You want an actual sand castle. Bring along the right materials: a 5-gallon bucket, trowel, shovel, spray bottle and a few different-sized cups (from 8 to 32 ounces).

It’s the latter that wins sand sculpting competitions, says Karen Fralich, a professional sand sculptor from Burlington, Ont. If you want to build the best sand sculpture on the beach, steal ...

The materials — sand and water — are readily available. The secrets lie in technique. Start with wet sand, about a 50-50 mix of water and sand.

One day, he walked to the beach, made a sand castle and had an epiphany: “The beach is a free canvas,” he says. He started making sculptures in the predawn before work. Tourists took notice.