Brand · Camp Gear
A Tommy Bahama beach chair is a folding beach chair, most often a backpack chair that reclines through four or five positions and, on many models, lies flat. The brand's beach gear also includes tilt umbrellas, several with sand anchors. Real talk: inside this lineup, the spec that splits the chairs is seat height, which runs from a kids' chair a few inches off the sand to a Hi-Boy you can stand up from without a grunt. (Renee picks by color. I pick by how I get out of it. We own both kinds.)
We earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no cost to you. Disclosure
On this site, Tommy Bahama covers two product types: beach chairs and beach umbrellas. The chairs come in a few families you'll see in the grid above:
The umbrellas run from 6 to 7.5 ft canopies, most with tilt and several with sand anchors. The grid filters by type and changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the families and what separates them, not about how many are listed this week.
The specs in the grid come from Amazon listings, and the grid marks them that way. Where a listing is quiet, you'll see a dash. (Renee says a dash is just a spec that's shy. I say it's a spec nobody wrote down, and I'm not going to write it down for them.)
ShelterLogic Group, the company behind the Rio Beach brand, lists Tommy Bahama among its licensed brands, and its RIO Beach page says it manufactures and distributes outdoor furniture for the Tommy Bahama brand. ShelterLogic's Tommy Bahama shop lists chairs, umbrellas, cabanas, coolers and grill gazebos. This site lists the chairs and umbrellas from that range; it doesn't list the Tommy Bahama coolers or grill gazebos, so they're not on this page.
This is the chair most people picture. The listings describe five recline positions, one of them flat, plus backpack straps. Seat heights, where stated, sit low: around 8.5 to 9 inches off the sand.
Extras vary by listing. Some name a cup holder, some a pillow, some a cooler pouch, and one 2-pack names an insulated cooler and a towel bar in the title. Same shape, different pockets. Several colorways show up as separate listings, which is why the grid can look like it's seeing double.
One lay-flat lounge chair in the grid is a little taller at 11 inches and names a different frame material in its listing than the others. Read the frame line on the exact chair.
The Hi-Boy listings state four recline positions and taller seats: 15 inches on the 2-pack and 17 inches on the single. The 17-inch listing names a pillow, backpack straps, a lace-up suspension seat, a cup holder and a storage pouch. The 15-inch 2-pack names a side pouch, a phone holder, a cup holder and a carry strap.
A higher seat means a shorter trip back to standing. It also means you're not lying flat for a nap. Pick your priority. (Walt calls the Hi-Boy "the beach chair for grown-ups." Walt calls any seat more than a foot off the ground "for grown-ups.")
The Big Boy listing describes a wide seat, a 13-inch seat height and four positions, with backpack straps.
The Easy-Out sells as a 2-pack: 12.8-inch seat height, four positions, backpack straps, a cup holder and a side pouch, per the title. The name tells you the idea. A mid-height seat is the middle ground between lying in the sand and sitting at a picnic table.
The 4-Position Read-Through Beach Lounger is the odd one: a 14-inch seat, a lay-flat recline, a cup holder, a pillow and, per the title, an ottoman, a bottle opener and a cell phone slot. The listing doesn't add backpack straps, so plan on carrying it the regular way. More lounge shapes across brands are on the beach lounge chair page.
The kids' chair copies the grown-up lay-flat: five positions, backpack straps, a pillow, a cup holder and a storage pouch, with a 7-inch seat. Kids can carry their own chair. Whether they will is a separate question, and I don't have data on it.
The umbrella side of the grid splits two ways.
Umbrellas whose titles name a sand anchor: the 6.5 ft fiberglass umbrella, two 7 ft tilt umbrellas with telescoping poles, the 7.5 ft Harbor Stripe and the ANCHORX 6 ft, whose title also names a wind stability system and wind vents. Most state tilt in the listing.
Umbrellas with thinner listings: the 2018, 2019 and 2020 collection umbrellas, where the grid shows the canopy size at most. A 6 ft tilt umbrella with a wind vent and a carry bag sits in between.
ShelterLogic describes the brand's umbrellas as UPF-protected. The Skin Cancer Foundation explains UPF as the share of UV a fabric lets through, and rates UPF 50+ as excellent. Check the UPF line on the listing of the exact umbrella, because the titles in the grid don't all state the same number. For more on anchors across brands, see the beach umbrella with anchor page.
My one opinion on this page: pick a chair by seat height before color, recline count or pockets. The reason is in the grid. Seat heights here run from 7 inches on the kids' chair to 17 inches on the Hi-Boy, and that one number decides whether you're napping with your feet in the water or getting up fast to chase a hat down the beach. The pockets you can live without. The height you live with all day.
Rough guide from the listings:
The general sizing talk is on the beach chair page.
