Family Beach Sunshade – Lightweight Sun Shade Tent with Sandbag Anchors & 4 Free Pegs | UPF50+ UV Quality Lycra Fabric | Large & Portable | Canopy for Parks & Outdoor

Family of Irish descent here, all with crazy fair skin... you can imagine our lives on the beach with regard to sunshades and sunscreen! We've used all sorts of sun protection over the years from regular golf umbrellas to beach umbrellas, to pop-up tent style sunshades to U-shaped crescent things. None of them come close to the ZiggyShade! I am totally won over.We bought the family size, which is plenty big for most uses. It provides a lot of shade and we were all able to fit under it when we wanted to (3 adults, 2 teens). For more than 5 people, I would recommend the jumbo size or maybe two smaller ZiggyShades.The design is easy to set up and take down. Follow the directions exactly and you should have it set up in about 3 minutes (filling the sand anchors takes the longest, but with everyone helping, this goes very quickly). The sand anchors work great for keeping the sunshade in place, even with seriously strong offshore breezes. The poles are shock-corded together, so they are very easy to work with and you don't need to worry about losing pieces in the sand. The awning is made of a lycra-type fabric that feels like a swimsuit. It is satisfying to work with, provides excellent shade with UV protection, and dries super fast. The whole kit packs up quickly and easily into its little carry bag. The completely packed up bag is small and lightweight compared to every other option we have ever used. It was easy-peasy to toss into our towel bag or over a shoulder for the trek to the beach each morning and the return trip later in the day. No one begrudged the task of carrying the sunshade back to the car, a first for this family.The thing I like best about this design is that it allows for ALL of the breezes to come through to help keep you cool. Every other option we've tried either provided pitifully small amounts of shade (umbrella) or trapped the heat in so you felt like you were suffocating.I cannot recommend this enough! I'm going to be giving these away as Christmas gifts this year, no lie.Note 1: the sunshade *must* be oriented to face the wind. This means that the highest end will face the breeze, wherever that may be coming from (not necessarily the water). Over a week of use, this meant that our ZiggyShade was usually pointed SE rather than NNE where the ocean was. This did not cause any problems nor did it reduce the shade, it just meant that when you entered the shelter, you needed to enter from the beachside rather than the shoreside. It affected our view a smidge, but not much (we couldn’t see the sky quite as well looking over the water, but had a great view of the beach, the water, and our family).Note 2: YOU DO NOT PUSH THE POLES INTO THE SAND. At all. They simply sit on the sand and are held in place by the pressure of the Lycra tent/shade part. The rubber knobby bit is the top, which the shade sits on top of. People who are reviewing this and talking about shoving the poles in the sand are doing it wrong! If the wind gets really ferocious, you can angle the poles a bit to create more stability and you can loop the guy lines around the ball top of the pole (on the outside of the shade). Expect the fabric to sway in the breeze, but the anchors and poles should not.Note 3: The sand anchors are actually squares of Lycra fabric that you fill with sand or pebbles, then use the drawstring to close it up. On really windy days, we needed to partially close the “bag,” then add some more sand, then close it fully.Edit June 2021 After two more years of use, I wanted to update our review. We've now used the Ziggy shade on a camping tour around Lake Michigan, in South Carolina on Hilton Head, in Chicago, and now multiple times in Florida. It is still in perfect condition and works flawlessly, as long as you orient the Ziggy with high end in the direction of the wind. If the wind shifts significantly, you may need to reorient your shade.Even in 25 mph winds, this shade has held up--while others on the beach had their shades rolling and flying away!

