Sun Ninja Beach Tent Sun Shelter UPF50+ - Easy Pop Up Beach Canopy - Outdoor Shade for Camping Trips, Fishing, Backyard Fun Picnics - Sand Shovel, Ground Pegs & Stability Poles

This review is for the 5’ x 5’ “two-person” size tent, primarily used with two poles (only). Random notes in no particular order: - First saw one of these earlier this summer, and thought ‘that’s the coolest-looking tent ever’. Looks like a big ol' waterbug on the beach. Which BTW, it does sprawl out there – that 5’ x 5’ tent is more like 15’ x 15’ once it’s stretched out, so be aware. I will say that though the legs do stretch out, they are anchored by sand bags, so there are no stakes/spikes etc. for you (or anyone else) to worry about. - I purchased the 5’ x 5’ version as I usually go on my own to the beach to read. The 5’ x 5’ size is perfect for one person, which leads to an important note: Size/people references supplied are more like ‘maximum capacity’. I’d halve the occupancy ratings for ideal fit: 5’ x 5’ for one person 7’ x 7’ for two 10’ x 10’ for four - Especially if you only use two poles, which I think works best. Definitely affects fit, but using two poles vs. four provides more shade, and more shade options over the course of the day. - I also find that less poles means more stability in the wind. If you follow the directions (face the front of the tent directly into the wind, pack the sand bags to the max and bury the bags, and stretch each tent leg/bag out as much as possible before raising the poles), the tent is surprisingly stable in the wind with two poles. I used the tent this afternoon in sustained winds of 15-25 MPH – absolutely no umbrellas at the beach today – but dang! the Sun Ninja really held its own in the wind. - Then when I began to take down the tent, I accidentally came upon a sort of ‘alternate’ setup that was incredibly stable in the wind. I removed one pole, which temporarily made the tent a one-poler, but that one pole was pretty well aligned into the wind, and the tent STILL remained stable in the wind! So I thought ’what if I took that second pole and teamed it up with the first one in a /\ setup?’ If you look at the video, the tent fabric sure is blowing, but with the new setup the support is really, really stable. How cool is that! (Speaking of cool, I forgot that I was playing music on my phone while doing the video, so there you go. Thanks to Grant Green and Larry Young for the soundtrack :) - In conclusion, I’ll agree with most folks that my little 5 x 5 tent is super easy to carry-with, setup, and take down. Less than 10 minutes to setup (solo) and five minutes to pack up. Needless to say, I’m very happy with my purchase. It’s a brilliant design: functional, efficient, and stable, and as I said: it’s the coolest-looking tent on the beach! Oh, one last thing: like a previous reviewer recommended: get a larger, more durable scoop than the one provided. Video: Alternate two-pole /\ setup, approx. 20 mph wind. My goofy idea to orient the tent diagonally, with two poles used together at one end. Not sure if you’re supposed to do that, but it worked well for me in the wind.

