Laying down on your beach blanket isn’t for everyone.
Some beach goers don’t like to get sandy when they are relaxing, and not to mention the sun can be bothersome if you’re staring straight at it.
It can be nice to have a good place to sit when you’re not playing beach volleyball, and you may be too active to even want to lay down afterwards.
Thankfully, there are some great beach chairs available today.
These are the 7 best beach chairs that we could find
We mentioned that Rio Brands Beach Chairs were our favorites out of this list.
We should also note that the Rio Brands Ultimate Backpack Beach Chair is our top pick from Rio.
Why? Comfort.
The chair is strung to the frame with elastic cords on the seat, and all the way up the back.
This is why the Rio Ultimate (and Lace Up below) stand out from the rest of these.
The elastic cords allows the chair to kind of cradle your body, and form to it when sitting down.
You can sit in the Rio Ultimate for hours, and you’ll be just fine.
Additionally, you can adjust it to 5 different positions (including 180 degrees or flat).
Portability
The Rio Ultimate IS a backpack beach chair. So you can easily fold it up into a backpack and carry all of your other towels and blankets.
Plus, if you need to store things away or if you need a spot to hold your cold drinks you can do so on the back of it!
Overall Quality
The mesh is comfortable. We haven’t mentioned yet..
This beach chair comes with an attached pillow.
The backpack option is nice for transport.
Oh yeah..
This is one of the best beach chairs because it holds a lot of weight without being too heavy either.
It weighs almost nothing and also supports up to 240 pounds so if you’re worried about it collapsing don’t be.
If you weigh over 240 pounds check out the Rio Brands Big Guy Backpack Beach Chair below.
Much like the Rio Brands Ultimate above the Rio Brands standard lace up is the same with a few key differences.
The material used here is not mesh. It’s polyester (except for the denim version see below). We’ll leave it up to you to determine if it’s more comfortable. You honestly can’t go wrong with the ultimate or the standard lace up by Rio Gear.
It does still include the adjustable pillow on the back part so you can soak up the rays, but it does not have 5 adjustable positions. It only has 4.
You can STILL lay flat at 180 degrees if you choose to, but the positions are a little more spaced out than the Rio Gear Ultimate.
Portability
Folding up this backpack beach chair is a breeze. It’s similar in weight to the Rio Gear Ultimate as well so it’s not heavy.
And the main difference here is the storage. The Rio Ultimate has a top storage pouch as well as the bottom cooler pouch with a little insulation – the standard Lace Up chair only has 1 big storage pouch.
On the other hand…the Ultimate doesn’t have a denim version which we liked the best out of all of the material and colors in this list.
It will surely turn a few heads when you throw this thing on your back:
Overall Quality
Rio Brands makes their backpack beach chairs with the upmost quality so the Lace Up is no different.
For some if having a cooler is a must then get the ultimate above, but if not then we recommend this one.
If you are heavier set, and don’t feel comfortable with the other 2 mentioned above look no further.
The Rio Big Guy Backpack Beach Chair is perfect for you.
It’s not just for Guys either. It’s also for bigger ladies too.
It makes sense. Most of these beach chairs are made of aluminum which is very light in weight and although durable – has a diminishing threshold on weight.
And even if you’re not heavier set and you want a little more reinforced aluminum, or just a wider seat so you can move around in this one’s for you.
Portability
Before we get to folding this thing up let’s look at the dimensions for you.
Open Dimensions: 5L X 27W X 34H (inches)
Folded Dimensions: 30L X 27W X 4H (inches)
Easily folds up so you can throw it on your back.
Also comes with a nice little drink holder and a removable headrest like the other Rio Beach Chairs above.
Overall Quality
The quality isn’t ‘better’ here it’s just MORE. Because this is a wider beach chair that is intended be wider and larger overall the aluminum is stronger, and the stitching on the polyester seems to be wound tighter.
The Rio Brands Classic! This beach chair has some style.
You don’t risk being uncomfortable with that style though.
Made of waterproof and fade resistant polyester it will sit nicely.
It doesn’t have as much ‘flex’ as the elastic cords do in the Ultimate or the Lace Up, but it has quite a bit.
The polyester isn’t wound completely tight around the rust proof aluminum frame, so it will sort of form to your body as well.
Portability
This folds right up into a backpack beach chair.
The storage is great. Just like the ultimate you have the cooler pouch below, and the storage pouch above.
And probably the coolest part is the towel bar. Rather than drape it over the back so you can lean against it or leave your towel on the beach you can hang it just behind you!
Overall Quality
The polyester and aluminum are sturdy, but one of the other cool features are the wood arm rests.
That’s what makes this one of the best beach chairs in this list.
Can’t beat that classy look!
If you want some shade while you’re sitting in your beach chair have a look at one of these.
Even though Rio Gear topped our list with all of their options – The Tommy Bahama Backpack Beach Chair is a close contender to Rio. It’s right there with the Rio Ultimate and you really can’t go wrong with either one.
The Tommy Bahama has been and will continue to be one of the best beach chairs because of the quality, and thought put into its construction.
Comfort
The Tommy Bahama Backpack Beach Chair is made of 600D polyester.
