What to bring sea swimming

Your core temperature keeps falling for twenty to thirty minutes after you get out, as cold blood returns from your limbs. That is called afterdrop, and it is why the getting-dressed part of a swim is the part worth equipping properly.

• Warm dry clothes, laid out in the order you will put them on. Your hands will be clumsy and your patience short, so a jumper you have to fight is a jumper you will give up on. Layers, loose, and a hat.
• A changing robe or a big towel. A robe is warmer and far easier to change under in wind, and it is the single item most regular swimmers say they would not go without. A towelling poncho does most of the same job for much less — how to choose a changing robe goes through the trade-offs.
• A warm drink in a flask. Genuinely functional rather than a nicety — it helps rewarming from the inside and gives you a reason to stand still for ten minutes instead of driving off.
• Something to eat. Cold burns energy fast and a swim often leaves people shakier than they expect.
• Sturdy footwear for afterwards. Numb feet and wet rocks are a bad combination, and most swim injuries happen on land.

Do not plan on a hot shower straight afterwards. Rapid rewarming can worsen afterdrop, and the dizziness it causes is dangerous standing up. Get dressed, drink something warm, move gently, and warm up slowly. Do not drive until the shivering has stopped and your hands work.

• Neoprene gloves and boots. For winter swimming these do more per pound than anything else. Hands and feet are where cold bites first, and losing grip is what stops you climbing out. Many swimmers wear gloves and boots long before they consider a wetsuit.
• A neoprene or silicone swim cap — or two. A surprising share of heat is lost from the head, and a bright cap is the thing that makes you visible from shore.
• A brightly coloured tow float. Cheap, inflatable, drags behind you on a waist belt and does not impede swimming. It makes you visible to boats and gives you something to hold if you need to stop. Recommended by lifeguarding and open water organisations, and the one piece of safety kit worth buying first.
• Goggles, if you are swimming rather than dipping.
• A wetsuit, if you want longer swims. It extends your time in the water substantially and slows the onset of losing your arms. It does not prevent cold water shock, because that is triggered by cold on the skin and water still reaches your neck and face.

A wetsuit is the expensive decision and it is worth delaying. Plenty of year-round swimmers never buy one, because short dips in gloves and boots are a different activity from long swims — work out which you are doing first.

• A waterproof bag or dry bag for wet kit, so the car does not become a swamp.
• A car key you are happy to leave on a beach, or a way to secure it. Losing a key with numb hands in shingle is a well-known way to end a good morning badly.
• A small first aid kit. Cut feet are the most common swimming injury by a distance.
• A thermometer, if you are the kind of person who will want to know. The modelled temperature on every spot page here is a grid value and the water in a specific bay often differs.
• A phone in a waterproof case, kept on the beach with whoever is watching rather than carried.

• An expensive wetsuit, until you know how you actually swim. A cheap one or none at all will tell you more.
• A fancy waterproof watch. Your phone on the beach does the job at first.
• Most of the branded accessories. The gap between a £150 robe and a £40 one is real but small; the gap between having one and not having one is enormous.

The genuinely non-negotiable list is short: warm dry clothes, a way to change, something warm to drink, and somebody with you.

Check the spot's current status and the sea temperature on its page — find one on the Ireland directory or the UK directory. If it has rained heavily, swimming after heavy rain covers how long to leave it. And if this is new to you, read the cold water guide first: the kit helps, but the technique on the way in matters more.

No products are recommended by brand here and this site does not currently earn anything from kit. If that changes, it will be disclosed on the page — and it will never affect a water-quality status. Our editorial policy sets that out.