07/2024 - Updating after another season and 2 solid weeks of use - TOTALLY WORTH EVERY PENNY. This sucker is fantastic. We have put it through the wringer over the past two weeks, up and down every day, on the beach for hours with decent winds every day. It sets up in less than 5 minutes and stays up for as long as you want it to. Pro tips: - lay it out flat and stretch the corners as far as you can before digging a hole for each pocket. Fill the pockets with sand and bury each pocket in the hole you dug for it. The pockets can hold so much sand - fill them as much as you can. The more you fill and the deeper you bury them, the more wind it can withstand. - once the corners are filled and buried, place the poles about 6 inches in from the corners of the top and stand those suckers up. - if you don’t want as much profile, you can get away with 2-3 poles in the front, setting the whole thing up like a lean-to. - secure the poles with the elastic ties and you’re golden. Update! I called customer service today and they returned my call within 10 mins. They ordered 2 replacement poles for me and expedited shipping so I will have the poles in 48 hours. Perfect customer service! Hi! I’ve been on the beach this week and we brought my Sun Ninja beach tent. Here’s my honest review: So easy! Just stretch the tent out flat on the sand, pulling the 4 corner pouches out super far. Dig holes for each pouch and start filling the pouches with the sand. Make sure the pouch is filled to the brim and snug down in that hole, then cover the pouch with even more sand so it’s buried in that hole. Then place the poles about a foot in from the corner seams, rubber ball up, and stake them down in the sand. You can use 2 poles to do like a lean-to, or 4 to give you more room. Put the elastic bungees on top so they attach the tent fabric to the rubber ball and pull tight. You’re done! When all the parts work, it’s amazing! Pros: ✅ the XL is huge and shady and has room for 4 comfortably, but you could easily fit like 8-10 people under the shade in a pinch ✅ when all the parts are working, you can have it up in 5 mins or less ✅ when you have it up and staked right, it can withstand a lot of wind, not just breeze ✅ comes with a great carry bag and small shovel to fill the pouches Con - just one: ❌ we’ve had 2 faulty poles that get stuck and won’t quite fit all the sections together snugly - I’m going to contact Sun Ninja and will update this review with their response

We finally got to test our Sun Ninja, and I’m impressed. Setup: The key is the sand bags—fill them pretty much all the way. Lay it out and get the fabric stretched as tight as you can before the poles go in. Then add the poles and pull everything even tighter. That sequence matters. Performance: It’s held up really well, even with wind. Once it’s tight, it stays put and doesn’t flap around much. Rain: We caught a quick shower. Rain does filter through a bit, so it’s not going to keep your stuff bone dry. Plan on light mist under there—not waterproof. Shade & Sun: I love that I can still catch a tan but feel protected. It cuts the harshness without feeling like I’m hiding under a tarp. Huge win. Portability: Compact and light to carry. Easy to throw in the car and not think twice about it. Pros • Stable in wind when the bags are full and the fabric’s tight • Lets me tan while still taking the edge off the sun • Compact and lightweight—no hauling a beast of a tent Cons • Not waterproof; drizzle comes through • Setup is simple but you do need to really fill those bags and re-stretch after the poles Bottom Line: For beach days and park hangs, this is a keeper. Simple setup (once you know the order), great balance of shade and sun, and easy to carry. Just don’t expect it to be a rain shelter.

The gear quality is excellent and does a great job of filtering the sun. The size is perfect—we were able to fit a big group under it. It was a bit tricky to assemble the first time, but once you understand how it works, it only takes a couple of minutes. Make sure the bags are filled with sand to the top—this makes assembly much easier. Note: it’s not suitable for rain. Overall, very satisfied with the product!

Super easy to setup and take down. Easy to pack around and took up no space. There were 6 of us and We easily fit so I think 8 could fit no issues. It had really good shade and did really good in average and slightly higher beach wind. Seen some reviews about poles bending but we had no issues at all even in a thunderstorm. Stretched out product as much as possible to see how the tension would hold up seeing some reviews say the bags slid a lot but I didn’t have any issues at all. The poles stayed in place just straight up didn’t have to angle them even in slightly higher winds. If sand gets in the poles they can be a little hassle to put together but dipping them in the water fixes the issue real quick. Wouldn’t recommend setting up in rain unless you only use two poles to give it a slant although it will still leak. It doesn’t block water at all but it doesn’t advertise it does so I won’t complain. Product goes on sale often and I highly recommend picking one up. Excellent quality! Will definitely be picking up a second for even more shade for in the future! Product was used on Carolina Beaches.

This tent was very easy to set up daily on the beach and is quite durable. I believe it’s a great value given its quality. My father is allergic to the sun, and I am also sensitive to UV rays, so it effectively protected us from UV exposure, preventing rashes. It had a spacious size for five people to sit comfortably with plenty of room, and it looked excellent.

