Beach Day Essentials
When heading out for a day in the Florida sun, don’t forget your beach day essentials. Yes, you can have a great day at the beach with just a towel and sunblock but a little preparation can make it even better. If you live in Florida or are visiting for a while, keep your beach day items packed and ready to go!
- Shade. When spending a day outside in Florida, shade is a must. It may seem like an oxymoron, but keeping a small, easy to setup tent in your RV comes in handy if you take frequent trips to the beach. A tent gives you a shady refuge and is a great place to take a nap or eat lunch without battling the sand. Make sure the tent has good ventilation, however, or it becomes very hot in the Florida sun.
- Sunblock. Everyone knows of the dangers of a day at the beach without sunblock. Make sure that you reapply after leaving the water and frequently throughout the day. A hat and sunglasses provides even more protection and don’t forget lip balm with a high spf to protect those beautiful puckers.
- Food. Something about the beach increases your hunger but heavy, rich foods are just too much. Freeze a selection of grapes, berries, watermelon and other fresh cut-up fruit to snack on throughout the day. A quick trip to the deli section of the local grocery can fill your cooler with other light and easy to eat beach snacks like hummus and celery sticks.
- Drinks. Lots of nice cold water is a must. Add some of the frozen fruit to help keep it cold and lightly flavor the water. Stay away from coffee, tea and soda as they are diuretics and retaining as much water as possible is important when spending a day in the sun.
- Entertainment. Ditch the electronics, the beach is the perfect place to unplug. Grab a good book, your journal and some relaxing tunes. Games are great for a large group; check out our article on some of our favorite camping games for ideas. Plastic shovels and buckets for the kids provide hours of entertainment. If you enjoy shelling and have the room, a shell scoop helps dig up hidden treasures; a large mesh colander can work in a pinch, however.
- Binoculars. A small pair of binoculars comes in handy to check out boats on the horizon, bird watch, people watch or just keep an eye on the kids!
- Wet wipes. Keep fingers clean and sanitized before and after you eat.
- Trash bag. Pick up after yourself and keep our beaches clean. A couple of kitchen trash bags make it easy to corral the mess and come in handy to take wet towels or shells back to the RV.
- Baby powder. A dusting of baby powder and the sand will brush right off! Keep some in the stairwell of your RV or your car door to stop tracking the beach with you.
Hope you enjoyed our list of beach day essentials. What are yours must-haves for a day in the Florida sun?