USVI-On-Line

As many of you know last year, we traveled with folks that brought everything to the beach.
So, say you have had your coffee and breakfast at he villa and are planning for a beach day.
What do you pack for the day?

Tom (aka Cabana Boy) packs the cooler with beer, water and soda. He is also in charge of coozies and garbage bag for refuse. One of us counts out the appropriate number of beach towels from the laundry room. We keep the beach chairs in the back of the jeep all week, so they are always there. I have all the sunblock in a large zip lock bag in my beach bag. Someone usually grabs some snacks and throws them in a plastic bag.

I use one of those extra-large Lands End totes that is filled with:

towels (two for me, one for each of my males)
neat sheet
comb
sunscreen/lotion
book
camera
a few little water toys for our son

Snorkel bag -just the geear for the two adults

Cooler - booze and snacks

So that ends up being three bags for two adults and a toddler. Even pre-kid, we still always had three bags.

In the rental car I have a change of clothes and rinse water. I HATE being in a wet suit and must change as soon as we are done with the beach.

four towels (since we usually go to two beaches)
cameras and their underwater housings, extra batteries and memory cards
snorkel gear, and backpacks to carry it in
one book each to read
our journal, and two pens
portable waterproof fish guidebooks; fish flips
lots of drinking water always
rarely, a cooler with a couple of beers
a gallon or two of tap water to rinse the sand off our feet back at the car
sunblock
hair detangler
a comb
swim-ear
sunglasses
hats
otter box with id, one credit card and some $$
sometimes beach chairs (depends where we are going)
waterproof blanket/neat sheet


I guess it is a good thing that we have the jeep to store all this stuff in!

One thing is a must: BUG SPRAY!!

Igloo 2 gallon drink cooler with rum punch (found this is lighter to carry than beer!)
sunblock, sunblock, sunblock....
bugspray
packed lunch & snacks
camera
journal
Ipod
towel
conditioner for hair
drinking water
first aid kit
chairs, extra flip-flops, umbrella, map, etc. already in vehicle.

We usually stay at the beach for the majority of the day.

beach chairs and floats stay in the jeep with neat sheet.

packing list

sunscreen
book for me
two towels
cooler with drinks and sandwiches
snorkel gear
camera
rinse water jug

It usually amounts to one beach bag, one snorkel bag and the cooler!

This is going to come in handy in a few days. Got to get busy copying/pasting to my "STJ 08 Trip" list. Thanks!

Don't forget the little plastic bottle of vinegar and a tube of spf lip balm.

We have the same usuals as everyone above but we skip the rinse water. Living in a coastal area,we have learned to skip the rinse water. You just end up rinsing and getting more salt and sand after the rinse. We take a travel size of baby powder. It seems to soak up the water in the salt and sand. Put the baby powder on you feet and legs where the sand is and the sand and salt start to just drop off.

melwill530,

I am a bit confused, how do you get more salt and sand using the rinse water? Are you talking about while you are still on the beach? We usually use the rinse water right before we get in the car.

I do like the baby powder idea though! Thanks for the tip!

nothintolose

nothintolose Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:00 pm Post subject:

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melwill530,

I am a bit confused, how do you get more salt and sand using the rinse water? Are you talking about while you are still on the beach? We usually use the rinse water right before we get in the car.

I do like the baby powder idea though! Thanks for the tip!

nothintolose


Sorry, I wasn't that clear. Here when you access the beach you park in a relatively sandy area to access- No matter how much water you use there is still a certain amount of sand and salt that sticks to your legs. Baby powder just "sops" (southern word) up the excess water in the salt and sand and it falls off your body and you don't have that gritty feeling the rest of the afternoon. But!!!! --You will have a little white baby powder look to your feet and legs for a while. But you will smell fresh.

You forgot to pack me

Tom- you have friends with a house and you are a great cook. I am thinking you are at the top of my list!

-Towels (1 each)
-Sunscreen
-Bugspray
-Small cooler with a drink or two for each person & some fruit
-snacks (pringles are particularly easy to throw in a beach bag)
-Iphone & headphones
-Book for me
-fins and masks for snorkeling
-Sometimes a PB&J for all (if we aren't planning on pulling up roots and going to Skinnys or Island Blues)
-dry undies so I can dump the suit if we are going to lunch out after ... I hate the wet butt feeling

If kids are with us:
-toys & floats for the kids
-swim diapers
-dry diapers
-change of clothes for each