For fun on the beach you want quick drying outfits that are comfortable both wet or dry. In this section you find ideas for beachwear that both look good and protect your skin from sunburn.

Comfy Swimwear

You've probably noticed that some people, especially teenagers, wear T-shirts and jeans on the beach and when swimming. Some do this because they want to avoid sunburn, but most wear them because it is fashionable and fun.

More practical are lycra swimshirts and lightweight pants which dry faster, as used by kite surfers. Unlined tracksuit bottoms or the more traditional Thai fishermen's pants are also good choices.

Thin breathable tops and pants made from nylon or Pertex dry quickly in hot weather. These loose fitting garments offer great sun protection. Most have a hood so you wont need a sun hat.

Swim shirts were created as an alternative to sunscreen and other forms of sun protection. Many people find that sunscreen isn’t always enough; it is often not used correctly and some have skin allergies or sensitivities to chemicals that sunscreens can contain.

We recommend using a combination of swim shirts, leggings and hats instead of sunscreen. Best of all, these swim clothes won't wash off and no need to reapply. The darker the swim shirt, the more protection it offers.

Think about purchasing an entire swimming outfit with long sleeve swim shirts and long leggings or shorts. Short sleeved swim shirts leave your arms exposed to sunburn when you're out on the beach. Long sleeve swim shirts are better for daily use.

 These Tips Can Literally Save Your Skin

1. Avoid the midday sun when the sun's UV rays are strongest.

2. Wear a wide-brimmed hat to protect your eyes, ears, face and the back of your neck, these areas are prone to overexposure to the sun.

3. Wear sunglasses to reduce sun exposure that can lead to cataracts and other eye damage.

4. Wear sun safe swimwear in dark colors with long sleeves and long pants if possible. A white T-shirt is insufficient as it only has a UPF of about 8 when dry, a bit more protection if the fabric is dyed or is thicker. A wet, light-colored shirt transmits nearly as much light to your skin as bare skin! Wet clothing allows up to 50% more transmission of UV radiation If you can see the skin, so can the sun.

5. Use sunscreen before you go out, and reapply every two hours if you've been perspiring or swimming. Even waterproof sunscreens can come off when you towel off sweat or water. Be aware that children under six months of age should never have sunscreen applied to their skin; they can be protected by avoiding time outdoors.

6. Pay attention to the UV Index, which provides a forecast of the expected risk of overexposure to the sun and indicates the degree of caution you should take when working, playing or exercising outdoors. The UV Index predicts exposure levels on a scale of 0 to 10+. A 0 indicates a low risk of overexposure; 10+ means a very high risk of overexposure.

7. UVA vs. UVB Rays: UVA's longer-wavelength rays can damage the skin's connective tissue, leading to premature aging as well as play a role in causing skin cancer. UVA rays also increase the risk of cataracts and retinal damage and are the type used in tanning salons. UVB radiation has shorter wavelengths and is primarily responsible for sunburn and skin cancer.

 Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure depends on:

1. How long you're in the sun. The longer you are out in the sun, the more UV you receive.

2. What you are wearing. Most summer clothes often expose more skin to UV and don't provide adequate protection. A dark hooded garment protects you from UV rays even when wet.

3. Where you are. UV is strongest at the equator and gets weaker as you go toward the earth's poles.

4. Time of day. UV is greatest at midday when the sun is high (between 10am - 4pm).

5. Season: Spring and summer have the highest intensity, but it is important to use sunscreen year-round.

6. Altitude: UV radiation increases 4% per 1000 feet elevation. Therefore, at 5000 feet (most ski resorts) there is 20% more UV radiation than at sea level.

7. Cloud Cover. Up to 80% of the sun's rays can penetrate puffy, light cloud, mist, haze and fog.

8. Reflection: Reflected UV radiation is as damaging as direct UV radiation:
   1. Sand/concrete reflects 25% of UV radiation
   2. Water reflects up to 80% of UV radiation.
   3. Snow reflects 85% of UV radiation.

9. Protection: It is your best bet to reduce your risk of skin cancer and photoaging. Cover up and look good for life.

Smart people these days wear sun protection clothing, in and out of the water. It looks like wetsuits or rash shirts used by surfers, made out of lycra which protects the skin from ultraviolet light better than anything else.

Sun protective swimwear is typically used in a highly intense UV environment, at the beach or at the pool during summer. The best approach to protection from the sun in this environment is a combination of SPF swimwear, sunscreen, and shade.

Clothing, wet or dry, should be part of a comprehensive sun protection programme that also includes hats with a wide brim all around, eyeglasses that block ultraviolet radiation, sunscreens with SPF 15 or higher for face and hands, and shade, especially between 10 am and 4 pm.

