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Relaxing in the sun can take a lot out of you.
If you’re headed to the ocean or another big body of water, following a few key beach tips can help you feel your best during your trip—whether it’s for a day or a weeklong vacation. It’s all too easy to forget about a few safety basics when you’re enjoying the warm sun and sand.
Following these beach tips can help you decrease your chances of getting a heat-related illness (like heat exhaustion), becoming dehydrated, and getting overly fatigued—all of which can ruin your trip. But those aren’t the only safety-related concerns to keep in mind. With variants of COVID-19 spreading throughout the country, it’s important to remember that the pandemic hasn’t ended. Before leaving for the beach, reading about the safest ways to travel right now (like getting fully vaccinated first and researching the safety requirements for your destination) is an important step that can help keep you healthy. Now, here are six beach tips that can help you have a great trip.
1. Try to get enough sleep before and during your vacation.
If you’re taking a multiday trip, you may be extra busy on the days leading up to departure. Doing your best to get adequate sleep the week of your trip can help you avoid feeling sleep-deprived when you’re on vacation. (If you’re only taking a day trip, it’s still a good idea to try to get enough shut-eye the night before.)
Not getting the sleep your body requires to feel its best creates a sleep debt, which is cumulative and piles up each day1. Let’s say you normally need eight hours of sleep per night to feel like you’re really functioning. If you only sleep five hours per night for the three nights leading up to your trip, then your body has a sleep debt of nine hours. As your sleep debt increases, you may have a harder time focusing on daily tasks. If you already have a sleep debt going into your trip, then you could be irritable and fatigued, which isn’t exactly ideal on vacation. (And when you’re in the sun, your body works harder to maintain its core body temperature, which is a process that can leave you feeling pretty exhausted. Being in a sleep debt can add to your sun fatigue.)
Although sleep needs are individual-specific, people 18 to 64 generally function their best after sleeping between seven and nine hours per night, according to research published in March 2015 in Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation2.
2. Drink plenty of cool water to avoid becoming dehydrated.
If you’re at the beach on a warm day, then there’s a good chance you’ll get pretty sweaty. This is helpful for keeping yourself cool, but sweating can also lead to dehydration and make you fatigued. If the weather is particularly hot and humid, or if you’re being really active, then you may lose even more fluid and increase your risk of becoming dehydrated, according to the Mayo Clinic3. And even mild dehydration can make you sluggish and tired4. More seriously, dehydration can lead to a heat-related illness such as heat stroke. (Heat stroke can be really serious and cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, an irregular heartbeat, or loss of consciousness5. If you have these symptoms, it’s important to get out of the sun and seek medical help as soon as you can.)
You’ve probably heard that most people should drink eight cups of water per day, but the specific amount of fluid you should take in depends on a variety of factors including your age, activity level, and the climate you’re in. That said, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences6 says that getting about 2.7 liters (11 cups) to 3.7 liters (almost 16 cups) of water per day (including water in your food and other drinks) is generally adequate.
John Higgins7, M.D., sports cardiologist with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston, Texas, says your stomach absorbs cool water more easily (compared to ice-cold or warm water), which will help you feel cooler. He recommends taking an ice chest with plenty of water to the beach. (You can also store water-packed fruits like watermelon and strawberries in your cooler to snack on, which can help with hydration. Or, you can store cold towels in your chest to wear around your neck, which helps lower your body temperature and prevents worsening of dehydration.)
If you don’t feel thirsty, you’re drinking water regularly, and your urine is clear or light yellow, then you are probably staying hydrated, according to the Mayo Clinic3. Alternatively, you may be dehydrated if you feel fatigued, confused, have a dry mouth, your urine is dark, or if you don’t urinate at all, according to the Cleveland Clinic8.
3. Watch your alcohol consumption.
Drinking alcohol on your beach trip can make you feel exhausted and just all-around down for several reasons, starting with dehydration. This happens because alcohol suppresses a hormone that helps your body hold onto water, Dr. Higgins explains. And if you’re drinking in the sun, it’s important to really pay attention to how you feel and watch for signs of dehydration. If you are someone who drinks, it’s best to limit your alcohol intake to the recommended moderate amounts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention9 (CDC), moderate drinking means having two drinks or less per day for people assigned male at birth and one drink or less per day for people assigned female at birth. For context, one alcoholic drink is roughly 12 fluid ounces of beer, 5 fluid ounces of wine, or 1.5 fluid ounces of liquor, according to the CDC.
