For anyone flying in, renting wins. For a weekend by car, it's a toss-up. For a week, it's not close. Here's the math, with our prices so you can check it.
Bringing your own
Two beach chairs and a 7-foot umbrella weigh about 25 pounds and don't fit in a suitcase. On most airlines that's a checked bag each way, $35 to $45 a leg, so $70 to $90 round trip for gear that then rides in a rental car. If you're driving down from Georgia or the Carolinas, bringing your own costs nothing but trunk space, and that's a fine choice.
Buying here and leaving them
We sell chairs and umbrellas in the store, and plenty of people buy a set for the week and leave it at the rental. A Tommy Bahama beach chair in our store is $44.99 and a Tommy Bahama 7-foot umbrella is $49.99, so two chairs and an umbrella come to about $140. If you come every year and have a place to store them, buying makes sense. If not, you've bought something to abandon.
Renting
A Tommy Bahama beach chair is $10 for the day, $25 for three days and $40 for the week. The combo of two chairs and an umbrella with a sand anchor is $35 for a day and $90 for the week, picked up at the store. Swap the umbrella for an 8-foot Solbello wind shade, which stays put when the sea breeze picks up, for $45 a day or $100 a week.
Two more options nobody packs in a suitcase:
- Delivery. We drop the combo at your rental or hotel and pick it up when you leave. $40 for a day, $95 for the week.
- Set up on the beach. Your chairs and shade are standing on the sand before you walk out each morning, and we take them down each evening. A flat $50 a day with an umbrella, $60 with a Solbello, as many days as you like. Extra chairs are $10 a day.
One rule that changes the answer
Nothing can stay on Fernandina beaches overnight. The county's "carry on, carry off" rule means gear left after 8 PM is removed, and in turtle season it can interfere with nesting. So whatever you bring or buy, you're carrying it over the walkover twice a day. That's the real reason the set-up service exists.
The short version
Flying in for a week: rent, and if you'd rather not carry anything, book the set-up. Driving in for a weekend: bring yours or rent, either is fine. Coming every year: buy a set from the store and leave it at the condo. Whatever you pick, we're across the street from Seaside Park, open 9 to 7 every day.
Quick answers
Can I leave my chairs on the beach overnight?
No. Fernandina beaches are carry-on, carry-off; anything left after 8 PM is removed. The set-up service exists so you don't have to carry anything.
Do you deliver beach chairs to vacation rentals?
Yes. Delivery combos are dropped at your rental or hotel and picked up at the end of your stay, 1-day minimum. See the delivery rates on the chairs page.
What's a Solbello?
An 8-foot canopy shade that uses the wind instead of fighting it, so it stays put on the breezy days when umbrellas go cartwheeling. Rent one on its own or in the combo.
Do you rent umbrellas by the hour?
Chairs and shade go by the day: 4-hour rentals are pick-up only and the day rate comes back before 5 PM the next day, so an afternoon and the next morning are both covered.
