Iwhat Would Your Packing List Look like for Beach Vacation?

Most important to add: sunscreen & aloe gel.

Bring extra beach towels (the big ones).

Beach toys (bucket, shovel, frisbee...all depending on age of kids)

Edit: sunglasses, thermos of water (that way you don't have to buy bottled water)

Have fun.

I personally would pack less - b/c it is the beach. I would do:

4 pjs
8 undies (I always double undergarments b/c you just never know)
4 tanks
4 shorts
1 short sleeve shirt
1 pants
1 sweater
1 tennis shoes
1 flip flops
Beach towels

I wouldn't do the dresses or shoes b/c when we go to the beach it is always simple/casual/laid back. I also wouldn't do umbrella - cause if it rains and your at the beach - I would dance around and jumo in puddles. :)

Have fun!

ETA - Unless you meant umbrella for shade at the beach - then if thats the case ignore my rain comment, lol!!!!

We drive to our beach destination on Lake Michigan every summer, so I may overpack clothes and other things, but typically we have used them all:

picnic basket for eating on the beach at sunset, with plates, cups, etc.
blanket to sit on and blanket to cover oneself after sunset
life jackets as needed
sunscreen
sun hat
snacks
new books, puzzles for travel and beach breaks
water sandals
extra beach towels some for drying, some to get sand off of yourself
camera
all prescriptions
bug spray
sunglasses
book on identifying birds, plants, rocks, shells or animals if new to the region; star book
binoculars
I'd pack more sundresses--they're so comfy
woolite to wash the suits
first aid kit
water bottle (instead of buying water in plastic from machines)
flashlights, for finding your way back to the car after the sun sets
neon glow-in-the -dark tubes for after sunset--easy to find your kid
a garbage bag to pack it out with you
Have fun!

sun screen, aloe Vera gel , Tylenol, meat tenderizer (or what ever they use these days for jelly fish stings) and a first aid kit. not sure how old your kids are but this sounds great. also there lovey or pillow with extra blanket. some laundry soap...or extra pods if you use those. some emergency cash ( ONLY FOR AN EMERGENCY) you want it back after there trip. perhaps a bit of cash if they stop at a gift shop.

I would likely pack a little less. For my son, I would pack 3 bathing suits and rash guards (putting on a damp on in the afternoon is awful), underwear, 2 prs of pajamas, sandals (can be worn casual or dressy), water shoes, no dress shoes, tees, one button up shirt (can be casual or dressy), one sweatshirt/hoodie/summer sweater (no coat), shorts (probably two pairs that could be dressy enough to go out at night), no socks, maybe one pair of pants but probably not unless it was somewhere that really gets cold at night.

I remember when my mom packed for the beach, she would pack for 3 days. We would go in August so the need for pants would be slim, so she only packed one pair of jeans and if we needed to we could wear them twice. Also, she would just pack a light weight jacket for us to wear for the week if we needed it. If this was my list I would remove the dress shoes, a pair of pants, a pair of pajamas, at least. My mom also did a lot of packing in brown paper bags from the grocery store. She would put all the toiletries in one bag, beach towels in a bag, shoes in a bag, and just clothes in a suitcase. She had to pack a car for 7 people, 2 adults, 2 teens and 3 kids in a buick, and managed to get everything in. The good thing about the brown bags is you can stuff them in the trunk and stack them as opposed to multiple suitcases that take up a lot of room.

One great tip my lifeguard sister-in-law taught me. Take baby powder - you can get it in a small trial size for your beach bag. When you're ready to leave the beach, after toweling off, you can use it to really get all of the sand off - the powder just soaks up the residual moisture, and lets' you just dust it off. lets you get sand out of nooks & crannies between toes, and worse places - especially for little kids. Also, gets them totally dry so they can slip on dry clothes easier.

We went to the beach least summer for a week, and brought less than that. All the kiddos wore was swimsuits and shorts and then jammies all week. I looked up our packing list, and this is what we had:

Swimsuits - 3 each
Jammies - 3 each
Shorts - 3 each
Hoodie - 1 each
Tank Tops - 2 for daughter
T shirts - 3 for our son, 1 for our daughter
Swim cover ups - 1 for daughter
Underwear - 3 for each
2 towels each
Sandals (no tennis shoes - were barefoot more often than not)

don't foget to bring along talcum powder, burn remedies, a battery powered radio, non perishable snack foods, wipes, a case of waters, a cooler, a good novel or two, decks of cards, magnetic scrabble. DVDs, popcorn

Might strike you as unnecessary, after all, they have water at the beach, but we try to save a few bucks by taking along certain predictable need items so as not to have to buy them in touristy areas.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

If space is not an issue I usually try to pack everything that we might need. Its my vacation too and I don't want to spend the time doing laundry or grocery shopping etc. Its bad enough that I have to still continue to cook :) You don't say where in OBX you are going but in some parts the grocery store can be 20 min or more away. You might want to think about bringing enough food to at least get you started.

I would actually add a few more pairs of undies.

- Robe?
- Regular bath towel?
- Special Pillow?

For the toiletries
- liquid hand soap for each bathroom.
- box of tissue
- bandaids/neosporin
- medical insurance cards