Skip to main content
A woman reads a book while laying on a beach towel on the sand. Credit: Reviewed / Séamus Bellamy
Home & Garden

The Best Beach Towels of 2026

Products are chosen independently by our editors. Purchases made through our links may earn us a commission.

A woman reads a book while laying on a beach towel on the sand. Credit: Reviewed / Séamus Bellamy

Why trust Reviewed?

Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.

Learn more about our product testing
1
Editor's Choice Product image of PackTowl Personal Beach Towel
Best Overall

PackTowl Personal Beach Towel

Check Price at Amazon

As an easy-to-pack towel that will dry you off and leave the sand behind, the PackTowl excels. Read More

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Absorptive
  • Quick to dry

Cons

  • None that we could find
2
Product image of Aysesa Sandproof Turkish Beach Towel w/Pocket

Aysesa Sandproof Turkish Beach Towel w/Pocket

Check Price at Amazon

They Aysesa towel absorbs water well, dries quickly and gives you an easy to access pocket for all your smaller items at the beach. Read More

Pros

  • Quick to dry
  • Zippered pocket

Cons

  • None
3
Product image of Bay Laurel Turkish Beach Towel with Travel Bag

Bay Laurel Turkish Beach Towel with Travel Bag

Check Price at Amazon

Bright colors, thirsty cotton and sand-free, the Bay Laurel checks all the boxes for an easy-to-use Turkish towel. Read More

Pros

  • Absorptive
  • Included carry bag

Cons

  • Held on to sand
4
Product image of Tesalate Bohemian Beach Towel

Tesalate Bohemian Beach Towel

Check Price at Tesalate

The Tesalate's colors and print really pops but the performance is only so-so. Read More

Pros

  • Eye catching prints and colors
  • Releases sand

Cons

  • Not as absorbent as other towels
5
Product image of The Company Store Hammam Cotton Beach Towel

The Company Store Hammam Cotton Beach Towel

Check Price at Home Depot

A lighter colored cotton towel, the Company Store towel was easily stained. Read More

Pros

  • Attractive print

Cons

  • Stains easily

  • PackTowl Personal Beach Towel

  • Aysesa Sandproof Turkish Beach Towel w/Pocket

  • Bay Laurel Turkish Beach Towel with Travel Bag

  • Tesalate Bohemian Beach Towel

  • The Company Store Hammam Cotton Beach Towel

  • Great Bay Home Cabana Striped Beach Towel

  • What You Should Know About Buying a Beach Towel

  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

  • Best Overall PackTowl Personal Beach Towel
  • Aysesa Sandproof Turkish Beach Towel w/Pocket
  • Bay Laurel Turkish Beach Towel with Travel Bag
  • Tesalate Bohemian Beach Towel
  • The Company Store Hammam Cotton Beach Towel
  • Great Bay Home Cabana Striped Beach Towel
  • What You Should Know About Buying a Beach Towel
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy
Rebecca Boniface
Written by Rebecca Boniface

Updated February 9, 2024

The Rundown

  • Our favorite beach towels are the PackTowl Personal Beach Towel and the Aysesa Sandproof Turkish Beach Towel w/Pocket.
  • The best beach towels offer quick absorption, easy sand shedding, and fast drying, providing a comfortable and clean lounge area.
  • Look for towels with extra-long fibers or microfiber for superior absorbency and minimal sand retention, ensuring a pleasant beach experience.

If your summer plans involve rays of sun and a sandy beach, you’re going to need a water bottle and towel. Not just any towel - a towel that will protect you from rough sand while gently absorbing water off you. I speak of a magnificent beach towel.

Larger than your average bath towel, the best beach towel offers a dry and sand-free lounge area as well as a quick way to soak up water after a dip. Ideally, it should be resistant to any sloppy, staining drinks like cola – and colorful to add some pizzazz to your photos.

After weeks of research and our second round of testing top-rated beach towels, we can tell you that the REI PackTowl Personal Beach Towel (available at Amazon) is the best beach towel for most people. Available in a range of sizes, it is quickly absorbent, shakes off sand easily and dries quickly in a breeze.

A woman dries off her arm with a grey beach towel.
Credit: Reviewed/Jackson Ruckar

The PackTowl Personal Towel absorbed water quickly and efficiently in our testing.

Best Overall
PackTowl Personal Beach Towel

The PackTowl Personal Towel isn't the most exciting towel to look at—the color selection is limited. However, the PackTowl more than exceeded our jaded expectations for microfiber beach towels. It excels in quickly absorbing water and does better than all-cotton towels.

The PackTowl absorbs over 80% of its weight in water, but this doesn't come close to the PackTowl’s abilities. We went ahead and checked out the advertised claim that the PackTowl could absorb four times its weight in water.

With a bit of coaxing, it absorbs more than four cups, but couldn’t quite hit five, placing its absorption at roughly four times its weight. Past experiences with poly-fiber travel towels involved pushing water around more than absorbing it, so the PackTowel excelled by comparison and on its own.

To add to its beach towel cred, the PackTowl sheds sand quicker than kids kicking their sandals off at the shoreline. This greatly reduces cleanup after a fun day outside.

When dry, the towel weighs a svelte 9.2 ounces, making it one of the lighter towels we found and therefore great for packing in a beach bag. The colors currently available for the PackTowl are a little underwhelming, so if aesthetics are important, you might want to check out another poly towel or cotton towels.

