Best Beach Essentials 2023 for an Ultimate Beach Day

We’ve lived on or near the beach for over 15 years. I’d like to think we’re a bit of beach day experts. If you want to know what to pack for your baby at the beach, check out our baby & toddler beach guide. Here’s our favorite beach day essentials 2023 for heading to the beach, especially with kids.

This list of the best beach essentials 2023 contains affiliate links, where I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!

Best Beach Gear for Families

1. Beach Wagon

This wagon holds a lot. We fit a cooler, beach bag, 4 towels, 2 boogie boards, beach tent, and a bag of beach toys! It can also easily pull 2 kids.

2. Neso Beach Tent

We love this tent because it’s extremely easy to set up and it’s compact. It fits in a bag no bigger than a shoe box.

3. Full Face Snorkel Masks

Full face snorkel masks allows you to stay underwater for as long as you’d like. This is the adult version, but here’s the kids version our kids love: kids full face snorkel masks.

4. Collapsible Beach Table

This small but mighty table has 4 cup holders, a phone pocket, and folds up for easy transport.

5. Backpack Beach Chairs

We love these chairs as you can carry them hands free. The Tommy Bahamas chairs are made to last, have a cooler pouch and cell phone holder. You can adjust them to recline even lay flat.

6. Sunscreen Face Stick

Face sticks are convenient and so easy to get sunscreen on your kids face. Our kids each carry one in their bags for summer camp. We love Baby Bum as it’s easy to apply, plant based, and reef-safe.

7. Beach Cooler

We’ve tried a lot of beach coolers over the years. We like the Rtic beach cooler because it’s leak free and holds up to 30 cans. It’s also much cheaper in price compared to the Yeti beach cooler.

8. Beach Toys

The newest beach toy in our collection is the clear sea aquarium. If your kids like to find sea creatures at the beach like mine, this is wonderful as you can see the crabs, shrimp and fish move around.

Our kid’s favorite beach toy has always been these nets. I can’t count how many crabs and creatures they’ve caught. They’re also great for shelling.

Having a standard beach toy and sand castle making kit is also a beach essential to keep them entertained.

9. Beach Bag for Toys

We love this bag because it can hold a lot of toys and lets the loose sand fallthrough. Plus it’s only around $10!

10. Quick Dry Towels

These extra large beach towels are are quick dry and sand free. Made from 100% turkish cotton.

11. Waterproof Speaker

This is a great speaker to bring to the beach as it’s bluetooth enabled and you don’t have to worry about spills.

12. Stand Up Paddle Board

Not really an essential but we love our stand up paddle board. It’s inflatable and so easy to carry to the beach as it’s a backpack.

13. Body Board

Body boards are great for learning to catch waves, but they’re also great for snorkeling. They keep you and your little ones afloat. Comes in multiple colors.