Summer is approaching and will be here before you know it. If you’re dreaming of relaxing by a pool or drinking a colorful drink with a paper umbrella and swirly straw as the waves come breaking in, then you must not have kids and are in the wrong place! Relaxing is a thing of the past (or distant future). Get ready to lather sunscreen on wriggly toddlers and watch an endless loop of sub-par pool handstands. If that’s more your style, you’ve come to the right place. 

Let’s face it. Kids have an endless amount of crap that comes with them to the pool, lake, or beach. Water toys, sunscreen, goggles, towels, etc. Luckily as they get older, you can load them up like a pack mule and shed pounds and pounds of gear. For us, we needed a reliable and waterproof option for lugging kids gear back and forth from the pool. Enter the Bogg Bag. Now admittedly, my wife discovered this in one of her moms groups and realized it would solve all of our problems. In her infinite wisdom, she convinced me that this was the bag for our family. 

Have you ever wondered to yourself, “man, those Crocs are really stylish… I wish I could put towels in them and throw them over my shoulder?” Yeah, me neither. But buckle up, set those straps to speed mode, and get ready to be a neighborhood pool FASHION ICON. 

Bogg bag waterproof beach, lake, or pool bag empty exterior view
The Bogg bag in all its glory. Crocs on ‘roids.

All joking aside, the Bogg Bag is a nearly perfect (nearly) waterproof bag for schlepping kids gear to the pool, lake, or beach. There are a number of features that make this bag a really great choice.

Structure

The thing that my wife always raves about is the overall structure of the bag. The Bogg Bag is made of thick rubber that provides the bag with plenty of support while still being flexible and comfortable to carry. Much like Crocs, the bag is riddled with holes on the sides that give it a distinctive look. The holes also provide a function, allowing you to clip internal pockets into the bag to hold items like phones and wallets that you don’t want to lose at the bottom of the bag. The holes do not extend all the way to the bottom of the bag, which is great for wet pool decks. You could easily place the Bogg Bag in a few inches of standing water and not get anything on the inside wet. A biiiig caveat is that this means that any water getting into the bag does not have an easy path out. 

Modular pouches for Bogg bag
The modular internal pockets are crucial for wallets, keys, sunglasses, and anything else you need quick and easy access to.

Size

The Bogg Bag is big, but doesn’t quite fit all the stuff that a family of 5 needs. The dimensions are 19” x 15” x 9.5” and it fits a good amount of stuff, but towels seem to push it over the edge and let’s not even talk about changes of clothes. We discussed getting another Bogg Bag just for towels, but that just adds to what we are carrying. In any event, I guess at least we would be doubling up on our style game. Other than that, the Bogg bag holds it all. Pool toys, goggles, wallets/keys/cash/first aid supplies in the zipper pouches, sunscreen, and anything else you could need for a day out.

Bogg bag filled with swim gear and towels
Look at all that swim gear the Bogg bag can fit!!! Still not quite big enough for a family of 5 though.
Bogg bag filled with towels and other swim gear
The Bogg bag can fit quite a bit of swim gear. Here I have it filled up with swim gear at the bottom and 4 full-sized adult towels. Starts to overflow fairly quickly though.

Durability 

So far, so good. Jason and I talked about revisiting items over time to see how they hold up. The Bogg Bag we are using is only a year old, but it’s held up to quite a bit in that time frame. I can see this lasting quite a while, but the only part I’m nervous about is the handles. When this thing is fully loaded, those handles take quite the load. They look sturdy, but if something is going to break, it will be the connection point where the handles connect to the bag. Luckily they do look repairable or replaceable (provided it’s the handle itself that tears and not the bag).

Cost

Okay, so the Bogg Bag is not cheap. They run you about $90 these days. Back when we bought it, it was $75, but then again everything is more expensive these days. I feel like as you get closer to $100, it becomes harder to stomach unless you can be sure it will last a decade. So I guess I’ll have to get back to you in 9 years or so to say whether it was worth the cost. Overall though it’s a great bag at a relatively high price point.

Pros

  • Structured design makes it easy to access items even as you remove towels and large items
  • Modular pockets allow you to get easy access to keys, wallets, etc.
  • Can easily stand more than 4″ of standing water before you risk getting everything inside wet

Cons

  • Pretty pricey for a bag, but if it lasts you a decade, I think it’s well worth it
  • A little small for a family of 5+

Rating: 4/5

I really like the Bogg Bag and might review it a little higher if it was not so pricey. If I see that over the years it is dependable and durable, perhaps that will justify a higher rating. Overall though, you cannot go wrong with this bag. There are tons of colors to choose from, but they can be pretty hard to find at times. Right now the website is showing lots of colors sold out, but check back often and sign up for notifications.

Edit: I wrote another article with some hints and tips how to score one of these elusive bags!

Has your family tried this bag out? Does it work for your needs or is it missing that one crucial feature? If you like it or don’t, I’d love to hear about your experiences.