Most chairs in the grid list backpack straps. The lounger doesn't, and the 15-inch Hi-Boy 2-pack lists a carry strap instead. If your walk is longer than a parking lot, straps matter more than a cup holder. (The Shore parking lot is always one more block than the sign says.) Backpack chairs across brands are on the backpack beach chair page.
The five-position chairs reach flat. The four-position chairs mostly don't, except the lounger, whose listing names a lay-flat recline. If flat is the point, filter for it. If you never lie back further than "reading," four positions is plenty.
An umbrella's canopy size sets how much shade lands on the sand, and the grid's canopies run from 6 to 7.5 ft across. A low lay-flat chair sits under the canopy's edge more easily than a Hi-Boy, which puts your head higher and closer to where the sun slips in. Tilt helps with that, and most umbrellas in the grid state tilt. If you're shading two tall chairs and a cooler, look at the bigger canopies and the ones that name a sand anchor. If it's one kid's chair and a sand bucket, a 6 ft canopy covers the job. (The sand bucket always wants shade too. Nobody knows why.)
Several families come as 2-packs. It's the same chair, twice. Renee says a 2-pack means somebody has to carry both back. She's right, and the somebody is me.
Umbrella safety. CPSC warns that wind gusts can send beach umbrellas flying, and that airborne umbrellas have killed and seriously injured people. It advises securing the umbrella and anchor exactly as the maker's instructions say, checking that the anchor isn't damaged, and closing the canopy right away if the umbrella turns unstable in wind. Under the voluntary ASTM F3681-24 standard, CPSC says compliant anchors carry a label stating the wind speed and canopy size they're rated for. Look for that label on any anchor you buy.
Chairs. Sand and salt are what wear beach gear down. Rinse after a salt day, let the fabric dry before it goes in the garage, and brush sand out of the hinges and recline locks before you fold. ShelterLogic says its Tommy Bahama chairs use aluminum frames that resist rust and corrosion, and some listings name a different material, so check the exact chair. For folding steps, use the tag on your chair; locks differ between models.
The fact that surprises people: both lines come out of ShelterLogic Group. Rio Beach is one of its own brands. Tommy Bahama is one of its licensed brands, and ShelterLogic says it manufactures and distributes outdoor furniture for it.
On this site, the grids differ. The Rio Beach grid holds backpack chairs around 11 inches high, including a lace-up lay-flat model, plus a pop-up cabana and a small fabric table. The Tommy Bahama grid has more chair heights, from 7 to 17 inches, and a wider set of tilt umbrellas. Compare seat height, recline and carry on the exact chairs. The Rio Beach brand page has its lineup.
ShelterLogic Group's about page lists Tommy Bahama among its licensed brands, and its Tommy Bahama shop covers chairs, umbrellas, cabanas, coolers and grill gazebos. This page doesn't cover where the chairs are made or the warranty terms for this line.
Seat height on the tag, umbrella anchor in the bag, both chairs back to the truck. That's the whole beach plan. Renee approved it, mostly.
What the listings and the maker state is checkable: the chairs in the grid list four or five recline positions, seat heights from 7 to 17 inches, and features like backpack straps, cup holders, pillows and cooler pouches. ShelterLogic, which makes the brand's beach furniture, describes aluminum frames and padded carry straps. Pick by seat height and how far you carry it.
Use the folding steps on your chair's tag or insert, since recline locks and positions differ between the backpack, Hi-Boy and lounger models, and the maker's site doesn't post one set of steps for all of them. Shake or brush the sand out of the hinges first, and keep your fingers away from the frame joints as it closes.
ShelterLogic Group lists Tommy Bahama among its licensed brands. Its RIO Beach page says the company also manufactures and distributes outdoor furniture for the Tommy Bahama brand, and its Tommy Bahama shop lists chairs, umbrellas, cabanas, coolers and grill gazebos.
The listings in the grid don't give a carry weight, so the grid can't answer that. What they do state is which chairs have backpack straps: most of the lay-flat chairs, the Big Boy, the Easy-Out and one Hi-Boy. ShelterLogic describes the chairs as lightweight with padded carry straps. Check the exact listing before a long walk.
Seat height and recline. The Hi-Boy listings state 15 or 17-inch seats and four recline positions, so you sit up higher and stand up easier. The lay-flat listings state five positions, one of them flat, with seats around 8.5 to 9 inches off the sand. Pick the Hi-Boy for reading and getting up often, the lay-flat for naps.
Several do, per their titles: the 6.5 ft fiberglass umbrella, the 7 ft telescoping tilt umbrellas, the 7.5 ft Harbor Stripe and the ANCHORX 6 ft, which names a wind stability system. Others in the grid don't mention one. CPSC advises following the maker's setup instructions and closing the canopy when the umbrella gets unstable in wind.
