Keeping personal items safe and dry on the beach?

As our cruise gets closer (single digits) the questions keep popping up in my head!

What is everyone's strategy to carrying and keeping their wallets/cameras/personal items safe and dry while on the beaches or by the pool? I hate to have to worry about something getting stolen - mostly while on the beaches.

Does anyone use any waterproof wallets/bags that they can stuff their items in and take with them in the water? Or do we stick to throwing our stuff under a towel and trying to keep an eye on it from the water?

For my money and credit cards I carry one of those plastic containers around my neck that latch shut. As far as my other belongings I have them in a plastic waterproof beach bag I bought in Cozumel.

For our money, credit cards and ship cards DH uses a waterproof pouch we bought from amazon.

For other things like our kindles and camera we just put them in our backpack. Bought a shorter length bicycle cable lock and thread it through a bunch of the handles etc. on the backpack. Put backpack under the loungers and lock to the chair.

We're never far away and not for long periods and we know this wouldn't keep thieves away if they really wanted to take something. Our goal is to make it as difficult as possible. They couldn't just pick the bp up and walk off with it without dragging a lounge chair behind them. And hoping that would cause some attention.

We use a waterproof fanny pack and a waterproof camera. We only have a backpack with towels and clothes.

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Check out Amazon for waterproof packs. I have both the one you hang around your neck and one that goes around my waist.

I've used the KYSS bags for several years now and love it. It isn't waterproof, but lockable and I've never felt that it was in danger while on the beach or by the pool.

I use the SPI BELT from Amazon, it is not waterproof but my credit cards and sign and sail are waterproof anyway and I hide them under my one piece swimsuit and I use a waterproof pouch that I wear around my neck for the cash and anything else (cell) that I don't want soaked. I also have a laminated copy of my passport inside the neck pouch. Works out well.

My hubby bought a waterproof card holder from Dick's Sporting Goods (I think it clips to his trunks). We put our money and cards in it. Plastic baggie for the passports. Don't carry camera, we use our phones and put those (if we take off ship) isside baggie with passports.

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As our cruise gets closer (single digits) the questions keep popping up in my head!

 

What is everyone's strategy to carrying and keeping their wallets/cameras/personal items safe and dry while on the beaches or by the pool? I hate to have to worry about something getting stolen - mostly while on the beaches.

 

Does anyone use any waterproof wallets/bags that they can stuff their items in and take with them in the water? Or do we stick to throwing our stuff under a towel and trying to keep an eye on it from the water?

do both

i got waterproof things for pretty much all my stuff,sometimes i brought my electronics in the water to take pictures and stuff and sometimes i left it in a bag on the beach and kept an eye out.usually its pretty safe on the beach,theres also other vacationers there so you could ask them to watch your things also,but waterproof things are your best bet

Except for a camera, we don't usually bring much that is valuable to the beach--a few dollars for pop or snacks; that's about it. I solved that problem by buying a waterproof camera this year. I don't usually bring my Kindle.

Normally my DH doesn't swim, so stuff stays with him. If he does swim, money and cards can go in his swim suit's zip pocket.

Yeah, we don't bring a lot to the beach. Your credit card (only bring one), cash and your ship's key can get wet....so you can stick them in a velcroed pocket in your swim trunks. No one wants your tee shirt or flip flops, so no worries there!

I would forgo expensive cameras/electronics on a beach day...

For my money and credit cards I carry one of those plastic containers around my neck that latch shut. As far as my other belongings I have them in a plastic waterproof beach bag I bought in Cozumel.

A word of caution concerning the plastic containers that look like cigarette cases:

On my last cruise the weather wasn't the best, but in the Bahamas we went to the beach on a sunny and windy day, with rather rough seas.

I had a last second decision to make: do I put some cash in my "water safe" and leave the rest of my wallet behind, or take a credit card? I chose the credit card which would be more useful in the event of theft. I stuffed a map in to keep it from rattling around.

I was a little leery of the latch on the safe and thought of securing it with a rubber band; but I couldn't locate one quickly and my wife was giving me that "what's taking you so long" look, so I tied the safe cord to my bathing trunks and stuffed the safe in the front pocket.

