How to Keep Your Stuff Safe at the Beach? Try This!

Heading to the beach?

Oh, you lucky thing!

Beach is THE BEST!

But also weirdly problematic, right?

The sand gets EVERYWHERE, no matter what you do.

You often have to share the space with other people. Ugh!

And the worst of all?

You can’t even cool down in the sea because you don’t know how to keep your stuff safe at the beach other than never leaving your towel!

Don’t worry.

We’ve got a great solution for you. 

One that we’ve been using for years.

So grab some drinks, a beach towel, a good book and let’s go to the beach! 🏖️

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please read our Disclaimer.

Here’s a little bit about our journey, if you are new here! If you know us, feel free to skip this part.

After leaving our old life in Scotland in March 2022 (it rains too much there), we travelled full-time for almost 2 years. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it was. If you think that carrying overpacked backpacks in 45°C heat around streets that aren’t even on Google Maps is fancy. And that’s just 1% of all the fun we had! 😆

During the 2 years we volunteered in Italy and Bulgaria (free travel while learning new skills, anyone?), explored other amazing European countries and backpacked Southeast Asia. Even our secret wedding was more of an expedition than a wedding. 😅

And, of course, we researched and planned everything ourselves, because you gotta keep the budget low, right? If you are like us, you’ve come to the right place, because we want to share all the useful tips and info with you!

Excited? Good. Let’s get into it so you can go on your own adventures too!

How to keep your stuff safe at the beach

If you google “how to keep your stuff safe at the beach”, you’ll be hit with lots of different tips.

What we want to share is a trick we use ourselves, because despite travelling A LOT, we’ve only ever seen one other person use it.

Which is wild to us – how do other people keep their belongings safe at the beach???

We always wonder that.

Let’s start with what we think these people do (and why we don’t think it’s the best solution).

Solution no. 1: Hide your stuff

There are million and 5 articles out there about how to hide your money (and other valuables) in a:

• Fake sunscreen bottle
• Packet of tissues
• Buried under your beach towel
• In a fake dirty nappy (this one, we have to admit, is at least creative!)

The problem

We’ve got 2 issues with these suggestions.

Problem no. 1: If you can read these tips, do you not think others, including the people who would steal from others as they relax at the beach, can read them too?

Thieves are not always just random opportunistic kleptomaniacs. Often they are smart, skilled people with a strategy, a plan and mainly, lots of info and experience.

Problem no. 2: Unless you are moonlighting as a magician, chances are you are not very stealthy. Especially at a crowded beach – do you think no one will notice you shoving your phone, wallet, keys, jewellery and more into a nappy? Or burying it under a beach towel?

And even if you do manage to hide your stuff in a place that people are not aware of, it’s still not 100% safe, because it isn’t on you. Next!

Solution no. 2: Make friends

This is a popular solution for how to keep your stuff safe at the beach.

People often just ask someone on the neighbouring beach towel to watch their stuff, right?

Of course, we have issues with this solution! Quite a few! 😄

The problem

1. You have to actually have neighbours you can ask. We often end up being in places with no one around. But not completely remote places where you wouldn’t worry about your stuff getting stolen, if that’s what you were going to say! Just places where a few people maybe walk along the beach, but no one would watch your stuff. 
2. You have to trust strangers. Do we need to elaborate on this? Let’s say we are often not the biggest fans of the people we come across on our travels. 😅 (Though we are always hoping to meet our kind of people – we know you are out there and when we do find you, we’ll trust you to watch our stuff at the beach, promise! 😄).
3. We can never relax when we know someone is waiting for us. And you might think: “Get over yourself, no one is waiting for you, they are just chilling at the beach. 🙄” But we’ve been on the other side of the situation – where someone asks us to watch their stuff and then they are gone for HOURS and we can’t go swimming ourselves or leave because we don’t want to be the a-holes. And we do like to spend hours in the sea, so wouldn’t expect someone to wait on us.
4. Sometimes you get more than a solution to how to keep your stuff safe at the beach. What we mean is a weirdo you can’t get rid of, because they think you asking them to watch your stuff is their in to become your forever friend. We like to relax at the beach. Swim. Talk. Sunbathe. Read. Let our brains melt. We don’t want to have to chat to people we have nothing in common with.
   
