I'd give this product 4.5 but that's not allowed, so I dropped it to four because I found the instructions inadequate. My first setup was a disaster and I was really bummed out because this seemed like just the thing we needed for our Bahamas trip. I spent some time puzzling over what went wrong, figured it out, and our second (and subsequent) setup(s) were great. Maybe other people figured this out right away, but here are my tips:

- The sandbags. These are not bags, but squares of fabric with drawstrings around the edges. Don't ask my why I didn't get this right away, but you pile sand on the square, then pull the strings that line up with the guy lines. In retrospect it seems pretty easy to figure out, but I had four adults scratching their heads and jury rigging these things.

- The poles. You need to push them down into the sand. A foot is good, more if you can manage it. I think these should be spiked on one end to make this easier. If you don't push them down they will fall over. Again, maybe this came naturally to others.

- The wind. Many folks say its good in the wind. I had a light breeze and it was killing me. The key was to face the *high* end into the wind, not the low end. Facing away from the wind meant the tent was pushed down to the ground. Facing into the wind lifted it up and kept things steady.

Bottom line, I think incorporating this advice/details into the instructions would be simple and would save customers time and energy. Once I had these things figured out the product performed beautifully. Plenty of room for two adults (or three if you like each other), good shade, good visibility. Product packs up nice and small (think camp pad, but skinnier)--we were able to fit it into a duffel we checked for our trip--and is lightweight. Very glad we had this along.

Family of Irish descent here, all with crazy fair skin... you can imagine our lives on the beach with regard to sunshades and sunscreen! We've used all sorts of sun protection over the years from regular golf umbrellas to beach umbrellas, to pop-up tent style sunshades to U-shaped crescent things. None of them come close to the ZiggyShade! I am totally won over.

We bought the family size, which is plenty big for most uses. It provides a lot of shade and we were all able to fit under it when we wanted to (3 adults, 2 teens). For more than 5 people, I would recommend the jumbo size or maybe two smaller ZiggyShades.

The design is easy to set up and take down. Follow the directions exactly and you should have it set up in about 3 minutes (filling the sand anchors takes the longest, but with everyone helping, this goes very quickly). The sand anchors work great for keeping the sunshade in place, even with seriously strong offshore breezes. The poles are shock-corded together, so they are very easy to work with and you don't need to worry about losing pieces in the sand. The awning is made of a lycra-type fabric that feels like a swimsuit. It is satisfying to work with, provides excellent shade with UV protection, and dries super fast. The whole kit packs up quickly and easily into its little carry bag. The completely packed up bag is small and lightweight compared to every other option we have ever used. It was easy-peasy to toss into our towel bag or over a shoulder for the trek to the beach each morning and the return trip later in the day. No one begrudged the task of carrying the sunshade back to the car, a first for this family.

The thing I like best about this design is that it allows for ALL of the breezes to come through to help keep you cool. Every other option we've tried either provided pitifully small amounts of shade (umbrella) or trapped the heat in so you felt like you were suffocating.

I cannot recommend this enough! I'm going to be giving these away as Christmas gifts this year, no lie.

Note 1: the sunshade *must* be oriented to face the wind. This means that the highest end will face the breeze, wherever that may be coming from (not necessarily the water). Over a week of use, this meant that our ZiggyShade was usually pointed SE rather than NNE where the ocean was. This did not cause any problems nor did it reduce the shade, it just meant that when you entered the shelter, you needed to enter from the beachside rather than the shoreside. It affected our view a smidge, but not much (we couldn't see the sky quite as well looking over the water, but had a great view of the beach, the water, and our family).

Note 2: YOU DO NOT PUSH THE POLES INTO THE SAND. At all. They simply sit on the sand and are held in place by the pressure of the Lycra tent/shade part. The rubber knobby bit is the top, which the shade sits on top of. People who are reviewing this and talking about shoving the poles in the sand are doing it wrong! If the wind gets really ferocious, you can angle the poles a bit to create more stability and you can loop the guy lines around the ball top of the pole (on the outside of the shade). Expect the fabric to sway in the breeze, but the anchors and poles should not.

Note 3: The sand anchors are actually squares of Lycra fabric that you fill with sand or pebbles, then use the drawstring to close it up. On really windy days, we needed to partially close the "bag," then add some more sand, then close it fully.

Edit June 2021 After two more years of use, I wanted to update our review. We've now used the Ziggy shade on a camping tour around Lake Michigan, in South Carolina on Hilton Head, in Chicago, and now multiple times in Florida. It is still in perfect condition and works flawlessly, as long as you orient the Ziggy with high end in the direction of the wind. If the wind shifts significantly, you may need to reorient your shade.

Even in 25 mph winds, this shade has held up--while others on the beach had their shades rolling and flying away!

I was unsure how well the Ziggy Shade was going to be to set up and how well it would work; was it going to be a windblown disaster that took multiple adults over 30 minutes to set up, resulting in arguments and attitudes as salty as the ocean? Or was it at easy as the description claimed? I'm relieved to say the set up and sturdiness is just as simple and free from aggravation as the manufacturer claims.

