Best Sunglasses for Chillin’ on the Beach


Look your best on the beach with these top shades.

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At The Boardwalk, we love the beach. It’s the perfect place to show off our beach body latest pair of sunglasses. While you absolutely can wear any pair of sunglasses you want to the beach, we reckon some shades are more suited to the environment than others.

In this article, we’re gonna first tell you what we think makes a great pair of beach frames, and then show you some of the best sunglasses for the beach. Let’s crack on.

What Makes Sunglasses Good for the Beach?

We think there are some important features that make a pair of a sunglasses perfect beachwear.

First, they should offer great eye protection. When you’re at the beach you are likely to be in the sun for significantly longer than when you wear glasses walking around town or on the commute. You’ll want a pair of glasses with at least category two or three protection. If you plan to go on the water, think about getting a pair with polarized lenses to reduce glare.

The next thing is that you’ll want this protection without the glasses being too expensive. You want a good quality pair, but you also don’t want to not do fun beach things because you’re worried about loosing or breaking your glasses.

See Also: Check Out Our Favorite Independent Sunglasses Brands

Everyone will have their own limits about what makes a pair of sunglasses too expensive. The glasses on this list range in price from $50 to $200 as this will allow you to get a great pair without going too crazy.

Third, you’ll want your glasses to be durable. If you’re planning to be active on the beach you don’t want to be constantly worrying about your glasses breaking or getting scratched. We’re not advocating for full-on sports glasses, just a pair that will survive the odd fall.

You also want your glasses to look as cool as possible, obviously. Being on the beach is a great time to go a bit more experimental with a pair that would be unsuitable in, for example, more formal situations.

Best Sunglasses for the Beach

Ray-Ban Original Wayfarers

Ray-Ban Wayfarer Review Angle

Head to the beach, anywhere in the world, and you’re bound to see someone rocking a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers. This is for good reason. They are the perfect beach sunglasses. They look great, are durable, they’re pricey without being too expensive, and they come with protective lenses. You can even grab a polarized pair if you want. Ray-Ban sells the glasses in several colors, so you can be sure to find a pair that fits your beach style.

Buy Ray-Ban Original Wayfarers on Ray-Ban.com

Wooden Glasses

Woodies

Wooden sunglasses are a great choice for the beach for several reasons. They look a bit different and the natural material is a great fit for the beach. They are also cheaper than many styles of acetate or metal glasses, which means you aren’t going to spend your precious beach time worrying about them. Finally, if you do lose them while out swimming, as they’re made from wood they won’t have quite as large an environmental impact as if you lost a pair of plastic specs.

Check out our favorite wooden sunglasses brands here

Oakley Holbrook

Oakley

Oakley Holbrook are a great pair of glasses from the brand’s lifestyle range that still carry many of sportier features found on the brand’s other glasses. The glasses have a lightweight frame perfect for those planning to get active on the beach. As you’d expect from Oakley, they are durable and you can even buy replacement frames if you do end up somehow breaking them. The glasses can be bought with regular or polarized lenses.

Check out Oakley Holbrook glasses on Oakley.com

Warby Parker Hatcher

Warby Parker

We love the design of the Warby Parker Hatcher. They have a casual cool that we think is perfect for the beach, especially in the Oak Barrel color scheme. The great thing about these, and really any glasses from Warby Parker, is that you can get a quality pair of glasses with polarized lenses for only around $100. The glasses should also be durable and they have what the brand claims are scratch-resistant lenses.

Buy Warby Parker Hatcher on warbyparker.com

Quay Australia Walk On

Quay Australia

If you’re after a pair of glasses for the beach, where better to look than Australia, a country famous for its love of sun, sea, and sand. Quay Australia do a variety of affordable glasses designs perfect for the beach. We especially like the Walk On design due to its on-trend color and modern shape. These glasses are one of the cheaper pairs on the list so perfect if you’re on a budget.

Buy Quay Australia Walk On at asos.com

Peppers USA Breakers

Peppers USA

Peppers Breakers sunglasses have threee main features that make them good for the beach. First, the shades have polarized lenses which can reduce harsh glare from the sun when you’re out on the water. Second, the frames come with floating technology that means they won’t sink if you dorp them in the sea. Finally, at $49.99 they come at a price point that makes them perfect for knocking around on the beach.

Buy Peppers Breakers on peppers.com


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Duncan Elder

Duncan is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Boardwalk. He's a menswear writer who has spent the last 15 years developing his own sense of style, which lies at the cross-section of mid-noughties indie and Uniqlo-inspired minimalism.

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