   (Disclaimer here: we are super friendly and nice people, despite the fact that this section makes us sound like the biggest antisocial weirdos. 😂 But admit it, everyone thinks this way, most people are just too polite [us including], so end up silently suffering through these social interactions.)
5. One more point which will definitely make you think we are as unlikeable as a mosquito in your tent at 3 am – you have to actually interact with people for this solution to work. Yikes.

Solution no. 3: Don’t bring stuff to the beach

Now we are getting somewhere! Just don’t bring bs to the beach!

Well, easier said than done, right?

How to make it work

We have done it before ourselves. Basically, if you:

• Bring your own food and snacks, you don’t need money
• Bring a beach towel, so again, no money needed to pay for a sun lounger
• Have a metal hotel key that you can safely tie to your swimwear (keywords: metal key and safely)
• Leave your phones in your hotel and use a waterproof watch to tell the time (or movement of the sun, whatever you are comfortable with!)

It’s doable and we know a lot of travellers use this solution, especially the ones who travel solo and go to the beach to just chill, sunbathe and swim.

You know the ones (usually guys, let’s face it) that come with nothing but a thin towel, take off their t-shirt, whip out a book from their back pocket (??), lie on the towel to read a bit, then they swim, use the towel to dry off, pop the t-shirt back on and off they go, onto the next adventure.

We are not judging; if anything, we are slightly envious that they can live a happy life so simply. We have improved a lot over the years (no more packing regrets for us, hopefully), but we still need more than that to survive at the beach. At least a good sunscreen! 😅

Consider doing this

If you are concerned about how to keep your stuff safe at the beach (which, we are assuming you are, since you are reading this), do try to bring as little of valuables as possible.

This could mean, for example:

• Leaving your jewellery in the hotel safe (you shouldn’t be swimming in the sea with sparkly things anyway)
• Taking just a bit of cash with you but leaving the cards and bulk of your money in the room
• Taking an old basic watch or a waterproof one instead of your phone
• Storing your IDs in the hotel safe, too (and hoping you won’t get stopped by the police and need them)
• Taking just the metal key from your hotel room – that means taking off any extra keyrings and identifiers that would point someone in the direction of your room (why do hotels do that btw?? Yes, it’s super handy when you are travelling full-time and are forever in a new place and in a big hotel, so you might not remember which hotel room you are staying in. But having the hotel name AND the room number attached to a key is literally like an open invite for thieves.)
• Surviving without any expensive accessories and gadgets, like designer sunglasses, e-readers, headphones etc.

Side note

This does work well if you are staying at a hotel with a private beach. You should still be careful, because private doesn’t necessarily mean safe, unless it’s isolated from public (though other guests can be opportunists too, don’t underestimate that!).

But, generally speaking, you don’t have to worry so much at an all-inclusive hotel.

We’ve only ever done an all-inclusive holiday once together, but we loved the safety aspect of it. 

We would, for example, take photos and videos first (also before the beach got busy), then drop our phones off in our room’s safe and just have the plain keycard in our beach bag. No money needed because it’s all inclusive. So easy!

The problem

We know what you are thinking. If you aren’t in an all-inclusive hotel with a private beach, what do you do? Especially if you:

• Want your phone to be able to take pics and videos, but also to be able to connect with the world, if anything happens
• Might need your IDs if you are driving to the beach
• Have a hotel key that is a card, so not particularly sea-water resistant (tbf, neither are metal keys, in the long run, if you think about it)

We’ve got a solution. And it doesn’t even involve talking to strangers. (Yes!)

Solution no. 4: The antisocial solution

So what’s our answer to how to keep your stuff safe at the beach? And without having to talk to strangers?

Waterproof bags!

That way you can always have your valuables on you to keep them safe.

Okay, here is everything you need to know.

Protecting your phone

You might be able to get away with leaving everything in your accommodation but your phone.

If that’s the case, just get a waterproof phone cover that you can slip around your neck and, possibly, even fit a card or a few banknotes into.

Sorted!

Except.

What do you have to think about?

