Aug 16
Packing for the beach is usually easier when you stop asking what else you could bring and start asking what you can leave behind. A good beach setup should be comfortable, simple, and easy to carry. The more unnecessary things you bring, the more time you spend hauling bags, protecting valuables, chasing objects in the …
Aug 15
Your phone is one of the most useful things you can bring to the beach. It is your camera, weather forecast, tide chart, map, parking meter, restaurant guide, emergency contact, and entertainment all in one small device. Unfortunately, the beach is also an unusually hostile environment for electronics. Sand can work its way into ports …
Aug 14
Sand has an impressive ability to follow you home from the beach. It collects on feet, towels, swimsuits, toys, chairs, coolers, bags, and children. Then all of those things get loaded into the car at once. By the time you arrive home, there may be sand in the floor mats, seat seams, cup holders, trunk, …
Aug 13
A cooler can turn a beach day into an easy all-day outing. Instead of leaving the sand every time someone gets hungry, you can bring sandwiches, fruit, drinks, salads, cheese, and other foods with you. The challenge is keeping those foods safely cold while the cooler sits outside in summer heat. A cooler does not …
Aug 11
For most popular beaches, 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. is a very good arrival time. You are early enough to beat much of the crowd, find better parking, enjoy cooler temperatures, and choose a good place on the sand without necessarily waking up before sunrise. During peak summer weekends, holidays, or at beaches with limited parking, …
