What's In My Beach Bag

I remember the days when I could spontaneously decide to pop down to the beach, grab a little beach tote, throw in a towel, sunscreen, a water bottle and a good book...for a relaxing few hours of sunshine, ocean dips and reading. Well, since having kids...it’s a little more complicated and takes a lot more organisation (and a hell of a lot more things!) With kids in tow, here’s what is in my beach bag for a morning of summer sunshine with my tribe.  

The Sienna Beach Tote is my saviour, super roomy to fit ALL my mini’s things and Mumma’s stuff too! Bonus points for the waterproof lining and extra long shoulder strap (especially for the end of the day when I end up having to carry children and a loaded bag up off the beach). 

I always apply sunscreen to myself and the kids BEFORE leaving home, it saves the battle when we arrive at the beach, and means that at least the first sunblock application is sand free! We Are Feel Good Inc. has a fabulous sensitive sunscreen that is perfect for the kids (SPF50+. 4 hours water resistant and non greasy), it’s fragrance free and no nasties. They also do a delicious Coconut sunscreen (also SPF50+, 4 hours water resistant and non greasy, as well as free from nasties) which I love to use on myself (so if I close my eyes I can pretend I’m on a tropical holiday somewhere child-free). 

For the toilet trained members of my tribe, I deck them out in their Infamous Swim swimwear, boardshorts and rashies before we leave home and pop a change of clothes in my beach bag. And I’ll always have my swimmers on underneath for myself, with something easy like my Sara sarong. For the nappy wearing kiddies, I’ll pack their swim nappy and bathers in my beach bag for a quick change at the beach. Another trick is putting their Infamous Swim Daisy hats on before we leave the house, so there’s less beach battles when we arrive and they tend to then leave them on all day as if they forget they’re even wearing them.

The new Infamous Swim beach towel is the perfect size for me (and all my beach babes jump on too), so that’s an essential in my beach tote. As well as these fab beach robes from Aussie brand Beach Robes Australia, they’re available in sizes to suit all the kiddies, soft, cosy, easy zip up front and hood, perfect for popping on when the kids come out of the water. 

Snacks and drinks are a must, I throw in each of the kid’s B.Box drink bottles or sippy cups, and they each have a B.Box lunch box filled with snacks like watermelon, cucumber, sandwiches (which tend to literally end up sandy but it doesn’t seem to bother them!) There’s always an expectation for ice cream, so I pop in my purse for the essential ice cream stop.

Beach toys, I’ve said goodbye to ugly, plastic, cracked, unsustainable buckets & spades. Scrunch Kids have created these award-winning buckets, designed to be taken anywhere and they feel as good as they look! Made from soft recyclable silicone in beautiful colours with a matching rope and solid silicone handles. They roll up for easy storage in your beach tote. They even do scrunch watering cans, beach moulds and beach balls. 

For shade, I can’t go past Lunar Premium Recycled Beach Umbrella from Land and Sea Essentials! It has a Large 1.8M Shade Canopy ease of set-up with its click in pole and a screw-in handle to screw the pole deeper into the sand, plus the added feature of hidden pockets inside the Beach Umbrella canopy. It has a lightweight frame and the convenience of a matching carry bag, easy to throw over my shoulder and know I’ve got us covered when it comes to important breaks from the sun. 

Enjoy your summer beach days lovelies, whether it’s with your little beach babes or some (heavenly) solo R&R time.