The D stands for denier.
Denier – Unit of measurement used to determine the fiber thickness of individual threads in the creation of fabrics.
Example:
400D polyester is not as strong as 600D polyester.
100D < 400D < 600D < 1,000D
So it’s tightly won’t and will stand the test of time.
And not only is this backpack beach chair comfortable to sit in, but it’s also comfortable to carry.
The shoulder straps are padded so it won’t rub your shoulders raw.
You can adjust the beach chair to sit in 5 different positions including flat so that you can catch a good front tan.
Portability
This is THE best beach chair in this list in terms of portability and storage.
Not only do you get storage on the back for any items like books or beach towels, but you get the cooler storage AND a handy little side compartment right by the arm rest for any ice cold beer or water, and of course your cell phone!
You can also collapse the towel bar just behind you so when you fold it up and leave it’s not sticking out and taking up too much space.
One thing to note here that’s actually kind of hilarious.
Closing a Tommy Bahama beach chair is actually difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. There is surprisingly a LOT of videos on YouTube covering this subject so you know what you’re doing when you actually get one.
Overall Quality
The Tommy Bahama beach chair could very well be the top of this list with the Rio Gear Ultimate.
The fabric is really strong. The aluminum is sturdy, and the storage holds a LOT.
Just remember to watch the video so you know How to close your Tommy Bahama backpack beach chair! 🙂
The Coleman beach chair is the most comfortable from this list.
Why?
Check out the angle of the seat. You can see it’s angled so your butt sits lower.
The others in this list are comfortable too, but when you’re sitting low to the ground in one of these it’s nice to have that angle.
The curved arms that angle down also make it easy to grab on to and push yourself out of the chair.
Portability
The Coleman beach chair isn’t a backpack beach chair, but it’s super portable. Because it’s small in size you almost don’t need any backpack straps.
It easily folds into a small storable state and you can
Overall Quality
It’s Coleman that we’re talking about here. Would you expect anything less than the best quality possible?
I personally own a couple of Coleman fold-able chairs that you can use when you going to a soccer game or outdoor event and they have lasted me hundreds of uses.
You shouldn’t expect anything different here with Coleman beach chair. Hands down one of the best beach chairs on the market today.
The biggest ‘comfort’ aspect to this beach chair is the ventilation. It has a mesh material under your butt, and behind your back so that when it’s touching 95 degrees at the beach you can stay cool.
It features the low to the ground type feel that the Coleman Utopia beach chair has, but also sports more of a rugged style look so you can take this thing camping or to any outdoor event if you don’t want to sport beachy colors.
Portability
You can simply pick it up with one hand and fold collapse it.
And you can store it in the included shoulder carry bag.
This beach chair isn’t heavy by any means.
It weighs only 6.8 pounds, yet still will support 300 pounds of weight if you’re heavier set which is why it’s one of the best beach chairs.
Overall Quality
One our main hesitations around this one was the mesh. We didn’t know if it would be great to use time and time again, but we found that this is a very high quality mesh material that won’t just tear easily on you or burst at the seams.
What to look for in a beach chair?
We’re looking at 3 main differences between all of the beach chairs in this list.
These wouldn’t be considered the best beach chairs if they didn’t fold up.
Technically yes, but it would be a difficult piece to lug around if it didn’t.
Doesn’t sound very ‘relaxing’ to me..
We’ll mention how this stows away and also how much weight it can hold.
And without forgetting…some of the storage space involved in some of these.
Comfort
What kind of materials are used?
Does the seat have any cushion?
Can I feel the beach chair frame when sitting in it?
These are all good questions that we want to know for ourselves, and of course for you.
You don’t want to be fidgeting around the entire time you’re sitting down.
Overall Quality
Will this beach chair last me a few years?
Will the material stink if it gets wet? What about fade or become brittle in sun exposure?
How fast does it dry?
How much weight does it hold?
We also looked at overall quality when it comes to the best beach chairs.
Making sure that you’re purchasing a product that will last you many years to come is important as well.
Recap
We looked and looked for the best beach chairs for 2019 because summer is coming up QUICK.
We found Rio Gear to have the most options for you, but really any other beach chair in this list could have easily made our top spot.
Make sure you evaluate what size person you are, what your budget is, and of course what kind of storage and portability you need!
This is why the Rio Ultimate (and Lace Up below) stand out from the rest of these.
The elastic cords allows the chair to kind of cradle your body, and form to it when sitting down.
You can sit in the Rio Ultimate for hours, and you’ll be just fine.
Additionally, you can adjust it to 5 different positions (including 180 degrees or flat).
Amazon.com 
You can also collapse the towel bar just behind you so when you fold it up and leave it’s not sticking out and taking up too much space.
One thing to note here that’s actually kind of hilarious.
Closing a Tommy Bahama beach chair is actually difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. There is surprisingly a LOT of videos on YouTube covering this subject so you know what you’re doing when you actually get one.
And you can store it in the included shoulder carry bag.
This beach chair isn’t heavy by any means.
It weighs only 6.8 pounds, yet still will support 300 pounds of weight if you’re heavier set which is why it’s one of the best beach chairs.
