A flat surface for eating, resting a drink on, or playing games on, always comes in handy at the beach. You may have tried using a towel, but you know that sometimes that just isn’t good enough. When it comes to food especially, you want a steady table. Ideally this table will be fairly small and collapsible, so that it can be carried easily, but not so lightweight that it flies away with any slight breeze.
Here’s a cool version – actually I don’t know which I like best – the table or the cool blue plastic plate and mug:
Folding beach table pictured: GSI Outdoors Micro Table
I have seen people use the top of an ice cooler as a table, and that seemed to work pretty well. But It all depends on how flat and uniform the top of the cooler is. If the handle sticks out in any way, it will be awkward to set things down on it. A table can be used as a surface to play cards or other games, or it can be used as at place to rest a book or magazine. Some may be just high and wide enough to put over your legs, like a bed tray would be.