The PackTowl has a handy loop with a snap, so you can secure it while it hangs to dry. The included pouch zips shut (helpful for keeping the sand in until you can wash it) and also has a loop for hanging.

The PackTowl’s one downside is the price, but at this size, many travel towels are going to run a bit higher than regular towels for the bathroom. If you consider this towel’s extra utility when camping, hiking, or boating, the cost feels similar to other outdoor and travel gear.

Pros

  • Lightweight

  • Absorptive

  • Quick to dry

Cons

  • None that we could find

Buy now at Amazon

Product image of Aysesa Sandproof Turkish Beach Towel w/Pocket
Aysesa Sandproof Turkish Beach Towel w/Pocket

The Aysesa is a Turkish style towel with a zippered pocket that blends into the striped pattern, giving you a quick place to stash small goods like keys or cash while hanging out on the beach. The weave is an attractive pattern, with a couple of shades of blue and cream stripes.

Like the other Turkish cotton towels, the Aysesa has good water absorption and retains very little sand. Despite the cotton’s softness, it doesn't stain easily. This striped beach towel will leave the sand on the shore and get you dry quickly.

Pros

  • Quick to dry

  • Zippered pocket

Cons

  • None

Buy now at Amazon

Product image of Bay Laurel Turkish Beach Towel with Travel Bag
Bay Laurel Turkish Beach Towel with Travel Bag

The Bay Laurel is a brightly-colored Turkish style towel with tassels and stripes. We can confirm the glowing reviews this towel has earned. It dries water similarly to our top pick, although it held on to more sand than other towels.

This towel has no issues with staining, and easily washes out without issue. Like the other Turkish style towels, the towel becomes soft after several washes and also folds up compactly. The Bay Laurel performs well, but for the same price you can get features like a hidden pocket.

Pros

  • Absorptive

  • Included carry bag

Cons

  • Held on to sand

Buy now at Amazon

Product image of Tesalate Bohemian Beach Towel
Tesalate Bohemian Beach Towel

Tesalate’s Instagram-famous microfiber beach towel gets mixed results, especially for the price. It performs relatively poorly when it comes to absorption and doesn't repel sand the best.

The texture of this towel improves after a couple of washes, maiking it feel less like plastic. The loop that secures it while drying is a thoughtful feature, as is the drawstring bag. If color and print are more important than water absorption and price, go for the splurge.

Pros

  • Eye catching prints and colors

  • Releases sand

Cons

  • Not as absorbent as other towels

Buy now at Tesalate

Product image of The Company Store Hammam Cotton Beach Towel
The Company Store Hammam Cotton Beach Towel

The Company Store Hamman beach towel has a slightly rough texture on one side with short terry cloth loops on the other, in a cheerful pattern of alternating pastel stripes. Surprisingly, this towel doesn't wash as easily as some others and may stain.

This towel performs well when it comes to absorption, but unfortunately holds onto a lot of sand. Ultimately, the fact that it stains when several other 100% cotton towels won't, knocked it down in the ranking.

Pros

  • Attractive print

Cons

  • Stains easily

Buy now at Home Depot

Product image of Great Bay Home Cabana Striped Beach Towel
Great Bay Home Cabana Striped Beach Towel

These popular, high-quality beach towels are designed for everyone's taste. Choose from 12 stripe and color options, such as gray and purple. These durable, plush cotton towels are described by many reviewers as feeling soft. They are perfect for any outdoor water activity.

Pros

  • Soft

  • Machine washable

  • 12 stripe and color options

Cons

  • Not very thick

Buy now at Amazon

What You Should Know About Buying a Beach Towel

Beach towels are admittedly a low-tech piece of outdoor gear, but there are still some aspects that to consider when finding the most soft, absorbent, and durable towel you can find.

Turkish towels: Turkish towels have extra long fibers, and with use and washing, they become incredibly soft. Before testing beach towels, I considered luxury in towels by plushness alone. After testing these thinner towels, I changed my mind—they absorb just as quickly as fluffy clouds of terry cloth, without holding onto the scads of sand that terry cloth likes to pick up.

Travel towels: Travel towels are lightweight and dry quickly, but using them to dry off has traditionally ranged from frustrating to unpleasant (with a texture of a paper towel at best). Newer travel towels have offered a softer, flocked surface and better absorption. If travel towels have been unpleasant for you in the past, it’s worth revisiting them.

Terrycloth: Formed with little loops that greatly increase surface area, terrycloth is common in bathroom textiles. The extra surface area can help absorb liquids, like when you’re drying off after a shower. Terry cloth is rated in grams per square meter, or GSM, which indicates weight and density and is roughly similar to thread count in sheets.

What Makes a Towel a Beach Towel?

Generally, a beach towel is expected to be long enough to lie on, so at least 60 inches by 30 inches. Of course, anything bigger, like 72 inches by 40 inches, will give you some extra wiggle room. The towel should be easy to wrap around you to help warm you up if needed and, in a pinch, should provide some privacy for switching out of a bathing suit. Anything smaller is really just a bath towel.

  • The Best Bath Towels
  • The Best Comforters
  • The Best Bed Pillows
  • The Best Bed Sheets

Meet the tester

Rebecca Boniface

Rebecca Boniface

Contributor

Rebecca Boniface is a certified PADI dive instructor, full-time nomad, and DIY enthusiast.

See all of Rebecca Boniface's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and experts obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email