Beach Lounge Chair

What makes a beach lounge chair different

A beach lounge chair is about lying back. A regular beach chair lets you sit and lean a little. A lounger keeps going: through several locked back angles, often all the way to flat, so you can read, nap or roll over and tan your back.

That's a different job, and it changes what matters. A sitting chair is judged on the walk and the seat. A lounger is judged on how far back it goes, how solidly it locks there, and whether you can get out of it at the end of the day without a hand from your spouse.

The table on this page lists chairs whose maker or listing says they lie flat or recline through five or more positions. Columns cover what you carry and what you lie on: weight, capacity, seat height, frame, the recline count, plus yes-or-no marks for headrest, cup holder and backpack straps. The table marks values read from the Amazon listing; a dash means neither the maker nor the listing states it. Weight is always the maker's own figure. While the list is short, that's the rule doing its job; plenty of chairs recline a bit, but only some are true loungers.

The shared basics of every beach chair (folding, rinsing salt off, frame material) live on the main beach chair page.

What to look at when you pick a beach lounger

Read the table in this order. It puts the lying-back specs first, because that's what you're paying a lounger to do.

Recline positions tell you how many ways you can lie back

The recline column is the maker's count of locked back angles. A bigger count means finer steps between sitting up to eat and lying back to doze.

What I'd check beyond the count:

• The most upright position: can you actually sit up and eat a sandwich in it
• The step you'll use most: a reading angle that isn't too steep or too flat
• The lock: does the maker say how the position locks, and is it on both sides

On many beach loungers the armrests are the controls. You lift them to free the back and press them down to lock it. One maker's manual spells out the order: take your weight off the backrest first, lift the armrests, move the back, then press the armrests down to lock. It also warns you not to put your fingers under the armrests. That hinge pinches like a crab with a grudge, and nobody wants to learn that at the start of a vacation.

Lay-flat needs its support bar every time

Lay-flat means the backrest goes all the way back, level with the seat. The table filter for it follows what the maker or the listing says, nothing else.

A flat backrest is held up differently from a reclined one, and most lay-flat chairs use a separate bar under the backrest to carry the load. Per one maker's manual: swing the support bar out until you hear it click, get your weight off the backrest, lift the armrests and push the back down all the way. It says to use that bar every time the chair is flat, and to fold it back in before you close the chair.

That's the one step not to skip. If a chair goes flat without a support bar, read its manual for how it holds the flat position before you lie on it.

Some lay-flat loungers also have a face opening in the backrest so you can lie face down and breathe like a person instead of a beached flounder. Those are on the lay-flat beach chair page.

Headrest or pillow is where a lounger earns its name

Headrest/pillow is a yes-or-no column taken from the maker's listing. On a sitting chair it's a nice extra. On a lounger it's half the comfort, because lying back puts your neck on the top of the frame for an hour at a time.

Look for whether the pillow is padded, whether it moves, and whether it stays on. A pillow that slides off every time you shift ends up as a sand pillow. (A rolled towel works too. It's free and it's already in the bag.)

Seat height decides how hard it is to get up

The seat height column is the maker's number, in inches, from the sand up to the seat's front edge. Many loungers keep the seat close to the sand, so check this column before you check the recline count.

One opinion, and it's the only one I'll push here: pick a beach lounger by how you'll get out of it, not by how you'll lie in it. The reason is right in the table. Lying flat feels the same at any seat height, but standing up from a seat a few inches off the sand is a squat with no handholds once the back is down. If your knees or hips complain, compare the seat height column first, and look at the high beach chairs and the beach chairs for elderly users before you fall for a flat one.

Carry weight and straps matter more with a lounger

Carry weight is what the folded chair weighs, as the maker lists it. A lounger locks at more angles and often has a support bar, so it can carry more frame than a basic chair. Check the weight column against your walk.

The table marks chairs with backpack straps. If yours has them, carry it like a pack, not like a briefcase. Orthopedic surgeons (the AAOS) put it simply: both straps on, cinched so the load hugs your back, and a knee bend for the lift. They wrote it for kids' school bags. A folded lounger doesn't know the difference. More on carry styles is on the backpack beach chair page.

