What the heck is a beach towel, anyway?

A towel is a towel is a towel, right?  In fact, there are several traits to distinguish a beach towel from a bath towel. 

Beach towels are generally longer and wider than bath towels.  This is primarily because... well let's face it, how often do you lay your bath towel on the floor of your bathroom and lie on it?  And yet, most people spend more seconds per beach visit actually lying on their towels than drying themselves off with them.  For beach towels, size does matter. 

The second aspect is less functional and more aesthetic - appearance.  Beach towels are undeniably fashion accessories.  Can you remember the widely varied and unique types of bath towels you have encountered during your life?  Probably not.  Beach towels are a statement to the public about their owner's vibe. Classic cabana stripe and trendy fauta with tassels are just naming a few.

Finally, durability is key to a good beach towel.  The average bath towel pretty much rotates from towel rack to wet body, to washing machine and back to towel rack. However a beach towel's day-in-the-life starts at sandy coastline and could move to shaking, to vigorous rubbing of a chlorine or salt crusted body, to picnic blanket, to exposure for several days to the natural elements or salt, chlorine or jellyfish slime.  Yup, for a beach towel, you're gonna have long-lasting ruggedness in mind.