12 beach essentials that actually earn a place in your bag this summer

Beach season has a way of exposing every gap in your kit at the worst possible moment: the cooler that goes lukewarm by lunch, the towel that’s still damp three hours later, the tent poles that turn a five-minute pitch into a fifteen-minute argument. So we spent the last few weeks actually testing our way through the stuff people swear by, from the cooler bag that survives a proper submersion to the sunscreen that doesn’t leave you looking like you’ve been dipped in flour. Some of it earned its spot through sheer stubborn usefulness, some through the kind of small detail you don’t notice until it’s missing. Here’s what’s worth packing, what’s worth splashing out on, and what’s worth leaving at home this year.

Red Equipment Waterproof Soft Cooler Bag 30L

Drinks going warm before lunch is a beach crime, and this cooler exists to stop it. Thirty litres, 64 cans, and closed cell foam insulation so serious it holds ice for up to 72 hours at the right ratio, meaning one ice run on Friday sorts your entire bank holiday. The zip is IPX7 rated, so it survives a full submersion if the tide gets ambitious, and the padded shoulder strap means you can actually carry the thing once it’s loaded rather than dragging it across the sand like a dead body.

Sea Clearly SPF 50 Clear Gel Sunscreen

The sunscreen that finally solves the “why do I look like I’ve been dipped in flour” problem. It’s a clear gel, so it vanishes into skin instead of sitting on top looking smug, and it’s tough enough to survive 80 minutes of actual swimming rather than just a light drizzle. Vitamin C, vitamin E and ferulic acid are thrown in too, so it’s quietly doing anti-ageing work while you’re busy not burning. Reef-safe, tattoo-safe, and small enough that it won’t eat your whole beach bag.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Diving Combo

This is the camera for people who want proof they actually did the backflip off the pontoon. The Diving Combo throws in a 60-metre waterproof case and a floating handle, so if you drop it, it bobs back up to you instead of becoming an offering to the sea. The camera alone is already waterproof to 20 metres, and it’s clever enough to start recording the second it hits water and stop the second it doesn’t, so you never have to remember to press anything mid-jump.

Coleman Ultimate Terrain Wagon 132L

The unsung hero of any beach day that involves more than one human. This thing hauls up to 180kg over sand without sulking, swallows 132 litres of coolers, shelters and inflatable flamingos, and folds down small enough to not become a permanent boot resident. The handle steers properly too, which sounds minor until you’ve fought a cheaper wagon that just drags sideways the second the ground gets soft.

Bose SoundLink Max Portable Speaker

Loud enough to be the unofficial DJ of the beach, tough enough not to care when a wave gets ambitious. It’s IP67 rated and built to float grille-down if it takes an accidental dunking, with genuinely deep bass rather than the tinny fizz most “portable” speakers pretend is bass. Twenty hours of battery means it outlasts everyone’s attention span, and it’ll even charge your phone back if someone’s about to go dark at the worst possible moment.

BUNKER Cool Box 42L

For people who take their ice retention seriously. This rotomolded cooler shrugs off being dropped, sat on, or used as a makeshift table, and holds ice for up to five days, which is frankly overkill for a beach trip but very handy if it turns into a camping weekend by accident. The built-in bottle openers on the latches are the kind of small detail you’ll use constantly and brag about to nobody in particular.

Compact Quick Dry Microfibre Adventure Towel

The towel that quietly replaces your giant beach towel for good. It packs down to nothing, soaks up four times its own weight in water, and dries itself out faster than you can finish your ice cream. Soft rather than the sandpapery feel some microfibre towels have, and it doesn’t start smelling like a wet dog after two uses.

2-Person Pop-Up Camping and Beach Shelter, 2 Seconds Fresh

For anyone who has ever sworn at tent poles in a car park, this is your redemption arc. It genuinely pops itself open in seconds, no wrestling required, and the Fresh fabric reflects heat instead of turning the inside into a sauna the way cheaper shelters do. UPF 50+ protection is baked in, it copes with winds up to 30km/h, and the zip door closes fully for an emergency changing room or half-closes to block sand without cutting off all airflow.

Musto Flexlite Cool Long-Sleeve Top

The layer for people who’ve learned the hard way that sunscreen alone doesn’t cover the bits you forget. UPF 50 certified, stretches four ways so it moves with you rather than against you, and actively cools as you sweat instead of turning into a clingy, soggy mess. The high collar covers the back of the neck, which is the single most commonly forgotten sunburn spot on the entire human body.

Shokz OpenSwim Pro

Headphones for people who refuse to swim in silence. Bluetooth doesn’t work underwater (physics, not Shokz’s fault), so these cleverly switch to a built-in MP3 player the moment you dive in, then flip back to Bluetooth the second you’re dry. Rated for 2 metres of submersion for up to 2 hours, and the bone conduction design means you can still hear a lifeguard’s whistle over your own playlist, which is more than can be said for regular earbuds.

Vivobarefoot Ultra II Preschool

The end of the eternal lost-flip-flop saga. These barefoot sandals strap on securely, dry out almost instantly, and have just enough sole to protect tiny feet from hot sand and sharp shells without losing the barefoot feel little kids actually like. Built from over half bio-based materials too, so you can feel smug about that as well as the fact they’ll still be on their feet at the end of the day.

Burns 2 Folding Clip-On Sunglasses

One frame, two jobs. The Burns is a solid everyday square shape on its own, but the folding clip-on turns it into proper polarised sunglasses in seconds, so you’re not juggling two pairs of glasses between reading on your towel and squinting at the horizon. The polarisation actually cuts glare off the water rather than just dimming everything down, and anti-scratch, anti-glare coatings and lens thinning all come included, no upsell required.

Quick beach bag hacks worth stealing

Freeze your water bottles, not just a bag of ice. Fill a couple two-thirds full and freeze flat overnight. They double as ice packs and melt into cold drinking water by mid-afternoon, so nothing goes to waste.

Set a reapplication alarm. Water and sand both wreck sunscreen faster than you’d think, even the water-resistant stuff. Reapply every 80 minutes rather than waiting until your skin tells you it’s too late.

Weigh down the windward side of a pop-up shelter. A loaded bag does more for stability than an extra peg ever will. These things are light by design, which is great for carrying and slightly less great in a gust.