Weight capacity and frame round it out

Capacity, in pounds, is the most the maker says the chair should carry, and you plus whatever ends up on your lap should come in under it. Frame material comes straight from the maker's listing. Whatever it is, rinse the salt off; one maker's warranty doesn't cover rust or corrosion from lack of maintenance, which says plenty about what the beach does to a hinge.

Cup holder and cooler pouch are in the table and filters too. On a lounger, check where the cup holder sits when the back is flat. A cup holder that tips over in the lay-flat position is a decoration.

Kinds of beach lounger and when to pick each

"Lounger" covers a few different shapes. Here's the quick map.

Backpack lounger

A low chair that reclines through many positions or lies flat, folds thin and carries on your back. It's the portable beach lounger for people who park far away. The trade is that it's still a chair-sized frame, so it's shorter than a full chaise.

Folding chaise

A full-length lounger with its own leg rest, so your legs are supported along with your back. It's more of a bed than a chair. It's also bulkier to carry, so it suits short walks, a beach house or a boat dock.

Lay-flat chair with face opening

A lounger that goes flat and has an opening for your face when you lie on your stomach. Pick it if you actually tan face down and get annoyed turning your head. It has its own page.

Reclining chair

A sitting chair with several back positions that may not go flat. If you mostly read and doze sitting halfway up, this may be all you need. See the reclining beach chair page. For the backyard, the zero gravity chair is the cousin that lifts your feet.

Loungers wear out where they bend

A lounger has more moving parts than any other beach chair. Every locked position is a hinge, a pin or a bar that takes your weight at a new angle. The fabric gets the sun, but the joints get the work. So when you look at a lounger, look at how it locks, not just how it looks.

Sand is the joint's worst friend. It gets into the recline mechanism, and salt water dries on it. One maker's care guide says to rinse the chair with fresh water to get salt and sand off and let it air dry before you store it. On a lounger, run the hose over the armrest hinges and the support bar on purpose, with the chair open, then work the recline through a few positions while it drips.

At the start of each season, open it in the yard before it goes to the beach. Check the rivets, the bar and the lock on both sides. (I do this on the same Saturday I check every cooler drain plug in the garage. Renee calls it my inventory day. She doesn't mean it as a compliment.)

Long afternoons in the sun

A lounger invites you to stay out longer. That's the point, and it's also the risk.

• Shade: a lounger has none, so bring an umbrella or set up next to one
• Sunscreen: the CDC's rule is to put more on past 2 hours outside, and after a swim or a towel-off
• Reflection: the CDC also notes that UV reflects off sand and water, so shade alone isn't enough
• Clothing: the Skin Cancer Foundation says a white T-shirt rates about UPF 7, and only about UPF 3 when wet
• Water: keep a bottle with you and refill it through the day, per the CDC
• Breaks: get up, get in the water, get into the shade

Lying flat puts your whole front or back toward the sky, so the spots I always forget (shins, tops of my feet, back of my neck) get a full afternoon of sun. Renee checks mine. I check the cooler. We each have our jobs.

For shade that you can lie under, see the beach umbrella and beach shade pages.

Fold it and take it with you

Before you fold a lounger, bring the back up to upright and fold the support bar in. A lounger folded with the bar out either won't close or closes on something it shouldn't.

Then carry it off the beach. Sea turtles come ashore at night on many beaches, and Mote Marine Laboratory warns that chairs left on the sand get in the way of nesting females and hatchlings. Mote notes that ordinances on Longboat Key, Florida, call for furniture to be removed or stored near the dune line from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. during nesting season. Rules differ by town, so ask the town or the rental office what applies.

Who should skip a beach lounge chair

Skip it if you mostly sit up: a regular beach chair is lighter and simpler. Skip it if getting up from low seats is hard for you, unless you've checked the seat height column. And skip it if your beach day is two hours with kids in the water; you won't lie down long enough to use the extra positions.

It's the right chair for the person who plans to stay. The one with the book, the umbrella and nowhere to be until the sun is low. Fold the bar in, carry it back, and save the nap for the next day.