I just got back from the beach a couple days ago and let’s just say, this time around, I learned a few things. I’ve never had a beach trip quite like this one. If I could go back, I’d change just a couple things. Although, if I changed them, maybe it wouldn’t have been so much fun!

1. Don’t not wear sunscreen! This will make you burn like hell. Also, if you do wear sunscreen, make sure to rub it in well. Make a good coating everywhere. My mother didn’t and she had a streaky burn on her back. It looked like someone wrote in cursive with sunscreen on her back.

2. Don’t go into the ocean when a storm is coming. Jelly fish will sting you (my first time to ever be stung!) and the waves will take you out. It hurts just a bit being drowned by waves!

3. Don’t take floats that you aren’t positive whose they are. We had a lazy river at our condo and saw these nice floats in the water. We decided they were owned by the hotel and we could use them. Boy, how we were wrong. A group of maybe 10 or so called us out asking for their floats back. Needless to say, we went and bought floats just like the ones they had so we weren’t using other people’s floats anymore.

4. Don’t drop your phone in the sand while searching for Pokémon or Snapchatting. This seems like an easy task to accomplish. Just grip your phone tighter, right? Yeah, until you trip because you aren’t watching where you’re going. I was running on the beach a couple years back and completely face planted. Of course, I had my new camera in my hand. I’d never taken photos with it and I never got to. Sand ruins lives!

5. Don’t flash the entire beach when a wave takes you out. The most important think I learned is that the beach is not a strip club. I’m sure I acted like it was. I should have worn a one piece.

6. Don’t wear valuables in the ocean. They will get lost. Glasses and hats are important to leave behind in your bag when you’re taking a swim in the water. My mom got in the water with both of these on. Her real glasses, not sunglasses, and a hat. The first big wave took her out and when she came up out of the water, her glasses were gone. She immediately starting freaking out because she had to drive and just couldn’t see. By some miracle, I felt them on the floor of the ocean with my feet and picked them up for her. They should have been long gone by then! So leave your valuables by your chair, no one will take them!

7. Don’t take your hat off and just sit it down anywhere because you will leave it and someone will steal it. Again, my mother left her North Face hat by the hot tub. When she realized she’d left it, she tried lost and found, but let’s be real. It’s North Face. That hat was long gone and happy with its new owner.

8. Don’t just let your kids roam around freely. They get into everyone and everything. Plus, they wear their flip flops down onto the beach and totally forget about them, making you go back for them later.

9. Don’t shake sand out of your towel when the wind is blowing because it will hit other people and they will get mad. The same goes for spraying sunscreen.

10. Don’t bleed. Just don’t.

After writing all 10 things not to do at the beach, I realize maybe I just shouldn’t take my mom! I’m just joking, she made the trip fun and she paid for it! If you’re going to the beach any time soon, keep these tips in mind. They may help save lives!