect beach-side lunch.

...And All The Cold Salads

Nothing hits quite like a cold snack at the beach. Use this pimento cheese recipe, a great scoop of chicken salad, or this absolutely delicious black bean and corn salsa recipe to elevate your snacking. Paired with some baked pita chips, tortilla chips, or even a Cape Cod Kettle Chip (hello, dreamy!), you'll stay happy and fed.

Frozen Treats

Years of traveling with kids has taught me this trick: using a giant Yeti, Owala, or Stanley water bottle designed to keep drinks cool can pull double-duty as a perfectly sized popsicle freezer. To minimize bulk, opt for ice pops that come in a skinny, rectangular shape over a traditionally shaped prismatic Popsicle. I can usually fit between 6 and 8 into an extra large Yeti cup, and especially if they live in a cooler until they're eaten, they'll last for hours even in the hot sun.

A Beach Wagon

Any parent who's ever tried to haul kids, a cooler, beach chairs, and a beach bag knows this lesson well: this approach will have you arriving at the beach dripping with sweat and cursing the skies. Skip it! Toss everything into a wagon and go about your business. Nowadays, wagons are remote control and can move all on their own – but you don't need to shell out hundreds of dollars to make the trip. Grab your kid's old collapsible wagon and save yourself the trouble of being a pack mule.

A Battery-Operated Fan

Especially important if you have little children, a fan can be clutch in keeping your family in the sand for longer stretches of time. Keeping babies and toddlers cool in the summer is a big deal, and a fan can really help extend the life of your beach trip (bonus points if your baby can nap at the beach!)

A Shibumi Shade

And while we're talking about keeping cool, let me introduce you to my most-loved product of 2024: the Shibumi shade. In years past, it's taken every bit of two adults' brain power and muscle to try to set up an effective beach tent and then disassemble it at the end of every day. The Shibumi shade is not only lightweight, but it is incredibly easy to set up – so much so that I can actually do it by myself. It provides plenty of shade and is truly ideal for beach trips where a grown-up might need to fly solo. Highly recommend!

Zinc Sunscreen

Have you ever sprayed your child down with a sport sunscreen only to shake your head in disbelief when they still manage to end up scorched? It's not your fault! When I had children, I learned a brand new piece of information from our pediatrician: spray sunscreen takes a full thirty minutes to activate. Zinc sunscreen, on the other hand, is immediately effective. While it takes a little longer to apply, it's worth it in the end to keep that sensitive skin healthy and sunburn-free. Don't forget your ears!

Your Favorite Beach Read

Don't worry, we've done the work for you! Browse our list of 2024's best beach reads. While I personally prefer a hard-copy book, so many of my fellow readers opt to bring their Kindles to the beach to minimize bulk in the beach bag.

A Durable Beach Chair (Or Two, Or Three!)

Where to start? Shop this list to find the one that best suits your needs. Bonus points if it comes with a cupholder (or spring for the sand cupholders that spike straight into the beach itself!).

A Giant Beach Bag

Here in the year 2024, the list of incredible options for beach bags is endless. Whatever you choose, the bag should be lightweight and waterproof. In a pinch, you can bring a mesh laundry hamper with handles! My personal favorite is the cult-favorite Bogg Bag, which is essentially a Croc that you can put things into. It's fantastic.

Plenty Of Toys

The beach is its own activity, really, but let's be honest: kids usually want a couple of extra things to do. You can always go with the classics: boogie boards, soft football or volleyball, and sandcastle building equipment. To spice it up a notch, try these refillable water balloons (my kids love these at the pool or beach) or goggles. All worn out with beach play?

A Waterproof Speaker...

Assuming you aren't bothering anyone around you (no one loves to be neighbors on the beach with someone who's blaring music), a waterproof speaker can be a great way to turn the energy level up (or wind it down) with your group. Find a portable, waterproof speaker that suits your budget and party on, Garth!

...And An Incredible Playlist

Long gone are the days of mixtapes and lugging CD's to the beach – with the touch of a button you can connect your phone to a Bluetooth speaker and get the party going! If you're new to music streaming services, I recommend using the search bar on Spotify to search the mood you're in–it can be as simple as "family friendly beach tunes" or "classic rock," and bam! Spotify will serve you the tailored playlist of your dreams. Other people have done the hard work for you! All you have to do is press "play."

Towels To Lay Out On...

Beach towel technology has come a long way in the last fifteen years, and (in this writer's humble opinion) LL Bean has perfected it. While $40 might feel like a lot to spend on a towel, if you're like me, you've reached the stage of life where you'd prefer to buy something good one time rather than a cheap, less reliable version five times over. This towel has one softer side and one sand-shedding side, which makes it perfect to spread out on the beach. Plus, it's huge (clocking in at 36x68")–an excellent pick.

...And Turkish Towels To Dry Off With

Even the best beach towel to lay out on might not serve every need, and with lots of people on a beach trip, you likely end up hanging wet towels on every nameable surface outside hoping to speed up drying times. Turkish towels are made with more absorbent cotton than regular beach towels, making them the perfect choice to dry of post-dip. Bonus: They can double as sarongs because their tasseled ends are VERY cute.

Sun Hats And Shirts With UPF

Listen, you don't think you want these until the moment you start to feel that extra crispy burn (or worse, see it on your kids) and your realize a quick intervention is the only thing that'll save the rest of your trip in the sun. There are so many brands that make sun shirts and hats with built-in UPF protection. While they don't eliminate the need for sunscreen, they provide an extra solid layer of protection between skin and sun. Start out wearing them or pack them in your beach bag for those moments of "yikes."

Snack Stacks

For folks with young kids who are very focused on everyone getting the same amount of everything (if you know, you know), I always reach for these snack stackers. Handing them off to a kid rather than having to constantly refill cups of chips or crackers is delightful.

Aloe Vera Gel

For the moments when the sunscreen and sun shirts have failed, plan ahead to keep some aloe in your bag. Grab a bigger pump bottle or purchase individual packets for easy, slim packing.