47+ Beach Cover Ups That Make Packing for Vacation Easier

The right beach cover up is the piece you actually want to wear in your vacation photos, not the wrinkled sweatshirt you grabbed off the floor of your hotel room at the last second. Even if it’s a short distance from the pool to the bar at the resort, you should still look good. So drop the cutoff jorts and let me show you which cover ups are worth the suitcase weight.

This post is about shopping for the perfect beach cover up.

Just a heads up: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission (without any extra cost to you) if you make a purchase through my links.

The Best Beach Cover Ups to Shop Now

A great beach cover up is one of the few vacation pieces that has to actually do something. You want it to pull on quickly over a wet bikini, layer over a one-piece walking through a hotel lobby, and look composed in the photos hours after sunscreen and seawater. This post is the shortcut, the cover ups worth your suitcase real estate.

The right cover up depends on the setting. A crochet beach cover up dress works for a Tulum beachside villa or a hotel pool day, while a breezy sarong belongs on a boat. Beach cover up pants are right for a long Mediterranean lunch. A bachelorette weekend calls for the perfect matching set and a bridal beach cover up has to look white without looking like the actual wedding dress at brunch.

Below are 47+ beach cover ups to shop right now, organized by style.

1. Crochet Dress

A crochet dress is the most photographable cover up you can pack, as long as the one you buy is well made. The cheap ones collapse the second they hit water and start to look like a souvenir tablecloth by 4 pm.

2. Sarong

A sarong is the cover up the experienced traveler reaches for first. The good ones tie at least four different ways and double as a skirt or a tank top, which means they earn their suitcase real estate twice.

3. Matching Set

A matching set is the closest a cover up gets to a real outfit. Go with a top and skirt, or a top and shorts for a more casual beach day.

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4. Beach Pants

Beach pants are the most underrated cover up category and the smartest thing to pack for a sun-heavy itinerary. They slide on over a wet bikini and look genuinely good walking off the sand to a long lunch.

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5. Beach Button Down

A beach button down is the closest thing to a uniform on this list and the one I rebuy most often. A lightweight linen with the sleeves rolled is the version that works in a hotel lobby and on every vacation at any age.

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6. Bridal Cover Up

The bridal beach cover up walks a tricky line: white enough to read bridal, easy enough to actually wear by the pool. A crochet midi or a cute lace mini skirt is the version worth packing for a honeymoon or your bachelorette.

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The Beach Cover Ups Worth Packing

The thing nobody admits about a beach cover up is that it works harder than your actual outfit. A white linen button down over a black bikini is brunch on the way back from the sand. A long crocheted dress looks just as good by the pool as it does walking through town. The right one earns a permanent spot in your suitcase, the wrong one stays folded in the drawer the entire trip.

At Currently Popular, we believe the best beach cover up is the one that survives sunscreen, salt water, and every vacation adventure.

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Interested in More Outfit Ideas?

Head over to my Styled Looks on the LTK app to shop my latest looks, or scroll through the full Outfit Ideas archive on the blog for more.

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