This Christmas, we chose to leave the cold of the Netherlands behind and seek the warmth of Bali—our favourite island. With our children aged 14, 11, and 7, we enjoyed a month of island life: morning surfing, sipping fresh coconuts on the beach, and endlessly wandering through narrow streets filled with temples and warungs. Bali truly feels like coming home—the scents, the people, the atmosphere, everything feels right. But one thing always remained our top priority: protecting our children from the intense tropical sun. So, once again, we were grateful for our UPF50+ UV swimwear.
How Our First Trip to Bali Sparked the Beginning of Beach & Bandits
Twelve years ago, we visited Bali for the first time, carrying only our eldest daughter in our arms. She had sensitive skin and suffered from eczema, making UV swimwear not a luxury but a necessity. To our surprise, there was hardly any fun and functional UV swimwear available at the time. Everything was dull, stiff, and purely practical—nowhere to be found was the playful, cool look we envisioned.
There, on the beach of Bali, the idea for Beach & Bandits was born. We wanted to create something that not only provided protection but also made children feel genuinely cool. Now, years later, we see children all over the island running around in UV swimwear—a confirmation that we made the right choice back then.
UV Swimwear Has Become Indispensable
During this trip, it became clear once again how important good UV protection is. The sun in Bali is intense, and especially during swimming, surfing, and snorkeling, children are exposed to a lot of sunlight. We see more and more families opting for UV swimwear—something that was hardly the case twelve years ago. It's wonderful to see how aware parents have become about protecting their children from the sun.
Not Only Important in the Tropics
While the sun in Bali is naturally much more intense than in Europe, we shouldn't underestimate the importance of UV protection in the Netherlands either. The sun can be just as deceptive here, especially for young children's skin. This trip has once again shown us how valuable it is to invest in high-quality UV swimwear for children—the very reason we started Beach & Bandits ten years ago.