I bought this in April 2022. Why the review now, well Amazon sends you a review right away and I had yet to use it! So it has now been used ohhh probably 6 times! How did we ever function without it. I love this tent, wind or sun. It’s a must have. Works great at OBX and works great in the back yard. I love the turquoise color keeps you cool when the sun is blistering hot. Now this is a smaller tent but just this week we had 7 adults and one baby under it. Was it tight yes, very but… it was fun and worked well in the hot sun. It’s is easy to put up and easy to take down. It is not heavy to carry and once you get the hang of it I’d say you can have this baby up in 5-7 min alone. with help even easier. I watched many you tube videos and trial and error- remember the little “ninja guy” faces the wind. Remember that and stretch it as wide as you can fill with sand, poles and adjust and you will master it in no time! We broke one of the poles on this trip- guess what contacted the company- and got a response in less then an hour I’d say and new poles are being shipped!!! Are you kidding me??? Sun ninja I cannot even tell you about how great the customer service is!!! Just wow!!!

I was really hoping that this beach canopy/sun shelter would provide me everything I was looking for in a beach canopy. I have no idea why this has a 4.5 star rating. I must wonder how many people have used it multiple times at the beach. If you are not using this at the beach, then you may be ok. But good luck finding 50+ pounds of sand to put into each corner bag to hold it up if you are not at the beach. I was trying to get something that would: 1. Provide plenty of shade. Something an umbrella just doesn’t do. 2. Allow me to actually sit under the canopy and not outside of it like you have to do with some other beach covers. 3. Allow me to lower one side to block the sun. 4. Prevent me from having to move it throughout the day as the sun makes its way across the sky. 5. Would work with wind or little wind. Unlike the Shibumi Shade that doesn’t work when there’s little wind. And must be moved when the wind changes directions. Those things are a rip-off. 6. Be light weight and easy to carry 7. That would be easy and efficient to set up. Dealing with your standard umbrella simply doesn’t provide as much shade and you have reposition yourself throughout the day. I’ve tried the beach tents, but they get stuffy due to lack of good cross ventilation and you have to move them, and you can’t put more than two people in/under them comfortably. I was going to use your standard camping canopy (which plenty of people do), but those are heavy. But, after dealing with this Sun Ninja for 10 days at the beach, it may be my last option. The Negatives: 1. Right from the get-go, inserting the different sections of the poles into one another was problematic due to something called sand that you find lots of at the beach. The poles come in six sections with male/female ends and are held together by a bungee string running down through them. Once you have any amount of sand, they get difficult to connect and disconnect. So much so, on the last day, I could not disconnect one of the sections at all. Even using pliers didn’t work. 2. The poles only offer one height of about 6’. A better solution would possibly be to have the poles telescoping and offering heights of 2’, 4’ and 6’…providing they don’t get stuck. This would make it easier to adjust the height of one side to provide greater sun protection. 3. With any moderate wind (which is what you usually have at the beach), you will need to fill up the bag corners with 45-50 scoops of sand. This is very time consuming. It took me about 15 minutes to set up the canopy. That is way too long and inefficient. A better solution would be to simply have tie strings/cords and connect them to 2’ stakes that are driven in the sand. 4. It takes up a lot of space. Sure, the canopy is 10x10, but by the time you stretch out the corners, it’s 25x25. If you are at a crowded beach, you will not have happy neighbors. You could shrink its overall footprint by using the tie strings and stakes. The Positives: 1. It is lightweight and relatively easy to carry. 2. The material seems nice and durable. 3. Providing you set it up correctly and can lower one side, you will not have to move it throughout the day. You may have to move a little under the canopy, but not much. But, you can avoid moving just by lowering the side where the sun is coming from if you want. 4. You can, sort of, lower one side by either not using two poles and really stretching it out, or, by angling the poles…which is what I did because I wanted to be able to see out. So, while it did meet some of my requirements, its main drawbacks of being inefficient to set up and poles that constantly are a pain to connect and disconnect (if you can) causes me to not recommend this for the beach.