Beach Heat Tips
- Drink from two to four cups of water every hour while outside. Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink.
- Avoid alcohol or liquids containing large amounts of sugar.
- Cut down on exercise. If you must exercise, drink two to four glasses of cool, nonalcoholic fluids each hour. A sports beverage can replace the salt and minerals you lose in sweat. Warning: If you are on a low-salt diet, talk with your doctor before drinking a sports beverage.
- Spritz yourself. Keep a spray bottle so when it gets hot, give yourself a good squirt. As the water evaporates, it cools you.
- Consider going to the beach early or later in the day to avoid midday heat.
- Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing. Wear one of the widely available synthetic fabrics designed to wick away sweat and that sticky feeling.
- Encourage beach-goers to take breaks to cool off in the water.
- Select the right footwear. Forget your shoes – use flip-flops. As the sweat on your feet evaporates, it cools the skin and the blood in your feet.
- Seek medical care immediately if you or a friend has symptoms of heat-related illness.
- Protect yourself from the sun by wearing a wide-brimmed hat (also keeps you cooler) and sunglasses.
- Use sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher (the most effective products say “broad spectrum” or “UVA/UVB protection” on their labels). Be sure to reapply sunscreen as indicated on the package. Read about the top rated sunscreens as reported by Time magazine.
- Eat light. There’s a reason we reach for salads in the summer. They’re easier to digest than a burger, which leaves you feeling sluggish in the high heat. Opt for fruits and vegetables, which are watery and help keep you hydrated (and cooler).
- There are many tips to help you with excessive heat, one of the best tips is to bring your own shade.
- Getting back into a hot car? This car cooling trick will get your oven-like car closer to bearable temperature. Roll down one window and open and close the opposite door a few times to cool that car down.
- Of course never leave pets, kids, friends or almost anything else in a parked car.
Rest In A Shady Area, Use Beach Tent – Portable Sun and Weather Shelter
The beach tent is the perfect way to go to the beach, stay as long as you want, have a safe place for your kids and it has internal pockets for stakes, valuables and your beach gear so you can keep your valuables while you surf or play in the water. It is light-weight, easy to carry and fast to set up.
This 4.5* Amazon rated beach tent has over 1,300 reviews – Sport-Brella Beach Umbrella
Additional advantages include:
It weighs just 9 pounds
You can take this to your kids soccer games
It is water repellent so you can use it while camping
210 D Polyester material that protects over 99.5% of UVA and UVB rays
An additional option is this beach umbrella: Super Brella Umbrella
Visit the CDC for more heat stress information.
Prepare For The Heat – Prevent Heat Illness with Acclimatization
If you know you know heat is on the way:
Those who are physically ill, especially with heart disease or high blood pressure
Visit adults at risk at least twice a day and closely watch them for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Infants and young children, of course, need much more frequent watching.
If you must be out in the heat:
“Heat” Tips For Your Home
After a day at the beach, you may come home to a ‘hot’ house. Here are some ideas on how to control the heat in your home.
- Have a plan. Establish an emergency kit and make a family communications plan (an easy one is to use Facebook), in case there is excessive heat and you have to seek shelter elsewhere. For many a shelter can be a shopping trip to an air-conditioned building.
- Use AC plus fan. Run a fan and an air conditioner simultaneously. You can use the air conditioner at lower power and still feel cool if the fan is blowing over you.
- Natural air conditioning. If you don’t have air conditioning, when the air outside is dry and cooler than the air inside, hang a damp sheet in an open window. Incoming breezes are cooled by the evaporating water or place a shallow bowl of ice in front of a fan and enjoy the breeze.
- Prevent the sun from entering your home. Closing curtains and blinds (ideally with sun-deflecting white on the window side) can reduce the amount of heat that passes into your home by as much as 45 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
- Keep it cool. While running any kind of air conditioner, shut your fireplace damper to keep cool air inside.
- Fan out. If the day’s heat is trapped inside your home, use a window fan to blow hot air out at night. Simply face the blades outside to suck warm air out of the house and pull cooler air in.
- Stay on the lowest floor out of the sunshine if air conditioning is not available.
- Put electronics to sleep. Let your computer take a nap by setting it to “sleep” mode. If you are finished for the day, shut the machine down completely.
- Air dry instead of machine dry. This goes both for your clothes dryer (clothesline) and dishwasher. You just don’t need that extra heat in your home.
- Give your oven a break. Either grill outside (in the shade) or have food that doesn’t require cooking.
- Turn off the lights. Or change the bulbs: Long-lasting compact fluorescent bulbs produce about 70 percent less heat than standard incandescents.
- Check on family, friends, and neighbors who do not have air conditioning and who spend much of their time alone.
More CDC extreme heat tips.
Beach Umbrella With Beach Chair
If you don’t need the beach tent, you can opt for a more personalized method of beach protection – a beach chair with built-in umbrella. There are a number of options that you can buy, but the Beach Umbrella Chair
Features:
3-position recliner with easy adjusting hinges
3-way swiveling umbrella
Built-in insulated pocket holds up to 4 drinks
Cup holder and storage pockets with bottle opener
Metallic undercoating for UPF 50+ sun protection
Umbrella folds down on chair for storage as a single unit
Eye protective safety tips on umbrella points
Umbrella attaches to either side with quick-release clips
Ultra-strong, lightweight steel construction
Chair weights 10 lbs, 250 lbs. maximum capacity
Dimensions: 34″ w x 34″ l x 55″ h