We’re busy making our list of must-do things this summer and, of course, beach time is high up there! We are lucky enough to live a few minutes from the beach and try to go several times a week in the summer. Packing a great beach bag is essential to our enjoyment! Here’s what we always bring.

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Sand toys
We love these stackable buckets—you can bring the entire set along with you and it only takes up the space of one bucket. They’re perfect for building sand castles! I also love the shovels as they are efficient to dig with yet are easy for small hands to hold.

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Fluffy towels
After years of bringing Turkish towels to the beach, I finally caved and bought these super-fluffy ones from Amazon that I’d seen my friend Jen recommend. They are so good! Frankly, I want to buy a set just to use every day. They’re a great price and roll up quite small.

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Folding chairs
These chairs are a bit heavy, but I absolutely love them for the beach! (And our backyard!) The “sling” is actually a waterproof nylon, so they don’t get gross and soggy. They’re worth the extra effort to lug out to the sand! I also love to use these on our patio–you can see them in action here.

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A hat
Now that I’m in my mid-thirties, I’m committed to taking better care of my skin. I finally found a hat that 1) fits, 2) flatters me, and 3) shades my face! I’m looking forward to wearing daily this summer. You can find it here at Shopbop and here at Madewell (and a really similar one here at Tuckernuck)!

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Sunscreen

Hand-in-hand with the above point, sunscreen is an essential part of our skincare routine. My preschooler uses Blue Lizard and I use La Roche-Posay.

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Snacks
You all had great suggestions for snacks on this post and I can’t wait to incorporate some of them into our beach routine!

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A swimsuit and a beach coverup

These are the most obvious items on the list, other than towels! I have forever been a fan of J. Crew’s 1989 scoopback (pictured above). I love the block prints for this summer’s version! For a coverup, I generally love an oversized shirt and shorts or a shirtdress (a new wardrobe MVP), though I have my eye on this pareo from Janie Kruse Garnett.

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A good book

I recently shared my list of favorite summer re-reads here. This summer (aka since Memorial Day), I’ve read several new books: Pineapple Street (enjoyed but wasn’t obsessed with), Happy Place (did not like—overdone and too long), and I finished up a previous book club read, Lessons in Chemistry (so good)! What books are you reading this summer?

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What are your beach essentials?