The popular hardware store’s latest summer collection has caused some social media outrage after one polarising item was spotted in the range.
Bunnings has decided to go toe-to-toe with brands like Cool Cabana, Aldi and Kmart this summer with the release of its own beach shade sail as part of late last year.
While they certainly aren’t the first Aussie brand to jump on the cabana bandwagon, they are one of the cheapest, with the 2.4-metre device dropping the usual $150+ price tag down to $65.
And the affordable beach range overall seems to be a hit, with social media users praising the warehouse brand branching out to bring more stylish beach chairs, umbrellas and gazebos into the hands of everyday Aussies.
“Ohhhh definitely need to check these out,” one said on the company’s Instagram post advertising the collection.
Another added: “Yes all over my local beach this summer.”
“Chairs look food for a drinking sesh,” another said.
But the rise of more affordable beach cabanas has unexpectedly proven to be a double-edged sword after debate sparked online this month over families ‘taking over’ the coastline with their pop-up placements.
“Can’t even see the sand…”
This debate isn’t anything new along Aussie beaches, with a clip of one Gold Coast beach covered in colourful tents already sparking an online uproar back in January 2023
But this summer, social media personalities like @gunclediaries on TikTok, are adding more fuel to the fire with several viral videos about the sunshade takeover.
Seemingly scouring Sydney beaches to name and shame families taking over the sandy shores, the content creator has made a name for himself counting cabanas on his local swim spot, saying there were “up to eight” meaning there was “no room on the beach”.
@gunclediaries Taxes on Cool Cabana owners #beachdiaries #beach #gunclediaries #gunclereviews #critique ♬ original sound – Guncle Diaries
He said people should be “charged for the space” they take up, adding they took up “prime real estate” at the beach.
On the other end of the spectrum, he praised places such as Sydney’s Northern Beaches and the concrete area at the iconic Clovelly Beach as the “place to be” as there are no cabanas in sight.
And as someone who walked among the sea of Cabana’s and Gazebo’s swallowing up Mornington beaches on our last 30-degree weekend, I can see where he’s coming from.
You can’t tell me this packed small stretch of sand on Safety Beach doesn’t look ridiculous.

And yet some voices like TV presenter Davina Smith are all in favour of the cabana setup, claiming she regularly uses the device to reserve a space for her family later in the day.
“There’s a lot of research that goes into this. You get up early, you’ve got to watch the tides. You can’t just plonk it there and walk away… you invest in it,” she said on Nine’s Today programme.
The issue has become so heated that even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also weighed in on the issue, damning those who claim prime beach real estate with a cabana as ‘un-Australian’.
“One of the great things about Australia, unlike some parts of the world, you go and you got to pay to go to the beach,’’ Mr Albanese said.
“Here, everyone owns the beach. Everyone. And it’s a place where every Australian is equal. And that’s a breach of that principle, really, to think that you can reserve a little spot as just yours.”
But unless the PM proposes a ‘cancel the cabana’ bill before the next election, it looks like the shade sails are here to stay on our sandy shores for many more summers to come – so get in quick before they fly off the shelves this sunny season.