10 Things You Need To Live A Beach Life

So you want to live the beach life? There are a few beach essentials you should think about picking up so you can live your beach life in the most comfortable beach fashion.

Multiple Bathing Suits - Beach life is all about going to the beach and when you go to the beach you wear a bathing suit. There is nothing worse than putting on a cold wet bathing suit because the one you rinsed out/washed after yesterday's beach trip is still wet. Buy at least two but three is better, you never know when you might want to beach it twice in the same day.

A Sturdy Beach Umbrella - Don't go to the local tourist junk shop and buy a $10 umbrella, one of two things is going to happen. Your $10 umbrella will become a deadly projectile at the first sign of a little wind or it will turn inside out not leaving you much shade to sit in. After MUCH beach umbrella observation and studying you should find one made of cloth with an SPF factor, the ribs on the underside should be at least as thick as your little finger, and it should be vented on the top so the wind can pass though not carry away. Don't leave the sand anchor behind, spend the extra $15 for easy hole digging.

A good chair - It never fails during tourist season I see at least one broken cheapo chair by the trash can every single beach trip. Who wants to be sitting in a chair when it breaks? Yeah me either. I recommend a beach chair made of canvas material that adjusts to at least 3 different positions. Also get backpack straps there is nothing more awkward than carrying a chair in your hands across the dunes to your chosen spot.

Sand Removal Tools - You will never catch me at the beach without a small bottle of baby powder in my bag. It's perfect for removing DRY sand from your body without having to hunt down a beach shower. My mother keeps a large wall paint brush for brushing off sand and any remaining baby power on her back porch to try to decrease the amount of sand that comes into the house.

A Beach Bag - Please don't let me see you carrying your stuff to the beach in a plastic Walmart bag, just don't. If you're going to live at the beach invest in a nice functional beach bag. My Hurley bag has several pockets mesh and nylon as well as a carabiner to hold my keys and two drink holder pockets on either side.

Sunscreen - Even if you don't live at the beach you should keep and wear sunscreen daily. If you live at the beach you may want to get a couple of different SPF ranges. We keep 15, 30, and 50 SPF in our house, I usually start the summer out with a higher SPF and work my way down to try to avoid that crab red color you see so many people turn. Hot days with high UV Indexes will happen and you'll want the higher SPF for those days too.

Bug spray - I'm not sure about everywhere on the east coast but on the Carolina coasts you don't want to go far from the ocean without bug spray. We have beautiful salt marshes teeming with glorious and not so glorious wildlife including mosquitoes. The prime time for mosquito bitage is dawn and dusk so be prepared.

White Vinegar - While I've always had white vinegar in my home I've just recently started carrying a bottle in my beach bag as well. White vinegar is the best remedy for jellyfish stings, even the life guards on my beach carry white vinegar in their first aid kits.

Tide Charts/Clock - I have tide charts in all my vehicles, my beach bag, my purse, stuck to my refrigerator, and a tide clock on my wall No exaggeration. One thing I've learned is during my beach life is that low tide is the best time for a beach trip. Lots of room to set up and plenty of wave free tide pools for splashing and sometimes even floating. I've also learned that high tide especially during a full moon can cause some of the lower streets in our area to flood. It's always good to know when you might have to "turn around don't drown".

Extra Towels - The same reasoning applies here as it did for the more than one bathing suit point above but also visitors will inevitably forget beach towels. You'll be the hero when you offer to loan them one from the stash in your linen closet.

What is one of your go to beach essentials?