Guide to Beach Driving: 10 Tips for Success

From Tims Thicket in Western Australia to K’gari’s famous 75 Mile Beach in Queensland, Australia is filled with countless awesome beach drives just waiting to be explored.

As an avid group of adventurers, we know just how fun beach driving can be, and we also know how important it is to properly prepare before taking your vehicle out on the sand. That’s why we’ve put together a list of essential beach driving tips to help you stay safe and enjoy your coastal adventure to the fullest!

Check out our top 10 tips below and allow Custom Offroad to help you plan your next off-roading expedition today!

1. Make Sure Your Vehicle Can Handle Beach Driving

The first and most important thing to understand is that you can’t just take any car onto the beach. If you want to go driving on sand, you’ll need to do so in a 4WD vehicle with high clearance that can handle the tricky terrain.

The beach can be pretty challenging to navigate, especially if you’re new to off-roading, so heading out in a well-equipped 4WD is the best way to set yourself up for success.

Ask yourself: Is your vehicle overdue for a service? Are the tyres or rims old and in need of replacing? Is your dashboard displaying any warning lights?

Giving your car a once-over and creating a checklist of questions like these will help to ensure your fun beach adventure doesn’t turn into an unexpected rescue mission down the road!

2. Pack the Right Gear for the Journey Ahead

As we said, beach driving can be pretty challenging, which means getting stuck in the sand is a very real possibility.

If you do find yourself in a situation where your car just won’t budge, a good recovery kit will be your best friend. These kits typically contain recovery ropes, dampers, and shackles to help you get your 4WD out when it’s well and truly bogged.

As well as a recovery kit, we’d also recommend packing some bottled water. This will help you stay hydrated throughout your entire adventure, and we guarantee you’ll be especially grateful for it if you do get stuck in the sand, as recovery can be pretty hard work!

Other than a recovery kit and a decent supply of bottled water, we’d also suggest packing the following beach driving essentials:

A tyre gauge
A portable air compressor/pump
Recovery tracks
Gloves
A shovel
A good quality first aid kit
A map or GPS
Sunsafe gear (wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc.)

3. Kit Out Your Vehicle Beforehand

Beach driving will expose your 4WD to quite a lot of sand and salt, which are two pretty harsh elements that can do a real number on your vehicle. On top of this, you might also find a few concealed hazards during your drive, such as driftwood, large rocks, and other dangerous debris hidden beneath the sand.

That’s why it’s important to kit out your 4WD with the gear it needs to stay well-protected and avoid issues like corrosion, rust, and general undercarriage damage.

To start, we’d suggest investing in high-quality 4WD underbody protection such as our stainless steel bash plates. These plates are designed to take a beating so you can drive along the beach without suffering so much as a scratch to the underside of your vehicle.

We’d also recommend spraying your vehicle’s underbody with a good protection spray that will further shield against sand and salt damage.

4. Organise Your Beach Driving Permit in Advance

Many 4WD-friendly beaches in Australia require drivers to obtain a vehicle access permit before driving into the area. These beaches are often home to several native species, and permits help to protect their delicate habitats by encouraging safe, responsible driving practices and allowing officers to efficiently monitor all visiting vehicles.

Anyone found to be driving without a valid permit in an area where one is required will be fined, so we wouldn’t recommend trying to access the beach without one.

Most of the time, you can obtain your vehicle access permit online, though some exceptions apply for certain locations. Once you’ve got your permit, you’ll need to ensure its details are clearly displayed on your 4WD for your entire beach drive so any authorised officers can easily identify and inspect it.

5. Check the Tides and Avoid the Water

Let’s be honest: driving along the beach at high tide is nobody’s idea of fun; the soft sand, rapidly approaching waters, and increasingly narrowing shoreline can quickly turn the most exciting adventures into stressful experiences.

Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to steer clear of situations like these by checking the tide times and planning your journey before you head out! Not only will this make for a much smoother driving experience, but it will also allow you to keep yourself and your 4WD safe.

As a general rule, we’d advise driving at low tide or 2 hours on either side of low tide, as this will give you plenty of hard sand to drive on.

Compared to the soft sand you’ll find at high tide, this hard sand will offer a much more solid path with substantially better traction. This makes it far easier for drivers to control their vehicles, resulting in a more pleasant journey with significantly less risk.

