Breezy Shade; the Ultimate Beach Shelter
The beaches in Australia are world class, and nothing quite compares to a day spent on a pristine beach, unless you end up cooked by the sun. Being light skinned, I know how easy it is to go home looking like a crayfish, and its something we should all avoid.
With that in mind, we’ve been looking for a beach shelter for some time, but had some pretty specific requirements as a lot of what is out there is just too big, too heavy, too awkward to set up, blows away easily or is just impossible to pack away.
That was until we stumbled across a new style of beach shelter from Breezy Shade, which they offered to us in return for a review.
This is an honest review
Before I go any further, I will re-iterate this product was supplied to us for free. I don’t often take products for free, as I’ve seen too many ‘influencers’ doing the wrong thing and don’t want to be lumped with their unethical practices.
I pick the businesses and products we work with very carefully, and have no problem calling a spade a spade. Breezy Shade knew we don’t offer cash for comment when we agreed to do a review, and have had zero influence over the comments in this post.
The review below is 100% my opinion, and knowing what I know now, I would happily pay for the product. If you are looking for Breezy Shade reviews, you’ll see a lot of them are from people who’ve also been gifted the product. Some might tell you, but many won’t.
What is the Breezy Shade?
The Breezy Shade is a new style of Beach shelter that is made from Lycra Polyester (think of the same material that swimming rashies are made from).
It has integrated legs and feet that you fill with sand, and separate poles that can be set up and moved around depending on how you want it set up.
It is completely different to any of the other Beach Tents and Beach Shelters that are on the market today, and is a game changer.
How is it better than other Beach Shelters?
Light weight and compact
With two young kids, we already carry a fair bit of gear onto the beach, and lugging a big, heavy beach shelter just wasn’t going to happen. I wanted something that was portable, able to be carried in one hand and thrown around without fear of damaging it.
The Breezy Shade is exactly that; one small bag (or two if you have the extra poles) that even a young kid can carry. The whole lot weighs 2.5kg to 3.5kg (model dependent), and is smaller than your average folding camping chair. They also come with a strap so you can put it over your shoulders. Winning.
Simple and adjustable
There are some pretty terrible beach shelters out there, that you pay good money for. If they aren’t simple, and adjustable you are going to feel let down.
The Breezy Shade is about as simple as it gets; a piece of material and some aluminium poles. Nothing to go wrong, easy to move the poles around to give you different heights or shade directions and exactly what you should be looking for.
Easy to set up and pack away
If you’ve ever seen someone struggling to pack away a pop up beach shelter, you’ll know that its difficult to know whether to laugh or cry.
I’ve been on both ends of this, with the old beach shelter we used. It pops up in a split second, and when you are done and want to go home takes you, then your mates, then the bystanders laughing around you half an hour to jam it back in its case.
Of course, if you know how to pack them away well then its much faster, but I guarantee it will take you some time and frustration to learn this, and when you don’t use it every week its very easy to forget.
Again, ask me how; I was a master at doing ours, until we stopped using it for a few months and I couldn’t get it back in its bag again!
The Breezy Shade has limited setup time – you just pull the cloth out, lay it down, fill the corners with sand, put the poles together and stick them under it. Done. Anyone can do it, and its easy to do.
You do have to watch that the shelter doesn’t blow away while you fill the pockets up with sand, but its pretty straightforward.
Decent height and size
At 6 foot 6, I need something that isn’t designed for children. I also don’t want to have to get on my hands and knees to climb under a shelter, which many require you to do.
I can comfortably duck under the Breezy Shelter, and even if you do manage to bump your head, its nice and soft. We went with the largest of the Breezy Shelters, and its easily big enough to have 6 people under the shade.
You can enter and exit in any direction
A lot of beach shelters limit where you can climb in and out from, and this is a pain especially when you start adding more people. You can set the poles up so you can exit wherever is comfortable, regardless of what the weather and sun is doing.
Doesn’t catch the wind
I’ve yet to see another beach shelter that deals with the wind like the Breezy Shade does. I guess the name is fit for purpose! To start with, a good chunk of the wind can blow through the actual material as its porous.
Beyond this though, because its so stretchy, every time a gust of wind comes the material just deforms, takes it in its stride and then reverts back to its normal position.
Any beach shelters with non porous, or non flexible materials just catch the wind and rely on you securing them well to the ground (and you hope they don’t break or tear!). How many times have you seen a rigid shelter, or umbrella blowing down the beach?!
The Breezy Shade seems to cope well with any winds that you’d be in down at the beach. Lets face it, if its getting super windy you aren’t going to be hanging around for long anyway.
Sizes, colours and pricing
There are currently 3 sizes of Breezy Shade, and a heap of different colours to choose from.
Breezy Comfy – 2.1 x 2.1 metres, good for 2 to 4 people. $139.
Breezy Family – 2 x 3 metres, good for 4 – 6 people $159.
Breezy Party – 3 x 3 metres, good for 6 – 8 people. $179 (plus $15 for an extra set of poles which is recommended). This is what we have, in peach colour.
Other considerations
UPF 50 +
The Breezy Shades are good for UPF 50 +, meaning only 1/50th, or 2% of the suns total UV rays will make their way through. While under the shade, you are safe. However, most people don’t go to the beach just to sit under the shade all day, so put your sunscreen on regardless.
Durability
Lets face it, reviews always neglect the long term reliability and durability of the products they look at. We’ve not used it for long enough to give a proper review on how long it holds up long term, but given how its made I have no doubt that we will get a number of years use before it starts to fall apart.
I asked Breezy shade what sort of lifespan they think you should get out of one if it was used a couple of times a month and well cared for, and they said easily a number of years. I’ve had my rashy for a lot longer than that, and the material just keeps giving.
Setup away from the beach
These can be set up if you aren’t on sand, using a set of screw in pegs that they supply. If you want to use it down at the local park, there’s no reason why you can’t; instead of filling the feet with sand, just screw the pegs in.
Cleaning and maintenance
There’s not too much that needs to be done in terms of cleaning. Shake the sand off before you pack it away, hand wash it at the end of season in cold water, and keep it away from irons, bleach and dryers.
What else compares?
I mentioned above nothing on the market that I have come across compares to these in terms of portability, weight, simplicity and ease of setup.
We have a nice awning on the front of our Camper Trailer, but always struggled with a portable shelter for outings away from the trailer. This a game changer, and I’m super happy with it. The Cool Cabanas have a good reputation too, but we’ve not tried one to compare.
Should you get one?
If you are chasing something portable, light weight, flexible and easy to use then the Breezy Shade is certainly worth a buy. We’ve had a number of friends and family comment on how well they work, and I have no doubt they will be making a purchase.
Don’t feel like we are pushing this; the product speaks for itself. We love ours, and would highly recommend it. If you want the best beach shelter that we’ve seen so far, get a Breezy Shade.
We’ve had it for a number of years now, and in our experience, its worth getting. That said, on our Lap of Australia we find ourselves using our Darche 180 degree awning more, as long as we can get the vehicle onto the beach.
