Policy on Personal Beach Chairs vs Vendor

We are back at Sowal and see that the beach chair rentals are now $365 for 6 days. When we first started visiting Sowal there weren't very many vendors and now the beaches are completely dominated by the . Further, the beaches are all divided up in small portions this year with ropes and signs stating where you can sit and can't sit depending on where you are staying.

Anyway, if we wake up early and go down to the beach to set up first, then walk the beach with the kids, can these vendors move my things? I just don't want to be behind 3 rows of chairs because I can't see my children in the water.

Thanks so much!

No. The vendors are not allowed to move your beach set up.

Maybe 6 years ago, $220 a week for one set. Wow $365! We bought beach chairs ($29) and umbrellas ($25) Tommy Bahama brand at Costco after that. Have replaced 1 chair. Also, bought those spiral, umbrella holders to dig/hold the umbrellas, bought them on 30A.

We are back at Sowal and see that the beach chair rentals are now $365 for 6 days. When we first started visiting Sowal there weren't very many vendors and now the beaches are completely dominated by the . Further, the beaches are all divided up in small portions this year with ropes and signs stating where you can sit and can't sit depending on where you are staying.

Anyway, if we wake up early and go down to the beach to set up first, then walk the beach with the kids, can these vendors move my things? I just don't want to be behind 3 rows of chairs because I can't see my children in the water.

Thanks so much!

Can I ask what strectch of beach?

I don't mind bringing my own things either, but when the vendors get to dominate the best spots it's impossible to get a good spot unless you get there at sunrise I'm assuming. He wouldn't tell me when they set up on purpose. $365 is crazy and you see empty chairs that nobody uses all day in the front row. Also, these roped off areas are new. The section of the beach for Seacrest is tiny (and all spots dominted by vendors) and beach roped off and says "Reserved for Sandy Shores only" or "Rosemary Beach only." Thought it was a public beach? What happens if you cross the rope and sit? Things sure have changed over the years!

I don't mind bringing my own things either, but when the vendors get to dominate the best spots it's impossible to get a good spot unless you get there at sunrise I'm assuming. He wouldn't tell me when they set up on purpose. $365 is crazy and you see empty chairs that nobody uses all day in the front row. Also, these roped off areas are new. The section of the beach for Seacrest is tiny (and all spots dominted by vendors) and beach roped off and says "Reserved for Sandy Shores only" or "Rosemary Beach only." Thought it was a public beach? What happens if you cross the rope and sit? Things sure have changed over the years!

I doubt anything near there is public. And that is a very crowded area of SoWal. Ultimately the association in charge of a "private" beach determines if vendors are allowed and regulate their setups.

No chairs or umbrellas or anything else is supposed to be set up before 730 am or until turtle watch is finished - whichever comes first.

Can I ask what strectch of beach?

Seacrest. But dealt with it last year at Rosemary (but it was $300 there last year bc I rented chairs). Sound like a bitter ole hen but it's interesting to see the changes over the years.

I doubt anything near there is public. And that is a very crowded area of SoWal. Ultimately the association in charge of a "private" beach determines if vendors are allowed and regulate their setups.

No chairs or umbrellas or anything else is supposed to be set up before 730 am or until turtle watch is finished - whichever comes first.

Great info, thanks. I suppose I should visit another stretch of 30a these days. Love this area, but mama it is crowded! Love Grayton but figure it's the same. Seaside makes RB look sparse!

I would definitely go to Dune Allen Beach where old Florida still exists but still close to everything.

I'm guessing the Dune Allen folks don't appreciate your post...

Inlet Beach too!

Maybe 6 years ago, $220 a week for one set. Wow $365! We bought beach chairs ($29) and umbrellas ($25) Tommy Bahama brand at Costco after that. Have replaced 1 chair. Also, bought those spiral, umbrella holders to dig/hold the umbrellas, bought them on 30A.

Have those Costco Tommy Bahama chairs lasted?...I have about 6 or 7 and they seem to all have sipper problems regularly. Good news Costco will always replace
But thinking of switching to a different brand..any suggestions?

All my tommy bahama chairs have zipper problems. They've lasted pretty well. I have 9 and they have been used going on three summers and just had one tear today. Heard the wooden handle chairs mold so I'll probably stick with the Costco tommy Bahamas.

"No. The vendors are not allowed to move your beach set up."

If a vendor's setup is unoccupied and not marked "reserved", Can it be moved?

"No. The vendors are not allowed to move your beach set up."

If a vendor's setup is unoccupied and not marked "reserved", Can it be moved?

Let's not allow setups until the customer is on scene.

Have those Costco Tommy Bahama chairs lasted?...I have about 6 or 7 and they seem to all have sipper problems regularly. Good news Costco will always replace
But thinking of switching to a different brand..any suggestions?

Haven't used the zipper part so much. It was the stitching on one that was beginning to separate, so we bought a Costco replacement for it. Didn't want to be at the beach if it tore.

So....haven't tried another brand. Certainly a better deal than the beach set ups.

