Beach Essentials for the Summer 2020/2021 [Bondi Beach, Sydney]

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Last weekend in Sydney has been an absolute scorcher reaching 40 degrees just in time for the Australian summer. When I left the house, I could feel my face melting and thought maybe heading out to Bondi Beach was a potentially bad idea.

I thought I would share some of my favourite summer beach essentials to bring to the beach to make your trip to the beach the most enjoyable.

Sunscreen

Slip slop slap. It is so important to wear sunscreen for sun protection even if it doesn’t look really hot – you’ll be surprised how strong UV rays can be. I also sunburn very easily so I always make sure to bring sunscreen.

I recommend the Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF50+ Superscreen. Face sunscreen are usually a different formulation to body sunscreen and tend to be less irritating and easily absorbing. Whilst a body sunscreen is generally ok to apply everywhere, it could be a bit irritating on the face especially if you have sensitive skin. Follow up with the Mecca Cosmetica To Save Body SPF50 Superscreen for the body.

Please stay away from the Neutrogena Sunscreen if you can – it honestly has the worst white cast I’ve ever seen and is so hard to absorb into the skin. Hate hate hate.

Book

I often wonder what people do on beaches. I generally just lie down on my stomach and sleep but when it’s really hot, it’s not the most relaxing and I’m not really the person to stay still. I find it really hard using my phone on beaches because it’s really hard to see and I’m not turning up the brightness that much because it would drain my battery like crazy. I’m also learning to detach from the online world and going to the beach is a great activity to do exactly that. My Instagram usage has decreased dramatically to the point I barely use it at all. Old me would definitely had posted a picture of the beach on my story but I honestly couldn’t care less now.

I would highly recommend reading a book whilst soaking those rays. The book I brought with me was The Space Between by Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald. If you’re Australian, you may recognise these authors from the Shameless podcast. It’s been a really enjoyable read so far all about navigating your life through your twenties. If you really enjoyed Everything I Know about Love by Dolly Alderton, I think it’s a really similar vibe touching on very similar subject matters.

Water Bottle

Stay hydrated folks! Be sure to drink heaps of water especially when it’s hot. There are obviously no water refilling on the beach so I would definitely bring a big water bottle with me.

Scrunchie/Hair Tie

Your hair will get in the way and will probably get really dry and crunchy due to the saltwater. I like wearing a hair tie to just get it out the way. Definitely a beach essential in my books.

I’ve made the mistake of having my hair tie on my wrist at the beach and I was left with the palest strip of white on my body. Biggest mistake.

Comfortable Sandals

Emphasis on the comfort. It is so much better and more practical to dress for comfort when going to the beach rather than dressing for style. I recently bought Birkenstocks and they are fantastic and really are the perfect (and stylish) shoe to go the beach. If you’re thinking of getting them, size down! I am usually a AU 7 / UK 5 / EU 38 and I ended up getting the EU36.

Beach Towel

Since the weekend was during Black Friday, I thought I would take advantage of the sales and I ended up going to Country Road and picked up the most beautiful towel. I bought the Country Road Logo Beach Towel in Charcoal. It ended up still costing about $50 but it was so worth it.

Sweat Towel [for my eczema friends]

This is something that I only have recently discovered but will continue to do so when I go to the beach. I went to the gym in the morning so I had a small towel with me but I easily sweat and my skin was super irritating so this towel saved me when I was at the beach.

Also you can put this towel over your face just like all those tennis players do when they sit down after a changeover and they’ve just been broken on serve. I love doing this – it provides coolness and if you’re lying on your back, the towel blocks you from the blinding sunlight. Face protection!! Or you know I suppose you can just wear a hat.

Music

The beach allows you to do some things that may be considered unacceptable otherwise. For example, at the beach you can be almost undressed and feel comfortable with your body doing so. You can also play music through speakers or aloud through your phone. If this happened on the train, I would give you a sharp glare.

I find it makes the atmosphere super chill and definitely helps when there is silence. I also connect with people through music so I’m all for it.

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That wraps it up for my beach essentials for summer. Of course, no summer beach day is complete without gelato.

I always go to Messina – I am in love with the mango & cream flavour. Mangoes are my favourite fruit ever. Messina is just a short walk up the road from the beach. Or you could go to McDonalds and get an oreo Mcflurry. Yummmm.

I’ll leave you all with this stunning picture of the Bondi Icebergs Pool at Bondi Beach. Definitely a sight to see if you’re at Bondi Beach and worth a swim. I hate swimming at beaches (I have that swimming pool mentality with needing my googles) so I really love that we have outdoor pools at some of our beaches.

What are some of your beach essentials?