We purchased the Eurekea Medium Solar Tent in preparation for a spring trip to the coast. We had debated whether or not to buy a pop-up or a more traditional tent. I practiced putting it up in the living room. It went up quite easily in under 5 minutes. In my living room, the tent was HUGE! and I was worried that it would be too large for our needs.
Our first day at the beach was incredibly windy; however, the tent was still easy to assemble. We did need to use both the sand bags AND the front stakes to keep it steady - but once up, it provided a great beach shelter. We had no problems with stability. A really nice place to get out of the sun for both adults and children. The cross ventilation meant it never got hot, even when the sun was at its hottest. Of course, it was April, and not August - but we are quite happy with the product.
One minor issue - as you push the poles through the sleeves, they tend to catch. Make sure you help thread it through so you don't tear the sleeves. A recommendation. Scoop the sand into zipper bags before you put them in the pockets to make cleanup easier. Reuse the zipper bags to be environmentally friendly. Eureka Large Solar Shade Tent
We bought this tent to travel with our newborn to the beach and it is amazing. the setup is quick and we are the envy of all beachgoers. It is lightweight and well constructed. I highly recommend this to all who desire shade and comfort.
We got this for our Hawaii vacation. It is extremely easy to set up. It takes two people: one to hold the fabric and the other to guide in the poles (2 separate poles). We did a practice run in the living before our trip to make sure we knew how it was done. On the beach, it only took 5 mins to assemble and 5 mins to take down. It provides excellent shade protection for babies, children, and adults. The fabric floor also helps minimize sitting in sand. We got a medium and it was plenty of space for 3 adults and a baby. It packs down into a nice size case of its own. On the plane it can be checked into a large suitcase. We'll use this again and again for afternoons at the beach and the park all summer long.
Purchased the large version and thought it might be too big. Amazon didn't have the medium version available for Prime shipping.
The large was perfect for Newport Beach where there is so much beach it never really got totally crowded where people were laying out in 2 or 3 rows of people like on smaller beaches. This means, everyone that was there sat right along the shoreline so the large tent really didn't stick out. At a smaller beach, I'd probably not use this tent since it would probably be an eyesore and keep some people from seeing the beach.
We used it 3 days in a row, all day from morning to night. The wind picked up pretty well towards the late afternoon and it stayed put. I HIGHLY recommend filling the sand bags with damp/wet sand (heavier) and digging a decent 1 to 1.5 foot deep whole to bury the bags in. Even consider mounding sand on top of the spot if the wind picks up. I also staked down the front corners with fairly long plastic stakes (Not included. It includes skinny metal stakes.) Whether the windows were open or not, it stayed down nicely.
It does need quite a bit of fiddling to get the stakes through without tearing anything. But, if you are patient you'll have no problem even in the wind. Some people suggest using a ziplock bag when filling the sandbags to make cleanup easier. I did this every time and it seemed OK for cleanup but maybe not a huge difference. It possibly made filling the sandbags a little easier since the bags sort of acted like a funnel while I put a some of the ziplock into the sandbag and the sand funneled in (hard to describe, you'll see).
In the end of our trip, it survived the wind, kids, sitting in chairs inside of it and general wear-n-tear. No apparent holes or rips. Nice.
I'd consider the small or medium for smaller beaches and shorter visits. It took me a good 15+ minutes to set the large up by myself with light/med. wind. But, that included filling all 4 bags, digging 4 decent holes, filling the holes, setting up tent poles (push, don't pull) and properly staking down the corners. I'd still probably stick to a standard beach umbrella for shorter trips to smaller beaches so I minimize setup time and also don't annoy people behind me when I arrive by blocking their view.
I mainly bought this shade tent to keep my 8 month old out of the sun during a Gulf of Mexico beach vacation in Florida, but it ended up being used by my entire family. It affords much more coverage than an unbrella, or even an overhead tarp because it has a top and 3 walls.
I performed a test assembly and disassembly in my yard at home before attempting this at the beach, and highly suggest any potential buyers to do the same. The first few times required 2 people, but after that I could assemble/disassemble by myself in about 10 minutes. The hardest part is successfully removing the spring loaded breakdown poles during disassembly, because they want to catch on the tent sleeves during removal. The key is to position the sleeves as straight as possible, and to push the poles instead of pulling them.
The tent is very effective in keeping you in the shade, and can comfortably seat 3-4 adults and an infant. The mesh interior storage pockets come in very handy, and were used quite often. The roll-up windows allow some breeze to blow through, but can also be easily closed for privacy or to block the sun. The corner sand pockets are an absolute must at the beach, because regular tent stakes would never hold this thing down on a windy beach.
4 out of 5 only because of the somewhat cumbersome disassembly, especially by yourself on a windy beach. - Eureka Tent - Beach - Sun Shade - Sun Shelter'
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