Ellen

The way , let's see, ALL other resorts market manage the vendor situation is that the vendors have a stand. People go to the stand and rent chairs. The vendor then goes and where available, sets up the chairs and umbrella. I am not sure why this isn't our policy too.

I see the ass clowns setting up umbrellas at 6am. Just wait until the 4th. We all need to get pictures at 6am from Friday to Monday and send theme to the county so they get it.

The way , let's see, ALL other resorts market manage the vendor situation is that the vendors have a stand. People go to the stand and rent chairs. The vendor then goes and where available, sets up the chairs and umbrella. I am not sure why this isn't our policy too.

Because weak leadership...and stuffs...

The way , let's see, ALL other resorts market manage the vendor situation is that the vendors have a stand. People go to the stand and rent chairs. The vendor then goes and where available, sets up the chairs and umbrella. I am not sure why this isn't our policy too.

I see the ass clowns setting up umbrellas at 6am. Just wait until the 4th. We all need to get pictures at 6am from Friday to Monday and send theme to the county so they get it.

stands would appear to be a logical solution. I don't really understand why chairs are set up without committed sitters. is it the law of a near captive audience? chairs there, "oh nice, who do I pay?" from what i understand they are not all rented. so expensive for many and then no space for your own set up you sweated to bring ? how many vendor chairs go empty? how does that make sense? how are they taxed? rent amounts?

Another stupid case of "that's the way we've always done it".

I don't like the idea of bidding out our beaches but would be better than current situation.

There's only probably like only 10,000 beach communities on this planet that have figured it out. If only we could ask around.

This is another one of those things that wasn't a problem 5 years ago. Just like the ropes, chains, and signs. Now, we have more tourists and more vendors and the old "rules" just aren't working any more. So, we need our government representatives to step up, come up with some new "rules", and enforce them. The vendor problems will not solve themselves. They will only get worse if nothing is done.

I also visited the Seacrest Beach area last week and was SO dismayed to see a solid line of chairs stretching from the Sandy Shores neighborhood all the way down to Rosemary. We bring our own two chairs and one umbrella and could not find a single tiny piece of water front sand to sit on without hiking down to Paradise by the Sea and "trespassing" on "their" sand. We stay in Sunset Beach which shares the access with the big Seacrest neighborhood across the street. That access has always been busy, but it all my years coming here I have never seen the chair vendors so bad. It's a sad day when you can't sit at your own neighborhood access without sitting behind three rows of chairs.

It seems like the chair vendors are being hired to basically build temporary fencing every day marking off "their" private beach. The menacing PRIVATE PROPERTY signs and chair set ups created a terrible vibe on the beach between vendors and people who want to carry in their own chairs. I witnessed angry confrontations between chair vendors and people who tried to set up around them. One person tried to sit between the property lines / a gap in the chairs and was told to move because they "have" to keep the lane cleared for water sport rentals. BS. The mood on the beach that week was anything but chilled out and relaxing. The look of the beach was the exact opposite of what is being heavily marketed by local realtors, rental agencies, the tourism board and sites like SoWal.com and 30A.com.

People who have never been there before probably assumed you HAVE to pay $60+ a day to rent a chair. Some people do want to rent chairs, but not everyone. There has to be room on the beach for both. I understand there is a complicated public vs private debate, and that these guys are just doing a job that they have been hired to do, but there has GOT to be a better solution. Most of these chairs sat out all day at less than 50% occupancy. I even thought I would "outsmart" them one day and set up my own chairs at 7 a.m. but they were already out there in full force at that early hour!! I don't want to sit right in front of a rental chair anymore than they want me to.... and I would practically have to sit IN the water because they set up so close to the wet sand.

Seems like an easy solution would be to not set them up until people actually arrive to use them. If they arrive at noon, they sit behind other visitors who've arrived early. If they leave early, the chair gets picked up or dusted off and reset for the next guest. No moving other people's chairs. Leave a towel on your chair if you're leaving for lunch and coming back later. Or restrict vendors to 50% of the area, and not the 50% right next to the water! But it all comes down to enforcement and it seems like these vendors have been allowed/hired to have the run of the beach, to the detriment and disappointment of MANY visitors. Everyone I chatted with that week was shocked at how much valuable beach real estate the vendors were taking.

As to the discussion above, our beach set up consists of two $30 Nautica chairs and a $40 SportBrella from Sam's Club. The umbrella is very sturdy and we can safely stake it down if it gets windy. This set up has served us well for years and we don't mind carrying it over. A set up to last for years for the same price as two days of chair rentals - makes sense to me! Now if only we could find a piece of water front sand to put it on! I really do try to "beach like a local" but these rampant chair vendors sure do make it hard!!

I also visited the Seacrest Beach area last week and was SO dismayed to see a solid line of chairs stretching from the Sandy Shores neighborhood all the way down to Rosemary. We bring our own two chairs and one umbrella and could not find a single tiny piece of water front sand to sit on without hiking down to Paradise by the Sea and "trespassing" on "their" sand. We stay in Sunset Beach which shares the access with the big Seacrest neighborhood across the street. That access has always been busy, but it all my years coming here I have never seen the chair vendors so bad. It's a sad day when you can't sit at your own neighborhood access without sitting behind three rows of chairs.

