36 Beach Gear Essentials You'll Need This Summer

Avoid the hassle of setting up an umbrella with the easy Shibumi Shade. Here at GH, we love this wind-powered canopy because the setup process is quick, the entire tent fits into a small bag and it weighs less than four pounds. After setting up, the ocean breeze will make the canopy fabric float horizontally to create shade without the heaviness and hassle of an umbrella.

The UPF 50+ tent provides 150 square feet of shade, which can fit up to six people underneath. If you're heading to the beach alone or with one other person, the Shibumi Shade Mini weighs less than two pounds and fits two people.

READ OUR FULL REVIEW: Is the Wind-Powered Shibumi Shade Beach Canopy Worth It?

The beach is meant to be relaxing but there's nothing relaxing about lugging towels, boogie boards, sand toys and snacks from the car to the sand. This all-terrain wagon can hold up to 150 pounds and features large, treaded wheels designed to roll easily in the sand. Plus, it collapses down to about 10 inches thick so that it will fit in the trunk.

RELATED: The Best Beach Wagons, According to Testing

Carrying a cooler just got a whole lot easier with this neat backpack. I love that I can fit ice packs, drinks (up to 20 cans!), snacks, lunch and sunscreen in the bag and carry this cooler backpack from the car to the shore hands-free. When I bring this bag to the beach, my fruit and canned cocktails stay ice cold for hours. My insulated 32-ounce water bottle even fits in the side mesh pocket.

RELATED: The Best Soft-Sided Coolers, According to Testing

You'll need a large bag to hold all your beach essentials. This tote has multiple pockets along the side for smaller items and a large zippered compartment to hold towels, toys and swimsuits. Not only is the mesh fabric more suitable for wet towels, it also makes the bag lightweight and easy to fold the flat to fit inside a suitcase.

RELATED: The Best Tote Bags to Carry Everything You Need

Powder sunscreens are ideal for protecting your hairline, scalp and face from sunburns. This SPF 30 sunscreen powder is sweat- and water-resistant for up to 80 minutes. You can even dust this over makeup when it's time to reapply for some shine control and extra protection.

You've likely seen the Bogg Bag everywhere on TikTok. It's truly become the tote of summer, and now you can get it on Amazon. There are so many different colors, and some of them, like this Latte You Lots version, are on sale. It's perfect for the beach because Amazon reviewers say it can hold all your essentials, and the holes help remove sand!

Particularly if you have a baby or a toddler, a beach tent or canopy provides the perfect escape from the sun for a nap during a long day at the beach. This canopy tent offers tons of shade, has windows for more air flow and is more stable than an umbrella if you're facing gusts of wind. We also love that this lightweight tent has a UPF 50+ rating to further protect you and your little ones from a sunburn.

Swimming in the ocean and strong ocean breezes can easily mess up your hair, which will get knotty if you don't brush it out ASAP (I speak from experience). Our Beauty Lab experts named the Wet Brush as the overall best hair brush for it's flexible, soft bristles that gently detangle wet or dry hair. I love using this brush at the beach after swimming because it unknots my hair with ease without ripping out tons of strands.

There's always the conundrum of having to leave your valuables on the beach blanket if you want to take a dip in the ocean. You can feel more secure going if you have this portable lock box that requires a three-digit custom combination code or a key to open it. It can fit a phone, keys, wallet and any other small items. That way, you can surf the waves without worrying about your phone being stolen from your bag.

All that swimming in the surf, walking in the sand and sweating from the heat calls for extra hydration. I love these GU Energy tablets that are essentially 12 electrolyte drinks in one compact tube. Drop one tablet in a reusable water bottle and you've got yourself an extra-hydrating, delicious drink for the beach.

The tablets contain 320 milligrams of sodium and 55 milligrams of potassium and comes in delicious flavors like lemon lime, orange, strawberry hibiscus, strawberry lemonade and tri-berry. Each pack comes with four tubes, giving you 48 servings in total.

If you're not a fan of how saltwater burns your eyes, consider wearing goggles when you swim. TYR was always my go-to brand for goggles as a competitive swimmer. While I prefer goggles with mirrored lenses for a pool, this pair with translucent lens is preferable for the beach. These goggles with UVA/UVB protection for your eyes allow you to see aquatic life underwater and swim without removing your contacts.

Prevent your music from cutting off mid-beat and keep your phone fully charged with a portable charger. Our Media and Tech Lab experts ranked this as the best portable charger for its features, efficiency and price point. It's truly an all-in-one power bank, with the option of magnetic charging or using the built-in USB-C cable, so that you can keep the tunes flowing all day long.

Diamond-shaped kites are fun and all, but have you seen these octopus kites? Kids (and adults!) will marvel at the colorful tentacles soaring high in the sky as they run along the shore or let the wind do all the work. They're 13 feet long in the sky but can be folded down into a much flatter, smaller size for easy packing. Plus, each order comes with three kites, so multiple kids can fly the kites together without taking turns.

This great travel dress can serve as a beach cover-up as well as a nice outfit for dinner. Available in 33 colors and patterns, including florals and stripes, this style even comes with pockets. I love loose, flowy, casual cover-ups like this one because it won't stick to my wet swimsuit as I drive home and keeps me well covered.

Leave the sand at the beach with this microfiber towel that easily releases sand, rather than collecting granules in your beach bag. While it's a little less absorbent than a soft, fluffy towel, it dries faster, folds flat in a suitcase and it comes with a mesh carrying case. It's also available in 25 reversible patterns.

You cannot head to the beach without a towel to lay on and dry off with. Our experts ranked this Lands' End towel as one of the best beach towels for its extra-long size and plush cotton terrycloth fabric. The towel is absorbent, thick and fluffy.

"It's a towel I would want to wrap up in after a cold swim," said one GH analyst. Choose from four striped options and you can even personalize it for an extra fee.

A baseball cap is your chiller version of a sun hat — it's casual, keeps your hair tame from the wind, shields your face and looks great on just about everyone. This navy blue hat from The Landmark Project has an adjustable band in the back and it withstands sweat well. I love that a portion of the proceeds goes to the National Wildlife Federation to support their environmental and conservation efforts.

The warmth of the sun may feel nice, but the potential damage UV rays can cause are not nice. Protect your skin with this "beachy" scented sunscreen.

Our experts in the GH Beauty Lab gave this chemical sunscreen perfect scores for not drying or irritating skin. It also received high scores for absorption, not feeling oily on skin, effective sun protection and more. Throw this in your beach bag and remember to reapply!

RELATED: The Best Sunscreens, According to Scientists

Laying on a towel all day is not as comfortable as sitting in a chair, but lugging a beach chair is my worst nightmare. The lightweight Tommy Bahama's backpack chairs are much easier to carry, thanks to comfortable shoulder straps that do not dig into your skin. One of our GH testers appreciated how easy it was to recline back and called this a "top-notch" beach chair.

RELATED: The Best Beach Chairs You Can Buy

It's not a beach day without playing some catchy tunes. This waterproof outdoor speaker is IP67 waterproof and dustproof to withstand the elements and has 20 hours of claimed battery life, so you won't have to worry about it getting splashed or it dying midday. "It's super rugged, durable and perfect for listening to music on the beach," said GH Media & Tech Reviews Analyst Olivia Lipski.