Last summer, my family spent seven hours at the Outer Banks with no shade. Within two hours, my youngest had sunburn on her shoulders, my dog was panting under a soggy beach towel, and I gave up trying to keep the cooler cold. We went home early and ate pizza. That's when I started testing […]

I spent the last three months testing 8 of the most popular beach chairs for adults on the market. My test crew included a 6-foot-4 surfer, my 71-year-old father, and a plus-size friend who weighs 290 pounds. Every chair got soaked, sun-baked, and dragged through salt water at least a dozen times. I hauled them […]

I have watched umbrellas tumble down the beach like tumbleweeds too many times. One solid gust and a flimsy $20 umbrella becomes a dangerous projectile that hits nearby families and ends up in the ocean. That is exactly why the best heavy duty beach umbrellas exist, and why I spent the past several weeks testing […]

I hauled eight of the top cooler wagons across sand, gravel, and grass for three months to find out which ones actually keep drinks cold and roll smoothly when fully loaded. After 47 trips across beaches, campsites, and tailgates, my team and I have a clear picture of which models deserve your money in . […]

I have spent more beach days than I care to admit shaking sand out of regular towels, peeling grit off my kids' sandwiches, and finding granules in my car for a week afterward. That is exactly why I started using sand free beach mats. These are not regular blankets with a sand-resistant finish. They use […]

Last summer, my kids and I spent more hours shooting hoops in our pool than actually swimming. That little realization sent our team on a six-week hunt for the best pool basketball hoops on the market. We tested eight popular models across three pools, weighed in feedback from real buyers, and even pulled tips from […]

When the summer heat hits and the kids are bouncing off the walls, the best inflatable family pools turn any backyard into a private water park without the cost of an in-ground install. I spent the last few months testing inflatable family pools with my own family and a handful of neighbors. We filled them, […]

Few things match the feeling of catching a clean wave on a well-built boogie board. Whether you are heading to the beach for the first time or upgrading from a worn-out rental, finding the best boogie boards for your skill level and body type makes every session more fun. Our team spent weeks comparing construction […]

After spending three months testing eight different skimboards along the Gulf Coast and the Pacific shore, our team put together this guide to the best skimboards you can buy right now. We rode them in shallow sand, on shorebreak, and on small summer waves, and we tracked how each board handled flatland tricks versus actual […]

I spent the last three summers testing pool floats so you don't have to waste money on ones that sag, fade, or pop after two weekends. Our team sank hours into real-world testing of inflatables, foam mats, and hybrid loungers across pools and lakes. Finding the best pool floats for adults in comes down to […]