Use your beach bag as luggage. Having your beach bag do double duty is a smart idea for efficiency and space. By loading a roomy beach bag with your beach towels, sunscreen and sunglasses, you ensure that you know exactly where these items are when you arrive and you don't take up valuable luggage space in the process.
Plan ahead for your arrival. Often, you just can't wait to hit the sand when you get there. Use a small duffel bag or backpack for each person and pack it with his bathing suit, a favorite beach towel, sandals and whatever items he uses at the beach such as a book, magazine or pail and shovel. The unpacking can wait until you get back.
Prepare for rainy days. That's right, whether or not you want to admit it, it does rain at the beach. Fill a bad-weather emergency bag with playing cards, paperback books, new magazines, new coloring books and crayons and small crafts, and you'll be ready for those disappointing wet days.
Stock up on snacks. It doesn't matter if you're staying in a hotel or a rented house when you're planning a dry foods menu. Take along a large plastic container with a lid and fill it up with your paper goods, chips, snack bars, cereals and plastic bags. You can make up individual snack bags to take to the beach.
Write it all down. Before you put anything in a duffel bag or suitcase, make a list for each person going on your vacation. Start making your lists a couple of weeks before you leave so that you can add any items that come to mind at the last minute.
Travel as lightly as you can. As with any vacation, you don't have to bring everything to the beach. Either buy travel-size toiletries or fill small containers with your favorite products to save a lot of space for other things.
Make good use of the Internet. You can log onto a variety of sites to find out what the weather is supposed to be like at your destination for the period you're there. That way, you can be sure to pack up the right clothes for the length of your vacation.
