As someone who spends a lot of time around pools and beaches, I’m constantly on the lookout for cute swimsuits, cover-ups, and board shorts.  I found these Puerto Rica Hurley Boardshorts today and I think they’d look awesome with a solid-colored bikini matched to one of the accent colors in the shorts.  Of course, the only solid-colored swimsuits I own are brown and black…I guess that means more shopping for me!

Puerto Rica Hurley Boardshort
Price: $38.0
Puerto Rica Hurley Boardshort. 100% polyester. 3in inseam. Light weight super-suede (wtf is super-suede??) drawstring boardshort Colored eyelets at front tie. Color and foil-striped Hurley logo printed at side leg.  H icon patch at front pocket flap.

EDIT: Updated for 2009!  I noticed I was getting a lot of traffic on this post, yet half the styles were discontinued since last year.  I needed to buy new ones for the lake this summer, so I updated my findings here, too.

I’m a big fan of tankinis, especially when you’re spending the whole day at the beach or lake. I’ve been shopping for new ones, so I figured I might as well list the best of the more modest tankinis here. The matching bottoms are available at the same sites as the tankini tops.

PLAID HALTER LONG TANKINI
Price: $35.50
Lined cups with removable padding. Ties at neck. Nylon/Spandex. By Alloy. Plaid. Imported.

Nautica Plaid Halter Tankini Top Women’s Swimsuit
Price: $64

An energetic plaid composed of stripes and houndstooth checks lends a cool vibe to the tankini top by Nautica.

Plaid Tankini
Price: $29.50
Built-in shelf bra. Nylon-spandex. Raspberry-multi, black-multi, white-multi. XS-XL. Imported. Catalog and web exclusive. See below in the “you might like these, too” section for matching bottom.

FLORAL HALTER LONG TANKINI

Price: $35.50

Lined cups with removable padding. Ties at neck. Nylon/Spandex. By Alloy. Blue Floral. Imported.

Kenneth Cole Halter Tankini with Removable Cups Women’s Swimsuit
Price: $0
A sweet tankini with just the right amount of coverage from Kenneth Cole.

I don’t really like carrying a lot of accessories to the beach, and the Sun Cabana is definitely something of a monster.  All the same, I love the idea of having a portable shade and privacy screen.  Instead of trying to lay out and read a book, only to leave after 20 minutes with a nasty burn, I could do a half-in, half-out sort of thing to get a bit of shade when I needed it.

And of course, we have to consider the romantic possibilities…you could certainly get into some trouble with your own private portable cabana.

They claim that it’s really easy to pop up, and that it folds flat for storage and transportation.  I might have to get a little help with that, though.  I can’t even get those fold-flat floating chairs to go back to their original shape, so I’m sure I’d have problems with an entire cabana!

I’ve never been a big fan of running around the beach without a cover-up.  Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I’d prefer to show things off at home, not in public.  This  Juicy Couture Beach Short Bandeau Cover-Up struck me as perfect for use with a really bright pink or blue suit this summer.

Though you can’t see it on the photo, the Juicy Couture charm details really make the piece.