Drinking in moderation will also help you avoid hangovers, which can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety, nausea, and fatigue, all of which can be especially terrible during a multiday beach vacation.
Additionally, drinking one full serving of water for every alcoholic beverage you consume can help prevent dehydration and hangovers, according to the Cleveland Clinic10. Other practices that can help you avoid hangovers include eating before drinking alcohol and limiting your drinks to one per hour, according to the Cleveland Clinic10.
4. Don’t forget to eat.
Regardless of whether you drink alcohol, eating before you head to the beach can help you avoid developing low blood sugar, which can make you feel sluggish, irritable, and shaky, according to the Mayo Clinic11. If you’re not hungry at the time, try packing a few simple snacks, like fruit, granola bars, or any other foods you enjoy, in your cooler and eat when you feel up to it.
Dr. Higgins says it helps to think about how your daily activities may affect your hunger and energy needs. “You need to get energy at the beach, especially if you are swimming or playing beach volleyball,” Dr. Higgins tells SELF. Participating in activities like volleyball and swimming uses up more of your energy, so you may feel really hungry or tired if you don’t eat enough. Everyone’s calorie and dietary needs differ, and there are other factors to consider when making sure you’re fueling well for beach fun, like the timing of when you eat. For example, if you’re eating a couple of hours before being active, then your body has enough time to digest a meal that includes carbohydrates, protein, and fat. But if you only have about 30 minutes before hitting the sand for some physical activity, you might want to stick with something like a banana because your body generally digests carbohydrates quickly. Here’s more guidance on what to eat before working out, whether you’re on the beach or not.
5. Protect your skin.
We can’t discuss beach tips without talking about the importance of protecting your skin against the sun. Wearing sunscreen is one of the simplest ways to do this. The American Academy of Dermatology12 (AAD) recommends that everyone wear sunscreen to help reduce their risks of getting skin cancer. (There’s a prevalent myth that people with darker skin tones don’t need to worry about getting skin cancer, but it’s really important that everyone protects their skin.)
When choosing a sunscreen, follow the AAD’s recommendations:
- Pick a sunscreen that’s at least SPF 30.
- Buy a broad-spectrum sunblock that protects your skin from UVA and UVB rays.
- Choose a water-resistant sunscreen that stays on your skin when it’s wet or sweaty.
According to the AAD12, many people don’t use enough sunscreen to cover their skin. To be safe, they suggest applying about an ounce, which is roughly one shot glass, of sunblock about 15 minutes before you head outside. To ensure you’re fully protected, it might help to start at your scalp and progress downward when applying, thinking about every part of your body. (It can be easy to forget about putting sunscreen on areas like your scalp or behind your ears and knees, which can also get burned.) If you have trouble remembering to reapply, you may want to set a phone reminder to put on sunscreen every two hours, as recommended by the AAD12.
Consider using a beach umbrella for extra protection if you are able to purchase one. Know that using an umbrella doesn’t offer full sun protection because the sun can reflect off of the sand and water. In other words, you’ll still need SPF to help protect your skin from the sun’s rays. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and lightweight long-sleeve shirt can also offer extra sun protection, according to the AAD.
6. Take breaks from the beach when you can.
It’s understandable that you might want to spend as much time as possible outdoors during your beach vacation. But taking breaks from the sun can go a long way in helping you avoid dehydration, sunburns, and overall just feeling your best.
The sun’s rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., meaning you’re exposed to the most UV radiation during this time, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency13 (EPA). During this time, it’s safest to seek shade as opposed to lying in direct sunlight to reduce your UV exposure.
Checking the UV Index on the EPA website in advance can also help you see how strong the rays are for your area on a particular day. If your UV exposure is considered very high or extreme on a given day, you might consider skipping the beach and participating in other activities or resting under an umbrella and avoiding the water.
There isn't necessarily any one right way to vacation, but following these beach tips can help make your trip run more smoothly so you can make the most of your getaway.
Sources:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Sleep Debt
2. Sleep Health, National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep Time Duration Recommendations
4. Mayo Clinic, Water: How Much Should You Drink Every Day?
5. John Hopkins Medicine, Dehydration and Heat Stroke
6. National Academies of Science Engineering Medicine
7. UT Health, John P. Higgins, M.D.
8. Cleveland Clinic, Hydration
9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dietary Guidelines for Alcohol
10. Cleveland Clinic, Hangover
12. American Academy of Dermatology, Sunscreen FAQs
13. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation and Sun Exposure
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