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    Best Beach Umbrellas of 2025

    We evaluated popular beach umbrellas from Costco, Tommy Bahama, Walmart, and other brands. We loved one model a lot, and one flew into the ocean—twice!

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    Tommy Bahama, Captiva, and Mainstays beach umbrellas on a beach
    The colorways of the beach umbrellas we tried were very bright and fun, but of the five we evaluated on windy days on Long Beach, N.Y., only one really stood out.
    Photo: Lisa Fogarty/Consumer Reports

    All beach umbrellas look the same—until you set them up on a windy day and one flies into the Atlantic Ocean before you can kick off your flip-flops (true story).

    After evaluating five popular beach umbrellas, our biggest takeaway is that the subtle design differences among the umbrellas matter a lot. Sometimes the eye-catching choice or the lightest, most portable umbrella falls flat—literally—the second the wind blows.

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    We took our umbrellas to Long Beach, N.Y., on two days. On the first day, the average wind speed was 16 mph with moderately strong 24 mph gusts.

    We then took our favorite and least favorite umbrellas to the same beach on a different day, when the average wind speed registered 21 mph with strong 34 mph gusts. For both days, we evaluated how easy the umbrellas were to set up and take down, any great features they boasted or lacked, and how well they stayed steady as the wind blew and sometimes roared. We also weighed each umbrella in its carrying bag and measured the canopies to estimate how much shade coverage each provides (our numbers may differ slightly from the manufacturer’s numbers).

    One of our prettiest umbrellas emerged as the clear-cut winner, while a very popular brand flew right out of the sand within seconds on two occasions. Here’s how each fared.

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    We investigate, research, and test so you can choose with confidence.


    Lisa Fogarty

    Lisa Fogarty is a senior multimedia content creator at Consumer Reports. She studied journalism at Columbia University and has written numerous health, parenting, fitness, and wellness articles for The New York Times, Psychology Today, Vogue, and NPR. Lisa is passionate about mental health and is a co-creator of The Hunger Trap Podcast, which focuses on eating disorders. In her spare time she surfs, plays the guitar, and kickboxes. Follow her on X: @lisacfogarty