I'm sure you can guess the rest: As I frolicked in the roiling waves the safe kept floating out of my pocket but remained tied to my suit until . . .

the time I reached for it and to my horror the latch had opened and the top was wide open. When I looked inside all I saw was water.

As I frantically looked around, I spotted the map floating on the water a few feet away. I grabbed it before the next wave hit but alas, no credit card. After much searching with a snorkel mask and help from some bystanders, nothing turned up.

Moral: don't trust those cheap water safes, plan ahead, and of course take more than one credit card!

Lets be honest with ourselves. Fifty+ years as a beach lover and goer has taught me a few valuable lessons. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is safe when left on a beach. If you are going to leave any valuables on a beach, somebody should be there watching those items. So what to do? DW and I simply do not take any valuables to the beach that we can not keep on our person. Decent cameras, cell phones, etc. stay safely locked in our cabin (or cabin safe). We do take cash and a credit card and those are kept in my "Sea Caddy" which is a waterproof (to over 100 feet deep) fanny pack system (it uses an internal heavy plastic bag that has a triple seal). We do leave an inexpensive back pack on the beach that has our towels and perhaps a book, but nothing that cannot easily be replaced.

And here is a warning! Smart Phones have become a popular target around the world. People take Smart Phones worth hundreds of dollars, iPads worth hundreds of dollars, cameras worth hundreds of dollars, and simply leave them laying on a beach. They do this in parts of the world where many folks have an average monthly income of only a few dollars. Stealing your stuff can finance an entire family for several weeks (or months). If you want to take your chances, go for it! But otherwise, use some common sense and save yourself an awful lot of grief.

Hank

Lets be honest with ourselves. Fifty+ years as a beach lover and goer has taught me a few valuable lessons. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is safe when left on a beach. If you are going to leave any valuables on a beach, somebody should be there watching those items. So what to do? DW and I simply do not take any valuables to the beach that we can not keep on our person. Decent cameras, cell phones, etc. stay safely locked in our cabin (or cabin safe). We do take cash and a credit card and those are kept in my "Sea Caddy" which is a waterproof (to over 100 feet deep) fanny pack system (it uses an internal heavy plastic bag that has a triple seal). We do leave an inexpensive back pack on the beach that has our towels and perhaps a book, but nothing that cannot easily be replaced.

 

And here is a warning! Smart Phones have become a popular target around the world. People take Smart Phones worth hundreds of dollars, iPads worth hundreds of dollars, cameras worth hundreds of dollars, and simply leave them laying on a beach. They do this in parts of the world where many folks have an average monthly income of only a few dollars. Stealing your stuff can finance an entire family for several weeks (or months). If you want to take your chances, go for it! But otherwise, use some common sense and save yourself an awful lot of grief.

 

Hank

I agree that your Smart Phone is probably the thing the thieves would most like to grab. Chances are you didn't pay much for it, but if you had to buy a new one without a new contract, you'd probably pay $500-600 for a new one. This is just too much risk for me, so unless I'm with a group and know that someone trustable will stay ashore at all times, I'm not taking mine with me.

Cameras are probably the #2 most popular items, which makes a simple disposable camera a good choice. No one wants to steal your half-used disposable camera, but they all look alike, so it's wise to do something to make yours look different -- a bit of decorative duct tape, perhaps, would let another innocent cruiser realize, "Hey, this isn't YOUR disposable".

As for money and credit cards, our method is simple: I only buy my husband swim trunks that have a secure pocket. A few dollars, a credit card, and our ship ID can easily fit into this small pocket, and we never separate on shore anyway. I usually have a few dollars myself, but not so much that it would be devestating to lose it.

And we carry a medium-sized tote bag for our towels and sunscreen. Thieves aren't targeting these low-value items. I much prefer to read on my Kindle, but I often pick up a paperback book from library sales and save them for beach reading.

All good advice. I like to have a camera along, (and not a disposable) which has been the one thing we bring that would be attractive to thieves, besides being vulnerable to sand and water damage--we've had two cameras ruined that way.

