The Shibumi Is the Greatest Beach Shade I’ve Ever Used

The beach is good; the sun is bad. That’s an oversimplification, but it’s how I approach my days on the coast. I like to spend all day on the beach—surfing in the morning before the wind kicks up, then lounging in the afternoons. With this sort of attitude, shade becomes extremely important, especially when I’m forcing my wife and children to follow the same “all-day beach day” philosophy.

When I was younger, I simply draped a beach towel over my head and shoulders. As I matured, I used umbrellas that anchored into the sand but found that those only offered a small circle of shade, and if the wind kicked up, they blew away. So I progressed to tailgate tents, trying to anchor the legs in the sand with stakes, but again, these square tents became sails in the wind, and we had to station people at each corner to hold down the fort. I’ve tried using camping tarps and oversized baby shades—most of them are difficult to erect, and as soon as the wind kicks up, they fail miserably.

A few years ago, I discovered the Shibumi beach shade ($275). It is, without a doubt, the best beach shade because it actually performs better in the wind. The secret is the simple design: a single tent pole runs through a fabric channel on the front of the poly canopy, bending and anchoring into the sand at each end, providing shape to the cover, and then the fabric is allowed to float free above you, like a kite dancing in the wind. The more the wind blows, the more shade the Shibumi provides. It’s one of those products that’s so practical and so useful that it makes you kick yourself for not thinking of it first.

Shibumi Beach Shade Classic with Quiet Canopy

$275 at Shibumi $250 at Dick’s Sporting Goods

I bought my first Shibumi beach shade five years ago, and in that time I’ve seen the popularity of these shades grow. For a year or two, my family had the only Shibumi on our favorite barrier island in South Carolina. Other dads would approach me and ask about my shade. It gave me instant street cred. Now, that same beach is covered with Shibumis as far as the eye can see.

It’s become so popular for a number of reasons.

Not only does the Shibumi work well in the wind, it throws a lot of shade—150 square feet—which is big enough for six people if you’re friendly with each other. Four if you need more personal space. There’s also a Mini version ($195) built for two with 75 square feet of shade.

Second, it’s easy to set up. Slide the tent pole through the front channel, stick both ends of that pole in the sand, then plant the front tension cord, which is attached to a sack full of sand, tight in front of the pole. That’s it. I can do it solo in just a couple of minutes. You need two hands, so you have to set your beer down, but it’s a fast enough process that the beer doesn’t get warm.

The Shibumi is also easy to rearrange as the sun moves across the sky, or the wind shifts, so you can maximize your shade throughout the day without employing an army to move tent legs in unison.

The Downsides

That’s not to say the original Shibumi is perfect. For one, you have to have at least a little breeze to float the fabric. No wind, and the Shibumi hangs like a curtain. It’s rare that there’s no wind at the beaches I visit on the east coast, but it has happened occasionally. More troubling, the original Shibumi is loud in a high wind. The faster the breeze, the more the fabric flaps, making a snapping noise that can be so raucous, it’s hard to have a conversation under it.

Fortunately, the makers of the Shibumi recently released a new version of their shade made from a softer fabric with more stretch, which helps reduce the flapping sound in high winds. I tried out the new Shibumi on the coast of North Carolina, and found it much quieter. Same easy set up, same big patch of shade, but way less noise. It’s not completely silent, but in a stiff wind, I had no problem holding a conversation.

The company has also released a Wind Assist accessory, which anchors the rear corners of the Shibumi fabric with cords and sand bags, giving the fabric structure without the need for a breeze, but I haven’t had the conditions to test it out yet. Both new developments have made a good product better, and more importantly, made it easier to hunker down from the sun as my family and I soak up these last days of summer. Beach day, all day.