6. Lower Your Tyre Pressure

Before you take your 4WD out on the sand, you’ll need to let some air out of your tyres first. This will give your tyres a wider footprint, providing better traction and reducing your chances of getting bogged. For the majority of 4WDs, the best tyre pressure for beach driving is typically between 15-20 PSI.

We’d recommend dropping down to 20 PSI to start with. From there, if you still find your car is struggling to drive along the sand, you can continue to drop the pressure bit by bit until you find that sweet spot.

Just take care not to drop the pressure too much. Anything below 15 PSI could make your tyres too soggy and cause them to roll off the rims if you’re not careful!

7. Know Where to Drive

By now, you know that when you’re driving on the beach, you’ll want to drive on the hard sand.

However, did you know that, when driving on the hard sand, it’s also a great idea to drive in the tracks left by the vehicles that have driven this route already?

This is by far one of the best sand-driving techniques we can offer you. In addition to making the sand even more compact, these tracks can also help you identify and avoid any hazards the 4WDs in front of you may have encountered.

On top of driving in the tracks, you’ll also need to remember to stick to your side of the road. Even though you’re driving on the beach, standard road rules still apply. As such, you’ll need to make sure you drive on the left at all times and leave plenty of room on your right for other 4WDs to comfortably pass by you in the opposite direction.

8. Drive Safe at All Times

While we’re on the subject of road rules, don’t forget to drive safe at all times during your adventure!

We get it; beach driving is pretty thrilling, but common sense shouldn’t leave out the window just because you’re feeling pumped and there aren’t any road markings to keep you in line. Make sure you wear your seatbelt, stick to the speed limit, never drive under the influence, and be mindful that you’re sharing the road with other vehicles.

Beyond that, remember to always be aware of your surroundings and take care not to put yourself in dangerous situations.

Reckless activities such as driving on dunes, speeding, swerving sharply, driving at night, and carelessly crossing unpredictable waters should be avoided at all times. Not only can these activities harm you, your passengers, your vehicle, and the local wildlife, but many of them can also result in hefty fines if you’re caught.

9. Learn What to Do When You Get Stuck

When it comes to beach driving, getting bogged is almost a rite of passage, and if we’re being honest, it’s all part of the fun! As long as you know how to get unstuck, you’ll be fine.

The first thing to remember when you get stuck is to take your foot off the accelerator the moment you realise you’re not going anywhere. Trying to accelerate out might feel like the natural thing to do, but when you’re bogged on the beach, you’ll only end up spinning your tyres deeper into the sand.

Instead, we’d suggest hopping out of the vehicle to assess just how stuck you actually are. You might find that the only thing you have to do is let some more air out of your tyres and roll your 4WD out.

If that doesn’t work though, you’ll have to whip out your recovery tracks and your shovel and start digging. Dig your tyres out of the sand as much as you can before slipping the recovery tracks under them and gently driving your car up and out.

If your vehicle still won’t budge after that, it’s time to get your recovery kit out and call in a mate for help.

10. Give Your Vehicle a Thorough Clean Afterwards

So, your beach driving adventure has come to an end, what’s next? Well, the first thing you’ll need to do is pump your tyres back up for the journey home!

After you’ve done that, the next thing you’ll want to do is get your vehicle looking spick and span once more. Allowing salt and sand to stay on your 4WD can cause serious damage, so it’s best to give it a good wash as soon as you pull up into your driveway.

First, you’ll need to rinse your vehicle with a hose to remove any immediately obvious grime. Then, using a special cleaner designed to remove salt and sand, you’ll need to thoroughly clean every nook and cranny on your vehicle.

These cleaners can typically be applied using a pressure washer, a foam gun, and a microfibre cloth, making it easy for you to use the right cleaning methods for different parts of your 4WD. We suggest starting with the undercarriage and ending with the roof so you can pay attention to the most exposed areas of your 4WD first.

Prepare for Your Next Beach Driving Adventure With Custom Offroad!

After reading our top 10 beach driving tips, the only thing left to do is get out there and have a blast!

Need a hand prepping your vehicle before your trip? Custom Offroad can provide the gear you need. We’ve been helping Aussie drivers prepare their 4WDs for various off-roading adventures for well over a decade, supplying the high-quality gear they need to protect their vehicles and stay safe.

Discover our range of premium bash plates or check out our online store to browse our complete product range and allow us to provide you with the first-rate gear you’ve been looking for!