We’re not a big “kit” family. Or, rather, my husband isn’t a big “kit” person. Some dads love nothing more than pretty much colonising a corner of a beach with tents, gas cookers, collapsible kettles etc. Giles just wants to saunter about in his pants, carrying nothing, and leave the beach when he gets thirsty. I am somewhere between the two.
I don’t believe in umbrellas, windbreaks, coolboxes, UV pop-up tents, director’s chairs or welcome mats. The Greeks camped on the beach of Troy for ten years and hated every second for a reason! The beach is a hot, unforgiving place not fit for human habitation! Get in and get out, is my rule.
But I am, foremost, very into offbeat kit you don’t normally think of. Obviously you will need towels, wetsuits, boogie boards and so on. But have you thought of bringing any of the following?
1 Small pair of binoculars for scanning the waves for your thrashing child
2 Day-glo baseball caps, swim shorts or rash vests so that you can spot your child on a crowded beach from 1mile away.
3 Air-Tags fixed to a non-swimming child so that they can clamber rocks and inspect broken shells far down the beach without you having a heart attack that you don’t know where they are, naming no names, KITTY COREN.
4 Talcum powder. If the weather is fantastic, all sand will be dry and easily brushed off feet - if you get unlucky and hit a damp week, talcum powder is amazing for quickly getting rid of superglue sand.
5 flip flops and slides are all very well, but rock shoes are next level for rock pooling and pottering about in and out of the water, particularly any beach that has sharp rocks lurking about in the shallows. The Lakeland ones I have linked to above have plenty of sizes in stock and come in a range of mad colours, which as I’m sure you know by now is the only thing I really care about.
6 Hair detangling spray. Need I say more?
7 KY jelly or Lanacane Anti-Chafe gel to stop wetsuits rubbing.
How about you? Do you have any brilliant problem-solving piece of kit to share with the group?
Is there ANYTHING I can buy to get my children (3, 3, 5) to leave me the f alone on the beach for longer than 20 minutes?
I bought a couple of hammam towels in Morocco a few years ago and have only recently discovered how amazing they are for beach or pool days. They are really good as towels but also dry incredibly quickly, so can be used and used rather than ending up in a damp sandy heap like regular towels.
I’m often cheery at the prospect of a beach trip and near us they’re all shingle (so rock/beach shoes def required) then spend the time wondering how long it will be until we can leave!