For those who are on the hunt for the best beach cooler, this is the article for you! Most beach coolers that we have reviewed below offer all the essential features. Hence, you should definitely find a suitable choice to keep your food and drinks cold for your next trip to the beach.
These beach coolers have innovative and unique specs, which keep your food fresh, ice cold and drinks chilled for a longer period. It's important to be able to keep the contents as cold as possible when enjoying yourself on a hot day at the beach. So, without further ado, let's see if we can find the best beach coolers on the market for your summers in the sun. Some people think of a backpack cooler for the beach but these will only carry 4 or 5 drinks which, for most isn't enough for a day at the beach. Soft sided coolers can also be a great option for the beach. If you need more capacity than some of these beach coolers offer check out our wheeled cooler reviews.
Beach Coolers Comparison Chart
Best Beach Cooler Reviews
Carhartt Lunch Cooler Bag
The Carhartt Deluxe Dual Compartment Insulated Lunch Cooler Bag is capable of meeting all your cooler related needs. When it comes to the size, it is the most suitable lunch box that you can take with you for a beach picnic.
This soft beach bag has two separate compartments. Both of these compartments are insulated and are made of sturdy fabric. The Rain Defender feature works perfectly well due to its outstanding water repellent coating. The main compartment offers sufficient space to store your food and keep your drinks and ice chilled.
Its top dome comes with another insulated compartment, which helps to organize your food perfectly. The Carhartt Deluxe Lunch Bag also has a front compartment with zippers. It serves as a perfect place to store your condiments and utensils.
These beach coolers are made of soft yet strong materials. The shoulder strap and top handle are also there to assist you in carrying it to and from the beach. This can make transportation easier than using a beach cooler with wheels. You can check out our review of the best beach cooler with wheels, To give it the required strength, the manufacturer used triple-needle stitching and strong metal hardware.
The main compartment is insulated with a welded liner, which keeps your food fresh and tasty for more than 24 hours. To enhance the storage capacity of this cooler, it also comes with two large mesh compartments that are located on the exterior.
Furthermore, this cooler is capable of accommodating most of your essentials. By keeping into account its carrying perspective, you can put 24 cans and 10 pounds of ice. With this weight, it would be comfortable for you to carry this cooler for longer distances.
For all these reasons, it easily makes our list of best beach coolers. It also offers enough space to put all your essential stuff. These coolers are also durable enough to bear job site abuse.
TOURIT Cooler Backpack
Our single backpack cooler entry on our list is from Tourit. This beach cooler back can hold up to 30 cans and comes in a variety of colors. The Price is right too, coming in just under $40. We truly love this cooler backpack.
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Coleman FlipLid 6 Personal Cooler
Next time you are going out on a beach picnic, take with you the Coleman 5 Quart FlipLid Cooler. The reason for this recommendation is the overall build quality, available space, and performance. This cooler is large enough to hold 6 cans. Additionally, it can keep your ice chilled for longer than the expected period. Coleman is well know for there roto-molded coolers and this is the perfect one for the beach. This is a great personal cooler. If you are going with a large group you may need more storage capacity than this has to offer. The Coleman Metal Cooler is another great option.
The Coleman 5 Quart FlipLid Cooler is spacious enough to offer plenty of space for packing a full meal. No matter whether you are going to the beach or bringing lunch to your office, this cooler serves as a viable choice. The best part of its structure is the bail handle, which makes it easy-to-carry.
This portable ice cooler is capable of storing your food and keeping your beverages chilled for more than 24 hours. The 5-quart capacity is sufficient to store a meal for two to four people.
When enjoying food and drinks, you can use the lid as a tray. The molded cup holders also provide the perfect space to put your beverage. When you are done with your picnic, simply wipe out the EZ-Clean top with a cloth. As far as beach coolers go, this is a great option. Coleman also offers their classic metal cooler which is less beach friendly.
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YETI Hopper Cooler
The YETI Hopper Flip soft cooler is a popular option for fishing enthusiasts, campers, and beachgoers. Notably, this portable cooler serves as a perfect choice if you are looking for the best beach cooler. It’s a durable and lightweight cooler, which is capable of carrying a reasonable amount of food and beverages. Yetis is the king of coolers and this options shows why.
When it comes to the construction, this portable beach cooler it is built to last. You can bring it on all types of adventurous trips. Just grab your YETI Hopper and other necessary gear while going out on a fun trip to the beach.
This leak-proof cooler is made with quality materials, which makes it a tough and durable product. The Hopper is spacious enough to carry food and beverages for your beach party. Carrying this cooler is much easier, and you can cover a lot of distances while carrying this cooler.
It is a compact ice cooler, which doesn’t have a bulky structure, yet it can accommodate a reasonable amount of food items. With 2-8 lbs dry weight, this is an extremely lightweight beach cooler. Talking about its capacity, you can put 6 cans and a similar amount of food keeping everything ice cold.
This particular beach cooler appears to be somewhat expensive when compared with other similar options. However, when you take a look at some of its innovative features, it seems that the price is truly justified.
