Anyone use a beach security bag while at the beach?

[KKB]

I have a water safe pouch for the phone, but realize it will get very hot hanging from my neck while floating in the ocean...

When DH & I travel together often one of us goes in the water at a time if it is crowded & we cannot keep an eye on our things.

I have a dry box for ID/cash/CC that I wear around my neck.

But I do like to have my phone along for photos.

I was wondering if anyone had used something like this?

If so, recommendations? The first one I saw on Amazon had reviews showing my greatest fear--lock won't work....

Or does it actually bring attention to a valuable--am I better off tucking it under things in my beach bag (towel, sunscreen, magazines, coverup) & tossing under my chair?

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by KKB

[navybankerteacher]

18 minutes ago, KKB said:

I have a water safe pouch for the phone, but realize it will get very hot hanging from my neck while floating in the ocean...

When DH & I travel together often one of us goes in the water at a time if it is crowded & we cannot keep an eye on our things.

I have a dry box for ID/cash/CC that I wear around my neck.

But I do like to have my phone along for photos.

I was wondering if anyone had used something like this?

If so, recommendations? The first one I saw on Amazon had reviews showing my greatest fear--lock won't work....

Or does it actually bring attention to a valuable--am I better off tucking it under things in my beach bag (towel, sunscreen, magazines, coverup) & tossing under my chair?

 

This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when he stated that no thief would ever think to look for your wallet in the toe of your sneaker when at the beach. 

 

There are really just two recommendations: 

1) Always go to the beach with someone who will sit there and watch your stuff.

2) Always keep on your person at all times anything you do not want to risk losing.

 

Remember - you only go to the beach while on a cruise very rarely, while folks who make their living by stealing the stuff beach goers put at risk have much greater expertise:  they will beat you every time.

[Hlitner]

This topic kind of reminds me of the times we rent a car on the island of Curacao.  DW and I tend to drive 20+ miles from the cruise port and will often park at some remote beaches where we will swim and snorkel.  The rental car does lock.  The advice of the rental car dealers is to not lock the car and also leave the windows open.  The thinking is that if the car is locked somebody will break a window (to get in the car) thinking the only reason anyone locks a car is to protect valuables.  

 

DW and I are beach lovers and often find ourselves by ourselves (we are very independent travelers) at beaches around the world.  We operate with the basic rule that anything we leave on the beach is expendable.  All valuables stay with me in a waterproof pouch.  In over forty years of going to beaches around the world we have never had anything stolen but we assume that is because we never left anything on the beach worth stealing.

 

Hank

[KKB]

So remarkably we are on the same page...sort of.

DH & I have left phones but nothing else of value in the beach bag under the chair.

The phone is locked...so valuable...sort of.

Guess I will do what I have always done...

[leaveitallbehind]

I guess I take a somewhat different view of it.  Most of the people that you would be at the beach with are fellow passengers so I guess they would then be the most likely ones to be concerned with taking your valuables. (I know, there are locals and other beach employees there.  But it would be a bit obvious for them to be rooting through someone's belongings). 

 

I would want to hope that a fellow passenger would not try to steal from me with many other people sitting near by observing it.  Besides the only thing of real value that we would have would be our phones, which I would think most - if not everyone there - would already have.

 

I realize there is crime everywhere - including on cruises - but I guess we have been fortunate that in 30 years of cruising we have never had anything taken from us on a beach or experienced other issues on board. 

 

Just my opinion.

Edited May 29, 2022 by leaveitallbehind

[Toofarfromthesea]

16 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This topic kind of reminds me of the times we rent a car on the island of Curacao.  DW and I tend to drive 20+ miles from the cruise port and will often park at some remote beaches where we will swim and snorkel.  The rental car does lock.  The advice of the rental car dealers is to not lock the car and also leave the windows open.  The thinking is that if the car is locked somebody will break a window (to get in the car) thinking the only reason anyone locks a car is to protect valuables.  

 

DW and I are beach lovers and often find ourselves by ourselves (we are very independent travelers) at beaches around the world.  We operate with the basic rule that anything we leave on the beach is expendable.  All valuables stay with me in a waterproof pouch.  In over forty years of going to beaches around the world we have never had anything stolen but we assume that is because we never left anything on the beach worth stealing.

 

Hank

 

Then wouldn't it make sense to just put your valuables in the trunk?

[Hlitner]

55 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Then wouldn't it make sense to just put your valuables in the trunk?

It was a hatchback.  But even trunks of old rental cars (what you generally get on Curacao and some other islands) are easy to pop open.  And by the way, stealing valuables out of rental cars is big business in parts of Europe (especially in parts of Italy).  A few years ago it got so bad on the highway between Rome and Naples (E45) that it was not safe to leave a car unattended at the restaurant/rest stops.  We still recall stopping along that road for lunch and having an elderly local offer to "watch our car" for 10 Euros."  Another time we were at a rest stop in Northeastern Spain when a van load of gypsies pulled up next to our parked car.  DW and I took shifts watching the car.  After a few minutes a Police car pulled in near our car and the officers immediately spotted the gypsies.  He walked over to me (I was leaning against our rental car), smiled, nodded, and said "bien."  

 

Experienced travelers know it is never a good idea to leave luggage or valuables in a car.  Even in our own country it has been widely reported that some folks in the San Francisco/Bay Area now leave their car trunks open in order to prevent thieves from breaking-in (and damaging) their car.  As shocking as that may be, the thieves in our cities are just playing "catch up" with similar practices found in many tourist destinations around the world.  Here is a link to just one story (there are many)

‘Please Do Not Break Glass’: San Franciscans Leaving Car Trunks Open To Prevent Smash-And-Grab | The Daily Wire

 

 

Hank