It seems like the chair vendors are being hired to basically build temporary fencing every day marking off "their" private beach. The menacing PRIVATE PROPERTY signs and chair set ups created a terrible vibe on the beach between vendors and people who want to carry in their own chairs. I witnessed angry confrontations between chair vendors and people who tried to set up around them. One person tried to sit between the property lines / a gap in the chairs and was told to move because they "have" to keep the lane cleared for water sport rentals. BS. The mood on the beach that week was anything but chilled out and relaxing. The look of the beach was the exact opposite of what is being heavily marketed by local realtors, rental agencies, the tourism board and sites like SoWal.com and 30A.com.

People who have never been there before probably assumed you HAVE to pay $60+ a day to rent a chair. Some people do want to rent chairs, but not everyone. There has to be room on the beach for both. I understand there is a complicated public vs private debate, and that these guys are just doing a job that they have been hired to do, but there has GOT to be a better solution. Most of these chairs sat out all day at less than 50% occupancy. I even thought I would "outsmart" them one day and set up my own chairs at 7 a.m. but they were already out there in full force at that early hour!! I don't want to sit right in front of a rental chair anymore than they want me to.... and I would practically have to sit IN the water because they set up so close to the wet sand.

Seems like an easy solution would be to not set them up until people actually arrive to use them. If they arrive at noon, they sit behind other visitors who've arrived early. If they leave early, the chair gets picked up or dusted off and reset for the next guest. No moving other people's chairs. Leave a towel on your chair if you're leaving for lunch and coming back later. Or restrict vendors to 50% of the area, and not the 50% right next to the water! But it all comes down to enforcement and it seems like these vendors have been allowed/hired to have the run of the beach, to the detriment and disappointment of MANY visitors. Everyone I chatted with that week was shocked at how much valuable beach real estate the vendors were taking.

As to the discussion above, our beach set up consists of two $30 Nautica chairs and a $40 SportBrella from Sam's Club. The umbrella is very sturdy and we can safely stake it down if it gets windy. This set up has served us well for years and we don't mind carrying it over. A set up to last for years for the same price as two days of chair rentals - makes sense to me! Now if only we could find a piece of water front sand to put it on! I really do try to "beach like a local" but these rampant chair vendors sure do make it hard!!

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I understand your pain. At SoWal.com we don't intend to heavily market the beach, but I know it looks like it. All I've ever really wanted to do is share what I see, and hope someone somewhere appreciates it. I like to post photos and videos and a lot of them are pretty beach pictures that don't necessarily show a lot of people or chairs. But I do post those also, and I sometimes editorialize about what is good and bad in SoWal. If I post a photo of an empty beach, it's not a promise of what you will see. It's a pretty picture.

We do heavily market our business partners that advertise on here to support OUR COMMUNITY website. However I would still be posting photos and video even if I wasn't paid. We don't have any beach chair rental companies advertising with us, or any other beach vendors except a caterer and an adventure company, but we do have some resorts who advertise with us where chair rentals are expected by people who stay there.

As for your experience, as far as I know most of the beach from west of Alys Beach to east of Rosemary Beach is private. The resorts and associations on that stretch regulate vendors. I guess if you stay along that stretch you have to pay for a prime spot, and a house or condo also. If you are staying somewhere that owns 100 yards of beach to share among 500 rental houses, there might be an issue with crowding. Not a negative for people who like a lot of action and interaction.

Got these chairs at Academy and they do just fine:

Rio 5-Position Backpack Chair with Cooler | Academy

The backpack makes them very easy to carry and frees up your hands to carry something else. All you need is a small shade umbrella and sand anchor to go with that and you can skip the whole vendor issue.

I understand your pain. At SoWal.com we don't intend to heavily market the beach, but I know it looks like it. All I've ever really wanted to do is share what I see, and hope someone somewhere appreciates it. I like to post photos and videos and a lot of them are pretty beach pictures that don't necessarily show a lot of people or chairs. But I do post those also, and I sometimes editorialize about what is good and bad in SoWal. If I post a photo of an empty beach, it's not a promise of what you will see. It's a pretty picture.

We do heavily market our business partners that advertise on here to support OUR COMMUNITY website. However I would still be posting photos and video even if I wasn't paid. We don't have any beach chair rental companies advertising with us, or any other beach vendors except a caterer and an adventure company, but we do have some resorts who advertise with us where chair rentals are expected by people who stay there.

As for your experience, as far as I know most of the beach from west of Alys Beach to east of Rosemary Beach is private. The resorts and associations on that stretch regulate vendors. I guess if you stay along that stretch you have to pay for a prime spot, and a house or condo also. If you are staying somewhere that owns 100 yards of beach to share among 500 rental houses, there might be an issue with crowding. Not a negative for people who like a lot of action and interaction.

As for your experience, as far as I know most of the beach from west of Alys Beach to east of Rosemary Beach is private.

I didn't think any of the Beach was "private"...

Inlet Beach too!

Not for much longer