The Best Beach Chair (For 9 Years Running)
The frame is made of lightweight-but-durable, rustproof aluminum with a recommended weight limit of 300 pounds. Our pick is the version that has wooden arms, which weighs about 7.5 pounds.
“I’ve owned two wooden-armed versions of the Tommy Bahama since 2019. There’s no zipper damage on the cooler pouch or rust on the frame, and the fabric has held up incredibly well under the intense Hawaiian sun,” says staff writer Kit Dillon, who shot the photos shown here of his chairs on Oahu.
Tommy Bahama also has a less-expensive version that has plastic arms (often available at Costco) and a more-expensive “deluxe” version (on the Tommy Bahama site) that’s slightly larger and has an extra pouch on the armrest. While we’ve found that the wooden-armed versions are sturdier than the plastic-armed one, it all comes down to deciding what works best for you and your budget.
I finally bought enough Tommy Bahama beach chairs that my family can finally have one per person. What are we going to do with our vast collection of castoffs? We’ll probably sell them to some bargain hunters at our next garage sale.
This article was edited by Catherine Kast and Christine Ryan.