YETI is popular for launching personal-sized beach coolers with all the necessary specs. The insulation material makes it waterproof and mildew-resistant. The leak-proof Hydrolok Zipper and DryHide Shell provide maximum resistance against water and dampness.
The most interesting feature of this YETI cooler is its availability in a variety of colors. Just like any other YETI product, this beach cooler lives up to our expectations. The zippers are also waterproof, keeping your food free from moisture when placed in a moist environment. As far as beach coolers go, this is on the expensive end but worth it.
The MOLLE stainless steel Bottle Opener is another handy feature, which is attached directly to the outer surface of this beach bag. The HitchPoint Grid can attach almost anything.
Igloo 14.8 Quart Playmate
As far as Beach coolers go, this one is a classic. The Igloo 14.8 Quart Playmate is a tried-and-tested product, which is job-site-approved. This perfectly designed product is bigger and tougher, built to serve as a perfect beach cooler. It has plenty of room for hearty lunches, snacks, and beers.
The Igloo beach cooler offers plenty of storage area to put all your food items. Due to its compact size and lightweight construction, you can take this cooler anywhere with you. The overall build quality of this product is satisfactory. In short, this renders it as the best value for your money.
When it comes to the capacity of the Igloo playmate , it can accommodate up to 14 quarts or 14 liters of volume. To put it simply, you can place 26 cans in it. As a matter of fact, it is the number one selling cooler when compared with similar beach coolers.
Its specifically patented locking lid is there to prevent spills. The diamond plate exterior is constructed with an impact-resistant material. The rugged texture gives it a sturdy appearance.
The lid is capable of opening on either side, making it easy to open when you have less space available. Carrying this beach cooler is much easier, as it comes with a molded grip. Moreover, the capacity is generous too.
You can place a variety of food items and beverages, which is sufficient to feed two adult people. The insulation is also of reasonable quality. This suggests that you can keep your drinks chilled for more than 24 hours.
The Igloo Playmate is available at an affordable price, which makes it an ideal option for a lot of people. Since it is less expensive, it doesn’t mean that this product is built with cheap materials. On the contrary, this beach cooler is capable of meeting your expectations with its build quality and performance. If you like Igloo coolers, be sure to check out the Sportsman Cooler.
ENGEL Cooler/Dry Box 13 Qt
This particular Engel cooler belongs to the Dry Box series. It’s an outstanding ice box, which offers a leak-proof compartment to store your food items. In fact, it is so durable that the manufacturer renders it as a virtually indestructible lunchbox. When it comes to the price, this particular cooler by ENGEL tends to stay well within the affordability range.
The ENGEL Dry Box is a lightweight and compact beach cooler. It helps keep your food preserved and drinks chilled. The Engler Dry box comes with a hanging accessory tray and shoulder strap. It offers maximum space to put all your essential food items.
The perfectly sealed lid keeps moisture and dust away from food. You can also use it as an emergency kit and store your belongings like medicines, electronics, and similar other stuff. With its unique airtight EVA gasket, the ice retention period exceeds more than 24 hours.
It also offers a recessed carry handle located at the central part of the lid. This handle is made of high quality and durable material. The integrated and adjustable shoulder strap makes it easy to carry. You can also use the removable hanging tray to store dry food items.
Each of the attached parts is secured with stainless steel screws. The rear hinges work on a self-stopping mechanism. In addition, the front latches are also made of stainless steel. The non-absorbent outer layer of this cooler is easy to clean and wash.
The overall structure of the Engler Dry box is made with PP Copolymer. The technology used for the manufacturing of the ENGEL Dry Box is Quality Injection Molding. The inner lining is insulated with a top-quality Polystyrene foam.
This suggests that you can carry this cooler on almost any kind of terrain. It is a great choice when you are looking for multi-purpose coolers. For instance, you can use it when going out for photography, hunting, or a beach party.
Just like other ENGEL products, this specific beach box beats others regarding its durability and ruggedness. This is the reason that it is referred to as the number one choice among a wide range of people.
Best Beach Cooler Final Verdict
If you are looking forward to spending some time on the beach, what you need is a couple of chilled drinks and snacks. To make your time more enjoyable, you should bring a durable and highly efficient beach cooler that can keep your ice and drinks cold.
To buy a suitable and highly functional beach cooler, you need to keep in mind some of the essential aspects. For instance, the most important thing to consider is the build quality and overall performance of a beach cooler. If you can't keep the drinks cold at the beach, it may make for a shorter trip.
In addition, when looking for the best beach coolers, think about the capacity. If your cooler isn’t that spacious, there is no point in buying it. To fulfill your goal of purchasing the best beach cooler, you have to set a budget first.
Another factor to consider is portability. Cooler backpacks are a great option here and many can can have even more capacity than some traditional beach coolers.
Once you have an idea of what options comes within your range, it is possible to limit your search. The products mentioned above are affordable and offer all the features that you can expect from an expensive beach cooler.
You may also notice we did not include a single cooler with wheels. It's our opinion that this is not the best options for the beach. We find most coolers with wheels are hard to move through the sand and tend to be make more problems then they are worth.
Hence, if you want to make a choice, just read the reviews carefully. Here, we have tried to place all the pros and cons, which will assist you in finding the best beach cooler.