• You’ve got to get the right waterproof phone cover for your phone. Mirka’s phone isn’t that big, but it was almost too big for all the phone covers offered. 🤯 So, compare sizes well before buying.
• You’ve got to test the waterproof phone cover before trusting it with your phone. We do this with all our waterproof gear. A bathtub/any bigger tub of water is good – put a piece of paper into the phone cover, submerge it in water and then wait.
  
  Remember to move the phone cover around a bit too – you won’t just be floating in still water when you go for a swim, right? Also, make sure you don’t drip water onto the paper as you are opening the phone cover – that could make you think the cover is leaking!
• While good at protecting your phone, it’s not the comfiest thing to have around your neck if you are actually planning on swimming, not just bobbing in the water. Fear not, we’ve got a solution for that too!

Protecting the rest of your stuff

Keeping your phone safe (and dry) is one thing, but what can you do with the rest of your stuff?

When we were getting ready for our full-time travels, we obviously, researched the options.

What we discovered were waterproof pouches. They are essentially waterproof bags that go around your waist – kinda like a bum bag.

What do you need to know?

• They are big enough that they can fit your cards, keys, and jewellery without any issues.
• In fact, what we do is we fit our phone in its waterproof phone cover INSIDE the bag – double protecting it, because when travelling, our phones are our key device – they store our photos and booking confirmations. It’s where we do our work and stay in touch with our loved ones. So we want to make sure they are extra safe.
• As with the waterproof phone cover, make sure you test the bag before you trust it with your valuables.
• While not as awkward as swimming with a phone cover, you might still need to get used to the bag. If you fill it with your stuff and there is enough air in it, it will kinda act like a mini buoy, drifting to your back and tagging along for the ride.
• You might get some weird looks at the beach. As we’ve said, we’ve only ever seen one other person with a waterproof bag like this. But do you know what? Don’t let it bother you – all those people just envy you, because you’ve worked out how to keep your stuff safe at the beach!

The two disadvantages of wateproof bags

We are always giving you honest reviews and info here – that way, you know both the pros and the cons, and you can decide for yourself whether you want to try something or not.

The 2 cons of waterproof bags:

1. You can’t fit big things into them. Your phone? Yes. But you won’t fit a camera, a drone or a big pair of headphones in. For this, you might wanna consider a different solution – we’ll get to that shortly (or be cheeky and skip).
2. It’s a bit of a faff, getting stuff out, then putting it back and sealing the bag again. Especially at the beach, the bag ends up covered in a mix of sand and salty water, and you have to make sure you close it well, otherwise water will leak in and you really don’t want that if you have banknotes, a passport or your phone there.
   
   Another point – while with the waterproof phone cover you can use your phone even once it’s inside, if you put it into the waterproof bag to double protect it, it’s inaccessible – until you faff to get it out.

Side note

We mentioned testing the waterproof bag and phone cover before using them, but do also remember to test them if you have them stored somewhere for a long time.

For example, if you only go on a beach holiday once a year and the rest of the time the waterproof bags are stored in a box in a closet, make sure you check them before you use them next time.

They are made of plastic, so you do have to consider material fatigue.

Bonus solution: Dry bag

We have heard and seen people use dry bags when in water.

These are the bigger bags that almost look like a flotation device.

What you need to know about dry bags

• They come in different sizes, so think about what you want to fit into them vs how comfy it will be to then swim with one when deciding on which one to buy.
• Many travellers use them to keep their stuff safe on boat trips – especially in Southeast Asia, where you might end up in water as a result of an accident, or because you are expected to get to the shore from a boat anchored further out in the sea by… well, walking and carrying your stuff above your head.
• You can, obviously, fit a lot more into a dry bag than into a waterproof waist bag – might be handy if you have a bigger family – that way one person can make the sacrifice of keeping the dry bag on them for the whole family while in the water.
• Thanks to their bright colours, dry bags can double as a safety marker for swimmers, making you more visible to boats and other beachgoers. And we are all about safety here!

We have, personally, never used or owned a dry bag, so can’t share any tips from personal experience, but we did want to make you aware of this option, in case it’s the one that suits you the most.

Alternative uses for waterproof bags

When life sucks, because you are not chilling at the beach, your waterproof bags might still come in handy.

Because while they are the perfect solution for how to keep your stuff safe at the beach, they can also be used anywhere near (or in) water.

