By Rae Hadley

The sun‘s out and in all likelihood, you are ready to cruise off to the coast loaded up with sunscreen, a new pair of flip flops, and a pocketful of ziplock bags to counteract your mortal fear of water-stopping-play. 

Fear not! Our list of essential pool-proof toys will have you splashing around in the shallows, enjoying the best of the beach.

So pack your best bikini, and snorkel but don’t forget to leave room for these essential waterproof tech accessories to help you keep your holiday fun-packed and active with your Insta feed in tip-top condition. You can relax, safe in the knowledge that your hydrophobic days are over and your fear of wet electronics a thing of the past.

Sony NW WS414 – Earbuds – IP68

Whether you are determined to keep up your swim-speed training, or lazily floating your days away on a pool banana, these beauties have the power to provide the right ambiance for your swim sessions. The built-in 8-gigabyte storage enables you to create different track listings for different sessions and moods, with 12 hours of playback to keep you motivated–or chilled. 

They are perfect for in the pool, in the sea, in the gym, and on the bike! Sun, sea, and sweat–they can cope with everything you might want to throw at them.

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom – Speaker – IPx7

This speaker gives us sweet music no matter the location. It’s fully waterproof body means we can enjoy the pool party safe in the knowledge that when it really starts jumping we don’t have to worry about losing those precious vibes while fishing a sad and soggy speaker out of the shallow end. Oh no!

This water baby–aerodynamic as a rugby ball–can happily double-time from one side of the pool to the other, and if it drops in the drink, well it will carry on pumping out those tunes regardless.

Underwater Audio Delphin – Mp3 player – IPX8

Gotta love the name! And if it makes my swimming as graceful and as synchronised as those gorgeous aquatic gymnasts, then it’s worth the extra cash. Unfortunately, it isn’t likely to turn my splashy lumbering up and down the pool into sinuous fluidity.

However, it will make a monotonous training session or a seaside siesta more enjoyable with its ability to stream your favourite Spotify playlists. With 8 gigabytes of internal storage, and up to 6 hours of battery life, you can match your music to your mood. And if you are feeling the need for intelligent discourse or an entertaining narrative then this Android-toting teammate has your back, with its pocketful of podcasts, all available at the press of its tiny buttons. 

Hitcase Pro – iPhone Case – IP68

There is nothing worse than realising that your beloved iPhone, full of irreplaceable photographic memorabilia, has just died an untimely death thanks to its proximity to saltwater and sand. Knowing that this fate could have been avoided with the savvy purchase of a solid waterproof case is the final word in avoiding a holiday misery. So, do yourself a favour and look at this one as our best of the bunch.

Here is a holiday necessity we really can’t do without, and thanks to its options of wide, super-wide and macro lenses, you can take the free and frolicking oceanside photos you dream of regardless of the salty spray. Selfies snapped while paddling around the pool on the shocking-pink inflatable flamingo are so much more fun when your face is filled with joy and relaxation rather than fear and anxiety at the thought of dropping your pride and joy.

Kindle Paperwhite & Oasis – eReader – IPX8

These may be on the more expensive end of the tech-gadget spectrum, but reclining on a pool lounger or beachside is one of the iconic summer holiday positions. And to do this without the latest paperback, probably purchased in the airport departure lounge, seems impossible.

Well, almost impossible, because the possibility of a soggy paperback and the speed at which we fly through these tomes has given us the perfect excuse to splash-the-cash for a waterproof, multi-novel, holiday experience. 

The Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis are the go-to waterproof darlings of the eReader world. Initially released in 2017, they are yet to be beaten for sheer rugged brilliance. With choices of 8 gigabytes or 32 gigabytes and fully waterproof designs, they suddenly make reading in the bath, or cocktail-in-hand on a luminous inflatable, a viable option. And with the capacity to hold more books than there are days on the beach–or by the pool–you are sorted across an endless list of genres for chick-lit, personal development, history, travel, and more. The options are endless. The tough decision is, which Kindle to choose.

Olympus Tough TG6 – Camera

Finally, there is a reason to go crazy and splash out on a waterproof camera so you can channel your inner mermaid and snap selfies with the fish. Tough by name, tough by nature, this camera is life-proof. It’s a no messing, bombproof, adventure buddy, which will ensure you capture those special shots from the widest range of environments–you know, sun, sea, snow.

The underwater ones, the falling-in-the-pool ones, the classic bloopers, the accidentally-dropping-the-camera-off-a-cliff ones (well, maybe not the last one) can be pulled off with this photographic pachyderm and with little-to-no effort on your part. 

With a 12-megapixel, high-speed sensor, and a 35mm, f2.0 lens, it is impossible to take a bad shot. In addition to this, there is the option to buy the 81°degree or the whopping 120°degree wide-angle lens, both of which cleverly pop onto the external camera housing. This point-and-shoot is waterproof to a maximum depth of 15 metres, plenty for you to capture your scuba course or your personal reenactment of Finding Nemo. It is also shockproof to 2.1 metres so bouncing it off a table and into the pool becomes less of a concern. In the midst of the action, snapping away, you will be capturing the world around you in all its cinematic, watery glory.

At a time when we all need to be more environmentally conscious, this little powerhouse enables us to ‘leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos’ with the utmost style.

So which of these tempting toys will be your best beach buddy this holiday? With so many great options, making the decision is tougher than the most drop-proof tech out there! Whichever you choose, your vacation is sure to be filled with amazing experiences! We are looking forward to seeing the IG snaps roll in!

Nb – Ingress Protection (IP) ratings detail the protection against solid state particles (1st number) and protection against liquid state particles (2nd number). Solid state particle protection is rated to a maximum of 6, and liquid state protection is rated to a maximum of 9(k). Not all items have both numbers.

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