November 12, 2022

Best Sunglasses for Boating

The best boating sunglasses are tireless first mates that protect not only your eyes against harmful UV rays, but also your general safety as you navigate an unpredictable force of nature. Soak up the salty sea air and dazzling scenery as you watch for changes below the surface and over your head. Maui Jim’s PolarizedPlus2® lenses offer unparalleled color contrast and clarity for an even better day out on the water.

What Makes Boating Sunglasses Special?

Water is one of the most reflective surfaces on earth. When combined with flat surfaces like bright white decks and sails, shiny chrome accents and windshields, glare becomes inevitable.

To compensate for the bright light, the eyes squint, causing fatigue. Impaired vision out on the water is not only an immediate safety concern, but it can lead to long-term problems like chronic headaches, cancer, and photokeratitis (sunburn of the eye).

To reduce some of these negative effects, boating sunglasses are made to suppress light before it reaches your eye. They are also designed to protect against the most damaging UVA and UVB rays around the gentle skin surrounding your eyes. Maui Jim® boating sunglasses are available to accommodate the varying needs of the captain, crew, and passengers lucky enough to get a day out on the water. Days at sea can get long, lighting conditions are sure to vary, and rough seas are always a possibility. So, suit up with the right gear.

Polarized Lenses

Polarized lenses work by filtering out intense, distracting horizontal light waves. Maui Jim PolarizedPlus2® lenses eliminate 99.9% of glare, block ultraviolet rays, and absorb high-energy blue light. With your eyes free from compensating for light-induced color biases, boaters can enjoy the world at its brilliant best.

Lens Color

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yet there’s much more to lens color than meets the eye:

Neutral Gray reduces the brightest glare, offering excellent contrast without distorting color
Bronze increases contrast in bright sun, as well as overcast days
High Transmission alters color, but amplifies ambient light and reduces blue light in fog or haze, at dawn and dusk
Rose heightens visual acuity, enhancing blue-green colors, while increasing brightness for fishing
Blue mirror cuts through intense glare, providing superior visibility for offshore anglers

Maui Jim® sunglasses for boating come in a rainbow of colors, so you’ll be prepared for any adventure.

Lens Shape

Wraparound-style watersports sunglasses fit snugly and durably for long, active days in the waves and are a preferred style for boating. If wraparound glasses aren’t your style, Maui Jim has a variety of frame shapes to choose from. However, when using a non-wraparound shape, the possibility of bounce back glare off the back of the lens can be problematic. Maui Jim uses a special anti-glare treatment on the back of each lens to eliminate this bounce back glare, increasing visual comfort and clean-ability for relaxing days afloat.

Lens Material

Scratch and smudge-resistant SuperThin Glass®, as found in styles like our Honi Polarized Cat Eye Sunglasses®, provides the crispest optics available, with 32% thinner and lighter feel than standard glass.

Ultra-thin, shatter-resistant MauiPure® lenses are as beautiful and enduring as birds in flight. Found in styles like the Red Sands Polarized Rectangular Sunglasses®, MauiPure® lenses offer crisp vision on par with glass and so lightweight you’ll forget you’re wearing glasses at all.

Take Our Beautiful, Durable Boating Sunglasses for a Spin; Experience the Difference

The right pair of boating sunglasses makes all the difference. The blues never looked so peacock, the greens of the flora so emerald, the sands so warm and inviting. Every fish below the water’s surface pops into crystal clarity with polarized sunglasses filtering out color and contrast-saboteurs. Enjoy the simple pleasures in life in a pair of boating sunglasses that not only protects your eyes, but sings your style, allowing you to look and feel your best while casting out for long, leisurely days doing what you love most.