Here are some examples:

Chasing waterfalls

If you’ve ever visited a bigger waterfall, you’ll know that often you don’t even have to go swimming in it for you to end up wet.

Sometimes, the spray is enough.

You might have noticed this when reading waterfall reviews – sometimes people include info on how bad the spray is – super helpful, because then you know:

• How to dress
• Whether you need to protect your stuff (especially expensive gear like cameras and phones)
• Whether the area around the waterfall might be slippery (in that case, wear good shoes)
• Whether you should bother doing your hair and make up at all (btw, get this lipstick if you want to go chasing waterfalls AND still have epic lips)

So, whether you go swimming in waterfalls, or just admire the splashy ones, protecting your valuables with a waterproof bag is a good idea.

Wild parties and festivals

Anything where liquid gets thrown around (or you might end up somewhere liquidy). 

Think foam parties, festivals with lots of rain and mud, beach and boat parties, even colour runs or the Holi festival.

You might not be planning on getting wet, but isn’t it better knowing that your stuff is safe if you do happen to get sprayed by someone hosing their mates down at a festival?

What happened to us

When we were travelling full-time, we realised we would be in Thailand in April.

And if you don’t know what happens in Thailand in April, we’ll tell you.

The Thai people celebrate the New Year.

With many cultural traditions, but also, what is now known as the world’s biggest water fight.

We instantly knew we were going to attend. (To be fair, you don’t have a choice. If you are in Thailand during Songkran, the New Year celebration, you are taking part whether you choose to or not. 😄)

It was one of the craziest experiences of our lives so far, and we were SO GRATEFUL for our waterproof bags and phone covers.

They are an absolute must at Songkran – you can read our full guide, which covers everything you need to know about the celebration, here.

And if you first want to find out whether the Thai New Year celebration is worth attending, we have also written a post about that. (Spoiler alert: it is. But. There are things you need to know about – it’s not all happy water fights. 😬)

When it rains

You might be visiting Scotland (yes, yes, it does rain a lot there). 

You might be exploring a rainforest. 

You might be travelling around Asia during the rainy season. 

Or you might just be followed by a rain curse like we are. (It rains EVERYWHERE we go. It even rained in Santa’s Village! Even Santa can’t protect us from the rain! How sad is that??)

Basically, if there is rain of any kind, and you want to be able to use your phone safely and keep your stuff dry, just use the waterproof bags and phone cases – might as well, since you already got them for the beach, right?

Theme parks

You might go to a theme park. 

And you might end up on a water ride. Like a river rapids one. 

And you might not realise till it’s too late that things will get wet. 

Not sprinkled wet. Like floating right through a waterfall kind of wet. Or a massive wave splashing over the back of the raft, right where you are sitting.

And in those moments, you will be wishing for a waterproof bag and a waterproof phone cover.

How do we know?

We might be speaking from personal experience. 😅

Our story

If you think: “Why were you so dumb to get on a ride like that? Of course you were gonna get wet!”, we’ll tell you.

It’s pretty easy:

• We didn’t want spoilers, so we didn’t check out the rides in the theme park before going
• We were all hyped up and excited – we’d just come off our first ride, so we were rushing to the next one, whatever it was!
• There was a warning sign saying “you might get wet,” but, to be honest, that’s kinda an understatement. It should have said: “you will 100% get wet”.
• There weren’t any lockers or bag storage options at the ride, so we thought it couldn’t be that bad.

Anyway, many theme parks come with water, so you should come with waterproof bags or at least phone covers.

Oh, and waterparks too – even if you are not taking your stuff on the slides with you, EVERYTHING is wet in a waterpark, so protect your phone.

Bonus tip

If you want to keep your belongings safe from water, consider getting a rain cover for your backpacks, too.

We wrote a whole post about these, which tells you everything you need to know.

So there you have it. Now you know how to keep your stuff safe at the beach.

Next time you go, you will be able to actually relax, instead of doing that paranoid over-the-shoulder look every 10 seconds to make sure your stuff is still there (so not fun).

If you have any other tips for how to keep your stuff safe at the beach, share them in the comments, so we can all help each other out!

And remember to come hang with us on Instagram for more ‘omg, not again’ stories and other everyday absurdities that we are famous for.