Waking up to the sight of the glorious ocean and the smell of sea salt in the air is one of the best feelings you can experience. There’s nothing like being able to take a dip in the cool ocean first thing when you wake up, with the sand between your toes as you run to the edge of the deep blue. You don’t quite get that experience from a hotel window, so why not invest in a tent, where you’ll get to sleep under the stars and for a fraction of the cost?
If you’re in the market for a tent so that you too can get the full beach camping experience, look no further. We’ve got the latest scoop on how to find a terrific tent for the beach and some fabulous picks for you to choose from without having to look anywhere else.
In a hurry? This tent is making some big waves in the camping community!
In a hurry? This is our Winner!
Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent Deluxe
- Good protection from sun, rain and wind
- Large windows assist with ventilation
- The beach tent is made from breathable polyester and is water repellent
Best Tents for Camping on the Beach – Comparison Table
| Image | Product | Technical Spec | Price |
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Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent Deluxe XL |
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Check Price On Amazon |
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Lightspeed Outdoors Quick Cabana Beach Tent |
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Easthills Outdoors Easy Up Beach Tent Sun Shelter |
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Alvanator Beach Tent Umbrella Outdoor Sun Shelter Cabana Automatic Pop Up |
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Gorich Easy Set Up Beach Tent |
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Best Tents for Camping on the Beach – Reviews
1. Our Top Pick: Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent Deluxe XL
This tent is incredibly spacious – you can easily fit 3 or 4 people in it without feeling cramped. It’s also incredibly easy to set up and fold away too. That’s not all it offers though – let’s dive in.
Despite the impressive size of this tent, it’s still lightweight, only weighing 6lbs so it’s easy to carry around with you wherever you go, which makes this quite suitable for other kinds of camping trips too. The material is water repellent and also comes with a UPF 50+ sun protection rating, so you don’t need to worry about sun burns with this. The floor is also dry due to the water-resistant material. It’s incredibly sturdy even in the worst winds due to the fiberglass frame, 4 stakes, and 5 sandbags that are inbuilt. It even has extra storage in the form of some internal pockets and hooks. It has 3 large windows designed for good ventilation, and the tent is breathable. If you have any doubts about durability, the tent comes with a 1 year warranty.
So, here’s what you’ve been waiting for: the cost. Thankfully, this tent is a bargain. It doesn’t cost a massive amount of money as you would expect of a tent of this size. It’s exactly what you could want in a beach tent!
2. Lightspeed Outdoors Quick Cabana Beach Tent Sun Shelter
This tent is another one that has a large interior and a lot of floor space, yo could easily fit 2 adults and some kids, and still have room for any camping gear. It also has a pole design that helps to set up the tent easier.
The tent comes with 8.5mm thick fibreglass poles that help to keep the tent stable. It’s also waterproof as the tent is made out of similar materials that you would find on an umbrella. It’s easy to keep in place due to the sand pockets and stakes it comes with, but it does have some issues with strong winds. It’s incredibly durable due to the PE floor, so you don’t need to worry about excessive damage causing your tent problems. It comes with a large carrying bag too for easy transportation. The best thing about this tent though is that it’s incredibly easy to set up. The poles that you need to assemble this tent are already set up so all you need to do is put the stakes in the ground. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to set up.
It comes in two bright colors and is very affordable, so it’s well worth a try for your beach trip.
3. Easthills Outdoors Easy Up Beach Tent Sun Shelter
‘Easy Up’ is a pretty good description of this tent – you’ll have little trouble trying to set this tent up. It even comes with an extended porch which helps to add privacy and give you more room to move.
The tent is also great in inclement weather, being both waterproof and efficient at resisting UV rays with UPF 50+ protection. It’s well ventilated due to the tent’s large mesh windows positioned on all three sides of it. It comes with four different mesh bags too that help to keep your belongings in order to avoid damage. It sets up fairly easily too thankfully, so need to worry about pulling your hair out using it.
It’s not bad on price either, so you can buy a few extra ice creams without feeling like you shouldn’t.
4. Alvanator Beach Tent Umbrella Outdoor Sun Shelter Cabana Automatic Pop Up
The Alvanator Beach Tent Umbrella Outdoor Sun Shelter Cabana Automatic Pop Up boasts an easy set up and is very easy to transport around due to its clever portable design. You can set this up in mere seconds!
It can fit two or three people relatively easily as it’s fairly large. It’s resistant to water ingress, and has a 50+ UPF protection rating for the material. You will remain cool with the tent’s mesh windows that encourage ventilation. It’s easy to carry, weighing only 2.5lbs and the carry bag makes it easy to move around. It’s also very durable owing to the fiberglass poles for the frame that keep the tent in shape. It can even withstand a decent 25mph worth of wind.
The tent is quite affordable too, so why not give it a try?
5. Gorich Easy Set Up Beach Tent with SPF UV 50+ Protection
This tent is quite suitable for more than just beach relaxation – this is ideal for anything from fishing trips, to festivals weekend trips, or chilling out in your backyard!
The Gorich Easy Set Up Beach Tent with SPF 50+ Protection is fantastic against UV rays and is very water resistant, so you don’t need to worry about the weather ruining your tent. It’s got a very durable fiberglass frame that’s also very lightweight and easy to carry. It does a good job of keeping the tent stable and helps it to keep in its original shape. It’s very easy to set up and the set up can be done relatively quickly. The mesh windows of this tent are very large, allowing for good ventilation to keep you cool from inside the tent. It’s also a very large tent with plenty of room for lots of people to hang out in it. It’s not the most durable tent though, so it would be best for one time use rather than continual.
It comes at a decent price, however, so for a one off excursion this could be a good option for you that will allow you to enjoy your holiday worry-free.