The Good: as stated, easy to set up-- a single person can do it in under 10 minutes.
Unfold the Ziggy Shade, lay the shade flat on the ground, pull the sandbags out as far as the attached ropes allow.
Fill the sandbags as full as possible. When you think they are completely full, add more sand. When "cupped up" there should not be any open area left, they should be brimming with sand.
Unfold the support poles, stab the flat ends (not the ends with the foam balls) into the sand, and mound up some sand around them, nothing crazy.
Wedge the ball-ends into the very, very corners of the shade, if it's super windy, use the provided fabric ties to wrap around the fabric of the shade around the ball-end and tie. Voilà, you're done!
Hard, plastic stakes are also included, we used them the first two days because we were worried about the thing blowing away, that was an unfounded worry. The sandbags were enough. The stakes may be helpful if you're someplace with rockier ground or on grass where there is a lack of materials available to completely full the sandbags.
The shade comes with two support poles, you can purchase an additional two if you want. We found the two included were enough to make a beach shade.

We purchased the mid-sized Ziggy Shade (Family Sized?) which provided enough cover for one standard-sized beach chair, one 'Murican Dad-sized (XL) beach chair, towel laid next to the chairs, a small cooler, and room in front of the chairs/towel for another towel/blanket or play area.
Taking down the Ziggy Shade was even easier: pop out the poles, dump out the sand, toss the poles, ropes, and empty sandbags into the middle of the shade, and fold up like a burrito. The whole thing probably weighs about a pound and a half, maybe two pounds. We carried it to and from the beach in a paper grocery bag.

The Bad: the Ziggy Shade is basically a very large piece of spandex material, with ropes tied to the corners, and more spandex material attached to the ropes for the sandbags. Resourceful individuals could probably make their own "ziggy shade" by purchasing the extra poles and visiting a fabric supply store or buying a cheap-o blue tarp, refillable sandbags, and some thin rope.
The size of the shade provided is limited to where the sun is overhead; the more overhead the sun is, the smaller the size of the shade will be. This isn't really an issue as it is a common sense thing, but just a heads up. There was always enough created shade for our two-and-a-half beach chairs and small cooler.

Overall I would definitely recommend the Ziggy Shade for it's ease of setup, security in the wind/on the beach, lightness/portability, and function as a sun shade. I'm considering purchasing the Jumbo-sized Ziggy Shade as well, because one can never have enough shade on the beach.

2021 Edit: Since purchasing the Ziggy Shade, we've probably set it up at least 25 times. It's been stored in our basement (we "upgraded" from the paper grocery bag to a reusable shopping bag!) when not in use. We've washed it in the washing machine. The Ziggy Shade is still as amazing as stated in my original review. Depending on how many helpers you have to fill the sand bags, set up time can be less than three minutes: dump everything out of the bag you use to store and transport the shade, spread out the shade and sandbags, snap those poles straight, fill the sandbags complete full ("keep filling, they aren't there yet. don't make me have to chase this thing down the beach because you kids didn't put enough sand in."), and pop the poles in.
Even after multiple washes (delicate cycle, lowest spin speed, air dry) the color is still vibrant and there has been no damage to the fabric or ropes. We do not remove the rope that attaches the sandbags to the shade which is why we was on gentle with low spin and air dry.
I am now considering buying the super-duper XXL Ziggy Shade so that we can create a Ziggy Shade compound on the beach.

We bought this a year ago and used it in Hawaii with just the two poles that came with it. I have since purchased two more poles. With just the two included poles, I don't think there is quite enough stability from the wind and they are quite short so the wind caused the shade to flap in our faces quite a bit. The shade works great with two poles if there is no/little wind.

I have now tested with 4 poles and it appears much more stable. I purchased two of the jumbo poles and have the two poles that come included which are shorter. Now I can adjust the slant of the shade much easier with different size poles and it is much more stable in the wind. I tried this out in our backyard with the included yard stakes (I like that I can also use the shade in a park... not just at the beach).

I love the size of the shade as it is really easy to fit in a suitcase for travel (you can't do that with an umbrella, and it's a pain to try to rent stuff on vacation). This shade also provides much more coverage than would an umbrella. However, the family size is the smallest I would get. The family size is barely big enough for two, so their size estimates are a bit off (but so are the estimates for all of these shade manufacturers). In the future, I will definitely buy a jumbo size.

Besides the wind issue, it was extremely difficult to dry out when wet in a humid climate (Hawaii in our case)... so it might be nice if the material could be treated to be waterproof and/or mold resistant.

Overall, I love the ZiggyShade! I will definitely repurchase in the future when this one wears out as it has been an invaluable purchase.

We like the Ziggyshade. Very easy to put up and take down. Compact carry bag with strap is great. If you're on the beach, the included shovel actually does a good job filling the bags with sand. We tied the ropes up to make them a little shorter so we didn't have to take up the entire beach. Held up well to pretty windy days on the Texas coast. The ONLY negative is that the stretchy material does not offer very good protection from sunburn. Picture is of the sun through the fabric. This is not meant to be a negative review, just a warning to those who may need more sun protection.