12 Unique Gift Ideas For The Beach Lover In Your Life
By Melissa Mahoney|Published October 16, 2023
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Melissa Mahoney
Author
I'm an east coast girl living in a west coast world. I grew up in New England before moving to SoCal for several years. I then lived in NYC or a year before moving to AZ in 2009. I worked in the entertainment industry for many years of my adult life and have a deep love for photography, writing, and traveling around the U.S. as well as to far-flung locations around the world. Travel is my life and writing about it is a dream!
There’s no vacation quite like a beach vacation! From the beaches of Cape Cod to the shores of sunny Florida to the Pacific surf in SoCal or the Hawaiian islands, many of us dream of those days when we can take a seat on the sand and breathe in that lovely salt air. Of course, there are inland beaches, too, at the thousands of lakes around this great country of ours. If you’re looking for gifts for travelers who love the beach, we’re here to help! Here are more than a dozen gifts for beach vacations that those who frequent the beach are sure to love:
This article is part our Best Travel Gifts series. If you are looking for even more awesome gift ideas for every type of traveler in your life, be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide to the Best Gifts for Travelers and the other gift guides in this series:
Beach vacations can be quite memorable and relaxing. And, yet, they can be a little overwhelming as we try to figure out what to take to the beach. In order to make a beach vacation less stressful, there are numerous gifts to consider for the beach lovers in your life. So, put a smile on someone’s face with one of these fun and helpful gifts for beach vacations. From beach towels to beach blankets, from sunshades to coolers, here are some of the best gifts for beach lovers:
If you're headed to the beach, both a good beach towel and a beach blanket are necessities. Our Staff Pick for a beach blanket is the Packable Microfiber Towels from Sand Cloud. “I LOVE these beach towels. They pack well, are a breeze to wash, and perform as advertised – they repel sand while also being incredibly soft! They also work well as car blankets or makeshift sarongs! 10/10.” – Sarah McCosham. Not only are they functional and soft, but they come in a variety of colors and patterns – making them fun beach gifts for her or him.
When heading to the beach, we need a way to keep our drinks and food cool, right? A good cooler is an absolute must. As far as hand-held coolers go, you can't go wrong with the YETI Hopper Flip 12 Soft Cooler. With its sleek design and handle to make carrying a breeze, this cooler is one of the best gifts for the beach lover in your life.
For something a bit more portable, the REI Co-op Cool Trail Pack Cooler is an awesome backpack cooler that will leave a beach lover hands-free to carry either other gear or nothing at all!
For those who don't like to sit on a blanket or towel on the sand, a beach chair is ideal. Whether it's a standard beach chair like the Neso Beach Chair or one you can lounge on like the Neso Beach Lounger, a beach chair can be one of the best gifts to get for those who hit the beach frequently. Each one folds for easy carrying to and from the beach.
Give your favorite beach lover the gift of sun protection with a Shibumi Shade®. A Staff Pick of our Sr. Manager of Content, it's what she brings to the beach for her family of four. This canopy provides 150 square feet of sun protection and can be set up within just a few minutes. It's also lightweight and easy to carry!
For those who have children and/or lots of stuff to bring to the beach, a wagon is an absolute necessity. The Ozark Trail All-Terrain Big Bucket Cart Wagon is a Staff Pick and, with its big wheels, it makes trudging through the sand a piece of cake. It also folds up nicely to be stowed away in the car.
Spending hours upon hours at the beach requires quite a bit of stuff. A good beach bag or beach tote is needed in order to carry everything from one's keys and wallet to sunscreen, beach toys, towels, sun hat, and more. The KAVU Cocoa Beach Tote Bag is a good option and can convert from a large tote into a sling bag. Another excellent option is the 25-liter Patagonia Black Hole Tote with its durable water-repellent finish.
How about a little fun at the beach? There are so many incredible beach games that families and friends alike love playing when out on the sand. A frisbee is an obvious classic but then there are games like corn hole and Ladder Ball that are popular at the beach as well. Check out the game selections on both REI and Walmart.
We all need to have some sort of footwear on as we trudge through the hot sand to find the perfect spot to put down our stuff. Whether you like to wear flip flops or a pair of water shoes, there are so many choices out there. Consider finding a pair of flip-flops for the beach lover in your life from REI which offers a variety of durable brands like Sanuk, OluKai, and Freewaters. For waterproof sandals, you can't go wrong with Teva. Can't find the perfect pair or don't know what to get as a gift? Get a gift card instead!
There are plenty of stocking stuffers you can get the beach lovers in your life. From sunscreens to sunglasses, from hats to lip balm, here are the best stocking stuffer gifts for beach lovers:
We all know how incredibly important sun protection is. And sunscreen is always top of mind whenever I hit the beach. While not the most fun as far as a stocking stuffer goes, sunscreen can still be a great gift. REI offers a wide selection of sunscreens that will protect the skin no matter what age. A good lip balm with SPF is also a necessity when spending hours at the beach. The Sun Bum Mineral SPF 30 Sunscreen Lip Balm will make an excellent stocking stuffer for someone who frequents the beach.
A nice foldable sun hat is one of the best beach gifts for her. They keep the sun out of the face and the eyes. You can find many stylish sun hats at a wide range of prices on the Nordstrom website.
Not only do you have to protect your skin and your head, but your eyes as well. Sunglasses are an awesome gift and are small enough to stick in a stocking. A pair of polarized sunglasses not only protects the eyes, but they look pretty darn cool at the beach, too!
Life at the beach can be so fun and relaxing, but a lot of gear is required to make time by the sea comfortable. What other gifts for beach lovers would you add to this list? Looking for ideas for other types of travelers in your life? Check out these 75 gifts for travelers.
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