25+ Best Beach Snacks
The best beach snacks won’t spoil in the sun or melt in the heat and are easy enough to pack in a cooler for a fun day at the beach.
Whether you’re planning a day trip to the beach and want to pack plenty of snacks to bring along for the ride or you’re planning to spend an entire week at a beach and want fun snacks for your hotel or beach condo, there are some important things to consider before you head to the grocery store.
You’ll want to make a list of the best beach snacks so you don’t have to waste a single minute of your family vacation worrying about grocery shopping!
From healthy snacks to fuel your bodies to sweet treats that remind you this is a fun vacation, all the best snacks to pack for the beach are here!
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Keep in Mind When Choosing Snacks
When you’re picking your beach snacks for packing your cooler, it is important to keep a few things in mind:
- Consider Spoilage: Avoid snacks that include dairy of any kind — cheese, yogurt, sour cream, mayo etc. Even if you pack your cooler well, you don’t want to worry about accidentally getting sick from something that spoiled in the summer sun.
- Consider Melting: Anything coated in chocolate or yogurt coating can be seriously problematic if it gets warm. A good beach snack should be hearty and stable.
- Consider the Wind: Beachfronts are often very windy. Even if you can’t see it, the sand is blowing all around you as you sit under your umbrella. Think about how you plan to eat your snack while keeping the sand out of your food. Avoid foods that are super sticky or limit their exposure to the air.
- Consider the Sand and Salt: Even if you haven’t gone swimming in the ocean, your hands are likely going to be fairly sandy and salty from the day at the beach. Be prepared with extra fresh water for rinsing off your hands before eating or come with reusable utensils for forking your fresh fruit and veggies.
Pack It In, Pack It Out
Be considerate of the sea turtles and other ocean life. Remember the cardinal rule:
Pack it in, Pack it out: Anything you bring to the beach should also go home with you.
Have a special tote bag to keep any wrappers or empty bottles or packaging you may end up with after eating your snack.
Consider bringing reusable utensils and napkins so the extra plastic and paper doesn’t end up in the sand or ocean. They’re less likely to blow away in the wind and will hold up to a solid rinsing if needed.
Now let’s consider the fun part — what are we going to eat at the beach??
Healthy Snacks
Keep your family hydrated with fresh fruits and veggies.
They’ll keep cold in a cooler and the extra water and fiber will help battle the hot sunshine and taste very refreshing when you take a break under the umbrella.
- Frozen Grapes: They are delicious eaten frozen or you can use them to help chill the cooler and let them thaw before eating.
- Peanut Butter with Celery Sticks and/or Sliced Apples
- Diced Pineapple: Can’t be bruised or squished as easily as delicate berries.
- Whole Strawberries: Firmer than more delicate berries and very refreshing.
- Sliced Bell Peppers
- Baby Carrots
- Diced Watermelon: Package it in a sturdy container, the extra water will be great on a hot day.
Grab and Go Snacks
If you want to stop at the grocery store on the way to the beach and just grab a few prepared things, this shopping list is an easy way to fill up your cooler.
Some of the individually wrapped snacks can be nice to have because you can just partially unwrap them for eating and keep your sandy hands away from your food.
- Boxed granola bars or cereal bars
- Cheese and Cracker Sandwiches or Peanut butter and Cracker Sandwiches
- Bags of salted nuts: pistachios, almonds, peanuts
- Container of hummus and a bag of pita chips
- Container of salsa and a bag of tortilla chips
- Rice crispy treats
- Bagged snack mixes like Chex mix
- Boxes of raisins
Best Beach Snacks To Make Before You Go
These easy homemade beach snacks don't take much time to make but will definitely taste a lot better than the packaged stuff from the grocery store.
Plan ahead and prepare a few of these things to pack in a cooler to bring from home when you leave for your beach vacation.
They make great snacks while you're actually ON the beach or at your hotel or condo, too.
Mix and match your own custom trail mix using your family's favorite dried fruits, nuts, and cereal.
Need some suggestions for where to start?
Don't miss my three favorite mixes here:
Making your own seasoned pretzels takes just minutes and lets you season them with a wide variety of options you won't find at the grocery store.
Pretzels make a perfect beach snack because they stay crispy in or outside the cooler.
I love to make a big batch of granola for snacking on or using for easy yogurt parfaits for breakfast on the road.
If you plan to eat it as a snack, simply leave the granola in large crunchy granola nuggets once it cools instead of breaking it up too much like you would for breakfast.
If you want your beach snack to double as a mini meal, a big container of homemade crostini goes a long way.
You could top it with hummus or a variety of salsas or spreads that you grab from the store or simply serve it alongside any of the yummy fruit and veggies listed at the top of this post.
From a super chunky corn salsa, to classic restaurant style salsa, to my favorite sweet and spicy peach salsa, all my favorite salsa recipes are listed right here.
Serve them with tortilla chips or as a yummy topping for the crostini mentioned above.
You won't find this spicy-sweet honey sriracha Chex mix anywhere at the grocery store. It is totally worth the few minutes to make it in the microwave and bring it from home.
The honey gives it an awesome slightly chewy texture in spots and the sriracha is a fun kick in the tastebuds.
My kids and I are obsessed with this mix.
These homemade peanut butter granola bars are so much more delicious than the packaged kind at the store.
You can choose to keep the chocolate chips or leave them out if you plan to take them to the beach.
Serving them alongside some fresh strawberries or fruit adds a bit of protein to the snack.
Need a sweet that won't melt in the sun and also is packed with protein to keep you going?
These candied nuts are absolutely snackable, you won't be able to stop at just one.
Make a big batch and you can take some to the beach and keep some on hand for a pre-dinner appetizer back at the beach condo with some wine later in the day!
Peanut butter cookies are the perfect alternative to chocolate chip for a beach snack cooler.
The thin cookies from this peanut butter sandwich cookies recipe are totally delicious even without the peanut butter filling.
Made with crunchy peanut butter, there's tons of yummy texture and crunch to each bite.
Cookes and cream blondie bars are sturdy enough to pack in a cooler AND the crushed Oreo cookies inside won't melt in the heat!
This is a great treat to pack for a beach snack as a special surprise for the family.
Butterscotch brownies are another great one-bowl batter bar to bake before you go to the beach.
The hearty cookie squares filled with butterscotch chips and pecans will hold up well in the cooler and you won't have a problem with them melting in the heat.
Thank you for this post. Your website is lovely, not too many ads and easy to use. I’m going to try the butterscotch brownies tonight!