Best Tents for Camping on the Beach – Buyers Guide
So, how do you choose a good tent to go camping on the beach with? Well, there are a few things that a beach tent should, ideally, provide:
Privacy
If you’re going camping on a beach, the chances are that it’s probably a public beach. Naturally, if it’s a public beach your privacy is going to be a lot more scarce. If you buy a tent though, you can retreat into the tent to change into any swimsuits, and you can relax in the tent with little concern about privacy being invaded.
Protection Against the Sun
We all love a good tanning session, but too much of a good thing can become hazardous. That’s particularly the case with staying out in the sun for too long, where you may get over exposed to harmful UV rays from the sun. You should bring a beach shade with you if you’re staying on the beach to avoid the UV rays, and check that the tent is approved and certified. Furthermore, make sure you put your sun lotion on!
The ideal standard to choose is a tent with a rating of 50+ sun protection will help you not to suffer from any sunburn and will keep the whole family safe from UV rays.
Kid-friendly
If you’re going to the beach as a family, chances are your kids will get tired after a day of running around on the beach. You need a safe haven where your little ones can crash after a day of play and fun.
Security
Beaches can sometimes become prime places for robberies when tents are left unattended. For this reason, most beach tents for sale provide a zip-up lock mechanism that helps to protect your stuff when you’re way. The protective mechanisms are usually incredibly easy to use but offer fantastic security – all you need to do is zip up the tent, lock it, and away you go. It’ll be quite difficult for any burglar to get inside the tent with this in place. The zip lock function also helps to stop and dirt and water from seeping into the tent which keeps it nice and clean from the inside.
Easy to Put Together
You don’t want to be spending hours trying to put a tent together, ideally. Tents that are time consuming to put together are incredibly frustrating and will only cause you stress on an otherwise relaxing excursion. Compact tents will make life a lot easier on you, as will pop up tents. The tent should also be easy to fold away too – a lot of people struggle with this as the instructions for putting tents away can be a little vague on instruction manuals
Certain things like color coded poles can also help to set up the tent, as it will ensure that you don’t mix up to poles and can clearly see where they’re meant to go. Tents with less poles are also much easier to set up. Some tents also have an elastic band between the rods too which helps to keep the poles together which will help you to install them easily.
There are also some vital things that you should consider when trying to find a tent for an excursion to the beach:
Size
How large is the group that’s going to be going on this beach trip with you? The number of people you bring with you will determine the size of the tent you bring with you. The bigger the tent, the more comfortable it is, the more people you can fit into it and the more gear you can store inside of it. Check the headline figure and the amount of floor space the tent has before purchasing a tent. Generally if a manufacturer advertises the tent as being one size, but in order to be comfortable you should buy a tent one berth size bigger. For example, a 4 person tent for 4 people is going to be a bit cramped, whereas a 5 person tent would be comfortable and your entourage will have plenty of room. You should also consider a bigger tent so that you have more room to chill out during the day when you’re not outside.
Resistance to Wind and Rain
As anyone will know that enjoys going to the beach, the beach is an incredibly windy place. For this reason, you’ll need to make sure that your tent is windproof. If the tent has big mesh windows, it’ll make it more windproof. Some tents also have vents that will help with windproofing.
Furthermore, depending on where you’re going camping to, there is a chance it may rain. No matter how much you prepare, we can’t 100% predict the weather so it’s good to be prepared in the event that it does rain. With that being said, it’s worth looking out for a tent that’s waterproof so you don’t get caught out and get soaked in your sleep. The main thing to look out for if you’re looking for a waterproof tent is the hydrostatic head. This is a measure of how much the tent will resist water. The higher the number of hydrostatic head is, the more waterproof the tent is. Though, even if you’re going camping somewhere like the UK where it rains a lot you’ll only really need a maximum of 3000mm of hydrostatic head for it to be effective. Furthermore, a lot of tents come with waterproof coatings that help to keep the tent even more dry.
Storage and Additional Features
There are so many tents out there that offer additional features that will help to heighten your enjoyment of the excursion. For example, extra storage. A lot of tents come with internal and external storage to keep your gear in. A sandbag could also be useful as they help to keep the tent attached to the floor.
Bug Protection and Mesh
It’s always a good idea to ensure your tent has some degree of protection from insects. After all, getting bitten by insects isn’t a fun thing to experience on a beach getaway. For this reason, double walled tents are handy as they put two layers, usually consisting of some mesh in the construction to help keep bugs away.
Another reason mesh is handy is because it can help you to see the sea and the stars at night easier. A lot of tents come with pull away doors and ceilings so you can enjoy the view of the outdoors from your cosy tent.
Durability
You may want to come back to the beach and camp again after your first excursion. For that reason, you should make sure that your tent will last a long time. You should look out for tents that have been reviewed with accolades of being very durable. In addition to this, make sure that you provide the right aftercare to the tent, so make sure it’s properly dried out and clean. This will help to make the tent last longer.
Furthermore, some tents can be subject to condensation – this can damage the tent and your belongings so make sure the tent doesn’t allow condensation or any other harmful substances inside of it.
Portability
Will you be carrying the tent around with you on your back or will you be taking it in the car from a different location? If you’re carrying it yourself, you’ll need something that isn’t too heavy and doesn’t murder your legs and back. This isn’t as much of an issue if you’re taking the car but otherwise, you should opt for a lightweight option if you’ll be carrying it around with you. There are a lot of tents designed specifically for this purpose, and some are pretty large to fit a large family. With this in mind, you should try and look for the best tent that fits your needs.
Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent Deluxe
- Good protection from sun, rain and wind
- Large windows assist with ventilation
- The beach tent is made from breathable polyester and is water repellent