I was unsure how well the Ziggy Shade was going to be to set up and how well it would work; was it going to be a windblown disaster that took multiple adults over 30 minutes to set up, resulting in arguments and attitudes as salty as the ocean? Or was it at easy as the description claimed? I'm relieved to say the set up and sturdiness is just as simple and free from aggravation as the manufacturer claims.The Good: as stated, easy to set up-- a single person can do it in under 10 minutes.Unfold the Ziggy Shade, lay the shade flat on the ground, pull the sandbags out as far as the attached ropes allow.Fill the sandbags as full as possible. When you think they are completely full, add more sand. When "cupped up" there should not be any open area left, they should be brimming with sand.Unfold the support poles, stab the flat ends (not the ends with the foam balls) into the sand, and mound up some sand around them, nothing crazy.Wedge the ball-ends into the very, very corners of the shade, if it's super windy, use the provided fabric ties to wrap around the fabric of the shade around the ball-end and tie. Voilà, you're done!Hard, plastic stakes are also included, we used them the first two days because we were worried about the thing blowing away, that was an unfounded worry. The sandbags were enough. The stakes may be helpful if you're someplace with rockier ground or on grass where there is a lack of materials available to completely full the sandbags.The shade comes with two support poles, you can purchase an additional two if you want. We found the two included were enough to make a beach shade.We purchased the mid-sized Ziggy Shade (Family Sized?) which provided enough cover for one standard-sized beach chair, one 'Murican Dad-sized (XL) beach chair, towel laid next to the chairs, a small cooler, and room in front of the chairs/towel for another towel/blanket or play area.Taking down the Ziggy Shade was even easier: pop out the poles, dump out the sand, toss the poles, ropes, and empty sandbags into the middle of the shade, and fold up like a burrito. The whole thing probably weighs about a pound and a half, maybe two pounds. We carried it to and from the beach in a paper grocery bag.The Bad: the Ziggy Shade is basically a very large piece of spandex material, with ropes tied to the corners, and more spandex material attached to the ropes for the sandbags. Resourceful individuals could probably make their own "ziggy shade" by purchasing the extra poles and visiting a fabric supply store or buying a cheap-o blue tarp, refillable sandbags, and some thin rope.The size of the shade provided is limited to where the sun is overhead; the more overhead the sun is, the smaller the size of the shade will be. This isn't really an issue as it is a common sense thing, but just a heads up. There was always enough created shade for our two-and-a-half beach chairs and small cooler.Overall I would definitely recommend the Ziggy Shade for it's ease of setup, security in the wind/on the beach, lightness/portability, and function as a sun shade. I'm considering purchasing the Jumbo-sized Ziggy Shade as well, because one can never have enough shade on the beach.2021 Edit: Since purchasing the Ziggy Shade, we've probably set it up at least 25 times. It's been stored in our basement (we "upgraded" from the paper grocery bag to a reusable shopping bag!) when not in use. We've washed it in the washing machine. The Ziggy Shade is still as amazing as stated in my original review. Depending on how many helpers you have to fill the sand bags, set up time can be less than three minutes: dump everything out of the bag you use to store and transport the shade, spread out the shade and sandbags, snap those poles straight, fill the sandbags complete full ("keep filling, they aren't there yet. don't make me have to chase this thing down the beach because you kids didn't put enough sand in."), and pop the poles in.Even after multiple washes (delicate cycle, lowest spin speed, air dry) the color is still vibrant and there has been no damage to the fabric or ropes. We do not remove the rope that attaches the sandbags to the shade which is why we was on gentle with low spin and air dry.I am now considering buying the super-duper XXL Ziggy Shade so that we can create a Ziggy Shade compound on the beach.

I would have rated it a five had the pole not been broken when we opened it. I should’ve opened it before we went to the beach. It is easy to set up if you read the instructions and provided great shade.

This thing is great. Super lightweight and easy to assemble. My wife had zero trouble assembling it herself in about 10 minutes. We had multiple people stop and ask about it. I took this picture with one of those $250 wind shades next to us. What the pic doesn’t show is that expensive wind shade getting in the way of the folks under it. When the wind changes direction you have to pick that thing up and move it. The ZiggyShade does not require that. It started to rain that same day. The canopy held the rain off but the wind picked up and we had to take it down. Then it got wet sand all over it. And the storm passed. So we set it up again in about 3 minutes but only set up the lean-to version (with two poles). Within about 10 minutes, the sand on it was dry enough to brush off with a towel and was entirely dry in about 30 minutes so I could pack it up. Tip: Others have said it but it’s a good idea to wind up the bags in their own cords to avoid tangles. But man it’s amazing. Plus we use it at the pool with the provided tent stakes. Never buying a framed canopy again. Whenever this thing goes, I’m getting another one. May even get another one just for the hell of it.Speaking of getting another one, if ZiggyShade is reading this, if anything goes wrong can I contact you with replacement parts? You have a customer for life.Update: For the folks saying it doesn’t do well in wind, angle the poles out and pull the sand bags out more to make the shade more taut. We have 28+ mph gusts today and it worked just fine with these tweaks.