How to Choose a Beach Chair With a Face Hole for Comfortable Sunbathing | What Actually Matters

A face-hole beach chair works best when the face opening is padded and adjustable, the frame is light and rust-resistant, and the recline locks before you lie down.

Sunbathing face down usually ends with a stiff neck, a numb arm, and a bunched towel. A beach chair with a face hole fixes the position, letting you breathe through the opening while you read, scroll, or close your eyes. Five features separate a chair you’ll use from one that folds up unused.

What Should You Look For In A Face-Hole Beach Chair?

Five features decide comfort past the first ten minutes: a padded or reversible face cavity, arm holes, adjustable recline, a lightweight rust-resistant frame, and a lay-flat option if you want it.

Ostrich Products builds its lineup around a padded “Bury Your Head” face hole with a pop-in, pop-out pillow pad. That pad supports your forehead and cheeks so your neck isn’t craning, and the company says the design lets you lie face down without neck cricking while reading or using a phone. Ostrich’s Chaise Lounge uses an open-and-close cavity, so you can shut it when you flip over or when a kid borrows the chair for normal sitting — a fixed hole can’t do that.

• Face opening: padded or reversible beats a bare cutout.
• Arm holes: essential for holding a phone or book while prone.
• Recline range: the Ostrich Chaise Lounge lists four positions; check whether yours locks or slips.
• Frame: aluminum or rust-resistant steel near salt water.
• Lay flat: verify it — not every face-hole chair offers it.

Which Face-Hole Chairs Are Worth Comparing?

Three current models show the range: Ostrich’s facedown loungers, the Ostrich Deluxe 3 in 1, and Costco’s Body Glove Face Down Beach Lounger.

The Body Glove lounger measures 71.65″ long by 21.65″ wide and 10.24″ high, and Costco lists it at 11 pounds with a rust-resistant frame and arm and face holes for reading, tanning, and scrolling. That weight and a fold-down design make it realistic to carry from car to sand. To compare specs side by side, our tested roundup of face-hole beach chairs breaks down which models hold up on sand and which wobble.

How Do You Set One Up Without Wrecking Your Neck?

Set the recline before you lie down, open the face cavity if the design converts, and let the pillow take your head’s weight rather than your neck muscles.

1. Open the face cavity if your model has the open/close design — Ostrich’s does on both the Chaise Lounge and the Deluxe 3 in 1.
2. Set your recline angle while standing. Reaching behind you while prone is how fingers get pinched.
3. Position the pillow or reversible face pad so your forehead rests on it, not your jaw, and your nose sits clear of the opening.
4. Use the arm holes when holding a phone — resting your forearms through them keeps your shoulders from curling under your chest.

Two caveats: a face-hole chair is for comfort and tanning, not a medical device — no manufacturer claims a therapeutic benefit, and none should. If the opening sits too low or the pad is thin, you’ll still feel neck strain, so check the padding shape before buying. And confirm weight capacity and dimensions on the exact product page, since listings that echo manufacturer phrases often leave those numbers out.

What’s The Honest Bottom Line?

Buy for the face opening and the frame, not the color. Beach chairs with this design run roughly $60 to $150 depending on the model, though prices shift with the season — check the live listing. Ostrich Products lists its current facedown lineup, and Costco carries the Body Glove Face Down Beach Lounger.