Best Beach Umbrellas of 2025

The Tommy Bahama AnchorX umbrella is slightly heavier and bulkier than the other umbrellas we evaluated, but you’ll be glad about the extra weight the minute the wind blows. Its features help make it the most steady in the sand—and it’s cute, to boot. 

Setup/takedown: This umbrella comes in two parts in a matching and spacious carrying case (with a shoulder strap and drawstring closure). The aluminum base pole is unique compared with the others: It has a screw base that measures 8.5 inches in length, one of the longest of all of the umbrella bases. It has handles that fold down from the pole and help you easily turn the umbrella’s base into the sand—no struggle or significant arm strength was required. 

This is the only umbrella we evaluated with a second built-in sand anchor positioned directly above the screw base, and this turned out to be a crucial feature. After you lift the anchor up and snap it into place, it provides the simplest way to tell whether you’ve screwed the umbrella deep enough into the sand—keep digging until the underside of the anchor meets the sand, which measures 11 inches from the base’s tip to the underside of the anchor (a sign on the anchor also reminds you to “install to this depth”). The anchor is also a feature that helped keep the umbrella steady in the sand as the wind began blowing, sometimes with ferocious gusts. 

I found that some strength was needed to place the canopy onto the base pole and pull it upward to click it into place. But the canopy also felt thicker and of better quality material than the others, which could explain why it is heavier to maneuver. 

Takedown is a snap. Click a button at the top to fold the canopy down and remove it from the base pole. Pull the base pole out of the sand (or use the handles to unscrew it) and collapse the anchor. Everything fits back in its carrying case without struggle, but I recommend putting the base back into the bag (for all of the umbrellas) before the canopy, which makes it easier.

Tilt: Push a button at the top and tilt this umbrella in one of two directions—it couldn’t be easier to do. 

Features: This umbrella’s built-in anchor, long screw base, pull-out handles, and thick polyester canopy with UPF 50 protection make it our top choice. Its canopy measures 6.7 feet in width and is designed with built-in vents that the manufacturer says “provide increased airflow and maximum stability.”

Wind resistance: This umbrella did not budge once in moderate to high winds. It stayed straight and steady—we didn’t even have to adjust it. 

Things that annoyed us: If you have to twist our arms, we’ll say it would be nice if Tommy Bahama offered this umbrella in more than two colors/patterns. (But how cute is it that you can buy this matching beach chair for the Tropical fronds pattern?)

This Walmart beach umbrella was out of stock at the time of publication, but Walmart assured us it would return. This is a solid, cost-conscious option that is simple to assemble and boasts some great features. However, it lacks a built-in sand anchor like the Tommy Bahama AnchorX Umbrella and did need to be adjusted when the winds picked up (it never fell over, though). 

Setup/takedown: This is a really easy umbrella to put up and take down. It comes in two pieces in a matching carrying bag with a shoulder strap and mesh along one side. It has a 5.5-inch screw base with fold-down handles that help you twist the base into the sand. Without a built-in sand anchor, you won’t have guidance in knowing when to stop digging, but you should continue until you feel the base is secure and won’t lift up on its own. I had to use a little bit of force to get the canopy pole to insert into the bottom pole, but once it clicked into place, I felt that it was a steady, substantial umbrella. 

Taking it down was also simple: Pull down the canopy and remove it from the base pole, pull the base pole out of the sand, secure the canopy with its attached elastic tie, and insert the base pole into the carrying bag first to make the process easier. 

Tilt: Press one button at the top of the umbrella and it effortlessly tilts to one side or the other. 

Features: Its polyester-vented canopy (with silver coating) measures 7.5 feet in width. It’s the widest model we reviewed and provides the most shade coverage. According to the manufacturer, it can prevent UV rays up to UPF 100+, but you should apply SPF 30 or higher whether or not you’re clocking time under a protective umbrella. Its steel base pole features built-in handles and a screw base. 

Wind resistance: I would trust this umbrella when the winds are very light or moderately light. Its lack of a proper sand anchor makes me skeptical that it could last in intense winds, and I would consider purchasing this separate beach umbrella anchor that you can fill with sand and use to keep umbrellas steady (CR did not evaluate the anchor). 

Things that annoyed us: This umbrella would be amazing if it included a built-in anchor and more color and pattern options. If you don’t want to wait for it to come back in stock, Walmart also sells a similar umbrella that has an 8-foot-wide canopy, though we did not evaluate that model.

If your umbrella requirements are simple and you want one that’s lightweight, portable, and has enough features to keep it steady on a calm day, the Sport-Brella Core Vented Upright Beach Umbrella may satisfy your needs for a lower price than some others. 

Setup/takedown: This umbrella comes in two pieces in a narrow carrying case with a shoulder strap and drawstring closure and features a lengthy screw base that measures 8.5 inches. It lacks a built-in sand anchor, though, and doesn’t have fold-down handles, either. With both of those components absent, you’ll have to put a little more effort into digging the base pole into the sand far enough for it to stay steady (even then, I would recommend considering purchasing a separate beach anchor). 

The canopy pole inserts into the base easily and lifts up to click into place without effort. Taking it down is also simple. 

