Well, same here. I tend to leave mine in the safe a lot of the time when I'm on holiday. Would take it on a remote, long walk but this doesn't really sound like that and CCTV showing him in the village 20 minutes after he left the beach makes it even more of a mystery.I’m “wedded to my phone” as you say however I’ve just had a week in Spain and my phone was off and locked in the safe for the duration.
The point I’m making is I don’t find it in the slightest bit odd that he didn’t have his phone.