Between May and October we go to the beach most weekends and whilst I thoroughly enjoy my time swimming and boogie boarding in the ocean I frequently find at the end of the day my eyes are sore from the combination of Sun and salt water. I do try to keep sunglasses on whilst in the water, but over the past few summers I have sacrificed more pairs of sunglasses to Neptune than I care to remember. After watching my brand-new current favorites float away it occurred to me that I already owned the perfect solution.
I transferred my swim goggles from my gym bag to my beach bag when we headed out to the beach this weekend and I noticed the difference immediately.
Whilst I undoubtedly looked a little odd, wearing goggles did create a slight distortion when looking around, and they don’t feel as comfortable as regular Sun glasses, it was well worth it to protect my eyes from harsh UV glare, reflected from the sand and water, as well as keeping salt water from stinging my eyes. No red eyes for me when we got home.
My current fave goggles for comfort and really keeping the water out are aqua sphere that I picked up on sale at the end of last summer after first reading about them in Tim Ferris’s 4 hour body book (no product placement, they are just the first ones I have ever liked) I’m planning to get them for the rest of the family now.
Eye Damage in the Short Term Is Possible
Did you know it’s just as important to protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays as it is to shield your skin?
It can take years before you experience any of the sun’s damaging effects on your eyes. But, some damage can occur in the short term, if your eyes feel tired, sore and gritty after a day at the beach, you may have experienced UV radiation exposure.
Direct sunlight from the sun itself is extremely damaging to eyes, however reflected UV rays can be even more dangerous. Hats, eyelids and even our brows are designed to offer some over head protection but reflected UV is increased by as much as 15 percent from sand and 25 percent from sea foam!
Additionally the risk is increased because we are just more likely to look down than up!
What can you do? Wear sun glasses glasses/goggles that say they block at least 99 percent of the UV rays.
Look for lenses large enough to completely cover the eye and prevent as much light as possible from entering through the edges of the glasses, Wrap-around sunglasses offer the best protection.
I might have looked a little unusual with my goggles at the beach but judging from the number of people who came up to me to say what a good idea it was, I think we may be seeing a few more bug eyed boogie boarders in Santa Monica!
50+UPF Sunny Sleevez
Sunny Sleevez 
Thanks, this is a good idea! I don’t think the goggles look that odd considering that you are at the beach. If you wore them to cruise around Sunset Blvd. that might be a little strange 🙂 plus I’d take the goggles over crows feet and red eyes any day!
Love the picture. It makes me think back to my trip to CA. The picture on my wordpress home page was taken at the Santa Monica pier when I was there w/ my hubby in September 2012. What a beautiful state CA is. Hopefully I will get to go back sometime.
These would go great with my Vibrams. 😛
Awesome post! 🙂
I recently lost a pair of dummies I loved and until I find a ne pair, it’s hard to ignore the glare. Australia has the highest risk of skin cancer in the world & my father in law died of it, so we know the importance of total cover up!
I have worn UV sunglasses for 40 years. If I tanned, I would have raccoon eyes. After I worked for eye doctors, I realized I was protecting my eyes. My initial purpose for wearing sunglasses was comfort because the glare of the sun hurt my eyes.