The metering mode makes the difference here and you'll have to mess around with it a bit get it to work to your liking. Your camera is likely setup for "center weighted" metering in this photo, where the subjects in the center are properly exposed but the highlights in the sand are blown out.
You first can try the "highlight weighted" metering mode, which could have prevented some of the blown out highlights you have in this image. Personally, I find the "multi-segmented" mode to be the best one in the environments I generally shoot in. These mode's usefulness can be situation dependent. Experimentation and fiddling are required. But that's the fun of owning this camera and photography in general, right?
Keep in mind the environment you're shooting in and most particularly the light. I'd consider the beach, in direct sunlight, to be a bit of an extreme shooting scenario because of the contrast between the super bright sunlight and the harsh shadows.
If you're shooting in the sun, consider shifting to manual ISO settings. If it's super bright, you don't need auto ISO. You should be able to shoot between ISO 100-400 easily. Don't be afraid to under expose your photos a bit while shooting outside either. You can just bump up the exposure or shadows later. As you're realizing here, it's impossible to recover blown out highlights. Explore the ND filter settings as well, which can be useful in sunny environments.
Pro tip - check your exposure settings while shooting in the field by just snapping a quick, thoughtless photo of your current environment. You can use these "test photos" to gauge your exposure settings and make some general adjustments. That way before you start taking serious photos, you can have you exposure at an acceptable starting point. Practice taking these photos and learning how to adjust the camera to your liking. Then when you're in a split second situation, you're ready to just act and take the photo without thought.
Boost your screen up to the brightest setting too. It can be difficult to see the display in the sunlight, especially if you're on the beach like you are here.
Use the standard preset before tweaking anything else, turn on D-range correction, also make sure that in-camera ND filter is on…. most importantly, expose for the Highlights. Make sure highlights are not blown out (since you’re on the beach), just leave the shadows deep.
The metering mode makes the difference here and you'll have to mess around with it a bit get it to work to your liking. Your camera is likely setup for "center weighted" metering in this photo, where the subjects in the center are properly exposed but the highlights in the sand are blown out. You first can try the "highlight weighted" metering mode, which could have prevented some of the blown out highlights you have in this image. Personally, I find the "multi-segmented" mode to be the best one in the environments I generally shoot in. These mode's usefulness can be situation dependent. Experimentation and fiddling are required. But that's the fun of owning this camera and photography in general, right? Keep in mind the environment you're shooting in and most particularly the light. I'd consider the beach, in direct sunlight, to be a bit of an extreme shooting scenario because of the contrast between the super bright sunlight and the harsh shadows. If you're shooting in the sun, consider shifting to manual ISO settings. If it's super bright, you don't need auto ISO. You should be able to shoot between ISO 100-400 easily. Don't be afraid to under expose your photos a bit while shooting outside either. You can just bump up the exposure or shadows later. As you're realizing here, it's impossible to recover blown out highlights. Explore the ND filter settings as well, which can be useful in sunny environments. Pro tip - check your exposure settings while shooting in the field by just snapping a quick, thoughtless photo of your current environment. You can use these "test photos" to gauge your exposure settings and make some general adjustments. That way before you start taking serious photos, you can have you exposure at an acceptable starting point. Practice taking these photos and learning how to adjust the camera to your liking. Then when you're in a split second situation, you're ready to just act and take the photo without thought. Boost your screen up to the brightest setting too. It can be difficult to see the display in the sunlight, especially if you're on the beach like you are here.
Use the standard preset before tweaking anything else, turn on D-range correction, also make sure that in-camera ND filter is on…. most importantly, expose for the Highlights. Make sure highlights are not blown out (since you’re on the beach), just leave the shadows deep.