For our last cruise we bought an underwater camera, which relieved that worry. Now I can just carry it into the water with me. Otherwise we don't bring anything valuable that can't get wet, in a pinch.

packedandready

I read your post about using a shorter chain bicycle lock - any chance you can explain how you used. I am trying to picture it - but it is not working. I have spent too many days researching Pacsafe Travelon and Kyss - they all seem expensive and all seem to have flaws. I think the bicycle chain may work just as well for less money

Thanks,

Cheryl

packedandready

 

I read your post about using a shorter chain bicycle lock - any chance you can explain how you used. I am trying to picture it - but it is not working. I have spent too many days researching Pacsafe Travelon and Kyss - they all seem expensive and all seem to have flaws. I think the bicycle chain may work just as well for less money

 

Thanks,

 

Cheryl

DH always takes a backpack. We put our things inside the backpack, put backpack under one of our loungers and then run the cable lock through several of the loops and around one of the bars of the lounger. We're never too far away and always within sight.

This is not going to stop anyone that really wants it, but will slow them down. They wouldn't be able to just casually walk by, grab it and keep going. They would have to take the time to stop, drag it from under the chair and attempt to unzip it. Or grab it and drag chair and all down the beach..:eek: Does this help??

yes. Thank you. I actually just ordered the Kyss bag.

Cheryl

In Hawaii, I saw two people looking for their stuff in a zip-lock bag buried in the sand when they returned from body surfing. It took them and others nearby awhile, but they eventually found it. They really thought someone found it and took off with it.

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A word of caution concerning the plastic containers that look like cigarette cases:

 

On my last cruise the weather wasn't the best, but in the Bahamas we went to the beach on a sunny and windy day, with rather rough seas.

I had a last second decision to make: do I put some cash in my "water safe" and leave the rest of my wallet behind, or take a credit card? I chose the credit card which would be more useful in the event of theft. I stuffed a map in to keep it from rattling around.

 

I was a little leery of the latch on the safe and thought of securing it with a rubber band; but I couldn't locate one quickly and my wife was giving me that "what's taking you so long" look, so I tied the safe cord to my bathing trunks and stuffed the safe in the front pocket.

 

 

I'm sure you can guess the rest: As I frolicked in the roiling waves the safe kept floating out of my pocket but remained tied to my suit until . . .

 

the time I reached for it and to my horror the latch had opened and the top was wide open. When I looked inside all I saw was water.

 

As I frantically looked around, I spotted the map floating on the water a few feet away. I grabbed it before the next wave hit but alas, no credit card. After much searching with a snorkel mask and help from some bystanders, nothing turned up.

 

Moral: don't trust those cheap water safes, plan ahead, and of course take more than one credit card!

I bought the Cruise Critic beach safe from this site. It is not waterproof at all! Although the things that you put inside can stand to get wet: money, credit cards, and ship pass card. The thing I don't get is the camera. Esp if you paid the money for a dslr, you want to use it. Why would you bring a cheap camera and take pics that aren't worth printing out/saving/showing off.

Yeah, we don't bring a lot to the beach. Your credit card (only bring one), cash and your ship's key can get wet....so you can stick them in a velcroed pocket in your swim trunks. No one wants your tee shirt or flip flops, so no worries there!

 

I would forgo expensive cameras/electronics on a beach day...

Beach days are usually where I get my best pics! I would never leave my camera onboard those days.

Don't take anything to the beach that either can't get wet or that someone would steal. Sure some fool will take your towel, or shirt, but that is really not an issue. Money, DLs, Ship Cards, and Credit Cards can all get wet. They go in a pocket and that is that. As far as a camera the one that goes to the beach is an underwater camera and it goes with us into the water. BTW it works fine out of the water too.

If you don't want the IDs and cash wet, take a one quart zip lock bag, put it in, squeeze the air out and seal it up. It then fits easily in a pocket (Make sure you can velcro or zip the pocket shut.) and all that matters is with you.

Leave most things including passports on the ship.