So I haven't tested this at the beach yet, but it seems great!  The material is light but durable and best of all, the whole tote zips up!  It seems big enough to put several towels and some small items like sunscreen, a book, etc., or in my case, a beach blanket and two towels with a couple of other small things - in other words, large enough to hold what most people will need, but not overwhelming.  The price was very reasonable and it arrived very quickly too.