Tilt: When I pushed the button at the top of the pole to adjust the canopy, this umbrella tilted to only one side. I tried 12 times on two different occasions to tilt the umbrella to the opposite side, but it would not budge.

Features: This pick has a steel frame and poles, with an Oxford polyester-vented canopy. Its canopy is designed with UPF 50+ protection, according to the manufacturer, and measures 6 feet in width. Its lengthy screw base is a nice feature, but it lacks a built-in sand anchor and pull-down handles. It comes in two colors/patterns: heathered blue and tile wave orange. 

Wind resistance: On a calm day or one with a light breeze, this umbrella stays put. But once the wind kicked up a bit, it became wobbly in the sand and needed to be repositioned. 

Things that annoyed us: It lacks a built-in handle and an anchor—and provides less shade coverage than Walmart’s Mainstays Vented Beach Umbrella—yet costs more than that model.

This umbrella from Target is so cute, you’ll want it to be the best out there just so that you have an excuse to show it off. Hold that thought because I’ve got good news and bad news about this pick.

Setup/takedown: First, the bad news: This one comes with four pieces and is a bit of a headache to assemble. Its matching carrying bag (which has a shoulder strap and drawstring closure) includes a screw anchor, base pole, top pole with a cute fringed canopy, and a cap for the top pole. It also includes instructions—you’ll need them the first time you set this up. You’ll have to manually screw the cap onto the top canopy pole first and then insert the screw base anchor, which measures 8.5 inches (like the Tommy Bahama and Sport-Brella umbrellas) into the sand. 

This base screw anchor has pull-out handles, but I could not get them to pop out, no matter how hard I tried. And although the frame is made from steel, the screw base feels cheaply made and was already chipping in some areas. After digging the base as far down into the sand as it can go, insert the base pole into the screw base and tighten a large screw on the base. Finally, insert the top canopy pole into the base pole and tighten another screw—mind you, this all has to be done while you’re holding up the canopy pole, which is quite heavy, thanks to the substantial drapery.

Thankfully, the canopy lifts and clicks into place fairly easily, and the takedown process isn’t as laborious. Getting each of the components back into the carrying bag is a pain, though—especially the canopy. I just resigned myself to living with its fringe popping out of the top because it took forever to stuff it back into the bag. 

Tilt: Press a button on the top pole and the canopy easily tilts to one side or another. 

Features: Here’s where this umbrella racks up some points. Its screw base is long to help keep it steady in the wind, and it has pull-out handles (hopefully yours pull out for you). Its polyester canopy, designed with UPF 50+, is nice and thick and measures an impressive 7 feet in width. If you’re here for the fringe cuteness, you won’t be disappointed because it looks just as chic in person, and comes in yellow, blue, and navy blue stripes. 

Wind resistance: This umbrella can handle a little wind. But when the wind picked up, we had to adjust it a few times because it kept tilting in one direction. 

Things that annoyed us: This umbrella would be so much better if it included a built-in sand anchor to keep it more secure and if its screw base didn’t feel cheaply made.

We’ll start by being charitable and saying that the Caribbean Joe Beach Umbrella weighs a little more than 2 pounds and is very, very easy to set up and take down. It’s also very, very easy to lose in the Atlantic Ocean. And, just like that, poof goes our optimism. 

Setup/takedown: You won’t find a screw base, built-in sand anchor, or handles on this budget umbrella. It comes in two pieces in a carrying case with a shoulder strap and drawstring closure, and the pointy end that you insert into the sand measures a little more than 1 inch, which means you should prepare to dig the pole into the sand without help. Because the umbrella is so lightweight, this is surprisingly easy to do, but it never feels like you’ve dug it in far enough for it to stay steady. Plus, it’s the shortest umbrella we reviewed. That means you’ll have less space to relax the deeper you dig it into the sand.

I’m going to be blunt: If you purchase this umbrella and don’t purchase a separate anchor to weigh it down, I wouldn’t expect it to last very long. 

Should your beach day be absent of the slightest breeze and you make it through with this umbrella, it is a cinch to take down, though that could be because it’s always 10 seconds away from falling down. 

Tilt: The top pole features a button that you can press to tilt the canopy to one side or the other. 

Features: This umbrella has a steel frame and a polyester canopy with “UV protection,” according to the manufacturer, though it doesn’t specify how much UV protection it provides. When CR reached out to Caribbean Joe, we were told that it contains “a silver coating that provides UPF 50+ protection.” The canopy provides a little less than 6 feet of width, and the base pole lacks a screw base, a built-in sand anchor, and pull-out handles. 

Wind resistance: Within 20 seconds of setting this umbrella up on my first evaluation day (when the winds were low to moderate), it flew up from the sand and into the ocean, never to be seen again. Wondering whether that was just beginner’s bad luck, I ordered an identical umbrella and brought it to the beach on a windier day. It refused to stay in the sand at all, immediately flew down the beach, and when I retrieved it, its ribs had broken and the canopy was beyond repair. 

Things that annoyed us: The only honest way to market this umbrella would be: “an affordable umbrella for beaches that have never felt the wind blow.”