There are a number of factors to consider when selecting sun protection swimwear: Proper fit, skin coverage, fabric density and colour. This page explains these in more detail.

Proper Fit

Fit is important for appearance, comfort and sun protection levels. For many people, their first thought is to choose tight fitting swim shirts, just like the original rash guards or rash shirts worn by surfers. However, when stretched the weave of a fabric will open and can allow significant amount of UV to pass through the fabric. For this reason, choose sun protective swimwear that is designed to be worn close to the skin, but not to be skin tight.

Skin Coverage

For some reason people seem to believe that a short sleeve swim shirt will magically protect the whole body from sun burn. However, this is actually not so. Then again, you only need to cover those areas of your body which you don't want burned.

As a general rule, the greater skin coverage through uv protection swimwear, the less the area that needs to be protected by sunscreen that wears off and needs to be continually reapplied. UV protective swimwear that fully covers your shoulders and arms like long-sleeve swim shirts (and swim tights for legs) is the best choice for guaranteed all-day protection.

For swimming wear a full length lycra bodysuit or a swimshirt and leggings or board pants. These are easy to swim in and dry quickly. In Australia it is rare these days to see a kid wearing just swimmers (like speedos) or boardies on the beach. Most teens think that sun protection clothing is cool, but many will wear a rashie and boardies rather than a sunsuit.

For boating and other outdoor activities you may want to wear quick drying sportswear with a hooded top and long tracksuit pants or robust jeans. If you make sure that it all fits well and doesn't slip down, you'll have a great outfit for fun in and out of the water.

Know Your Fabrics

Not every form of clothing provides enough sun protection to prevent sunburn. Most of the summer clothes we wear would not get high marks for sun protection. Knowing what types of fabrics and colours to look for is a good start.

Several factors determine the effectiveness of clothing in blocking harmful UV rays, including fabric construction, fibre content and weave, fabric colour, finishing processes and the presence of additives.

Clothing made of tightly-woven fabric performs the best at protecting skin from the sun. Woven fabrics that have see-through holes between individual threads allow UV rays to penetrate through to the skin and are not recommended for sun protection.

The fabric used to make sun protective swimwear is important for a number of reasons. The best UV protective swimwear fabrics will be rated UPF 50+ based on a complete life cycle test when the fabric is wet. Sun protective fabrics will typically lose some of their protection as they age, so garments should be tested for their end of life cycle protection value.

Wet clothing loses some sun protection

The SPF of clothing can change when the material is either is stretched or worn wet. Any article of clothing that is stretched in certain areas loses some level of UV protection, because the fabric becomes thinner and more transparent to light.

Many fabrics also provide less sun protection when wet. This is because water displaces air in the fabric and UV transmits better through water than air.

Wet clothing poses a problem, with some fabrics, such as cotton, losing up to 50 percent of their SPF. In Florida, for example, it's common practice for parents to put a white T-shirt on their children to protect them from the sun while swimming. What parents don't realise is when this T-shirt gets wet, it actually provides very little sun protection.

A recent modification to the AATCC 183 protocol for testing SPF swimwear calls for testing the fabric when wet, providing a better evaluation of the protection level when the garment is used in water as intended. So the best SPF swimwear will provide UPF 50+ protection when wet at the end of it’s life cycle.

Darker clothes protect you better

Keep in mind that light coloured T-shirts can be seen through when wet and thus provide less sun protection. You may want to wear two T-shirts on top of each other, maybe a short sleeve one over a long sleeve one.

Darker colored fabrics are better than lighter colors for increased sun protection. For instance, the SPF of a blue cotton T-shirt is 10 versus 7 for white cotton T-shirt which provides only moderate protection from sunburn, less when wet.

At the other end of the spectrum, a long-sleeve dark sweatshirt and denim jeans offer excellent sun protection. Even when wet you get an estimated SPF of around 50. Dark colours worn underneath light colours look good when wet.

An easy way to test the amount of sun protection in an article of clothing is to hold it up to a light or window and see how much light passes through the fabric. If a lot of light passes through, it will not provide adequate sun protection and you should opt for a more opaque fabric.

Use different coloured clothes to identify swimmers in team sports and games. Bright colours like red or yellow can be seen better.

UV Absorbers

Treating fabrics with UV-absorbers such as resins is another common way for clothing manufacturers to increase the SPF of clothing. Recently, specialised laundry detergents that contain sun-protective additives have been introduced to give consumers a temporary way to increase the SPF of clothing between washes.