REVIEW OF THE SANDCRUISER AND SANDPIPER BEACH WHEELCHAIRS

Last year BJ was presented with his very own Sandcruiser, you can read more about that here. I’d never thought of buying one, despite thinking it was a wonderful piece of equipment.  It seemed a lot to spend for beach outings when we could use the ones available for free from certain beaches.  I also wondered how we would fit such a large piece of equipment in the car with all our other luggage when travelling.

Now that BJ has his own chair I realise what a joy it is to have such choice and freedom.  To be able to go to any beach, anytime has been extremely liberating.  For that reason I thought I might write a review on the Sandcruiser.

Beach wheelchairs have come a long way since the first one we used when BJ was much younger.  Even though the chair was hard to push, it was still easier than supporting BJ while he jumped in the waves.  He had limitless energy for this fun but our backs were tested.

Thanks goodness someone was working on a more user friendly option.  We have been using the Sandcruiser beach wheelchair for a number of years which many councils provide on beaches across Australia.

Beachwheels Australia now stocks the Sandcruiser (the one BJ received) and the smaller Sandpiper.  Although there is only a small difference in cost for a smaller child I think the Sandpiper would be a better buy.  BJ was always going to be tall and has good torso control so he would have been fine, even when he was younger in the Sandcruiser.

FEATURES WE LIKE

The armrests lifting on either side of the chair makes for easy transfers.

Wheeling over the sand is made easy with the  large balloon tyres.

There is a brake and anti-tip bar on the chairs.

A pelvic strap is standard with the wheelchair as is the foot rest.

A headrest can be purchased as an optional extra, please contact Yabby Industries for more information.

A chest harness can also be purchased at an additional cost.

Marine grade stainless steel has been used so it won’t rust.  We still recommend cleaning the chair after every use to maintain it.  We give the chair a clean off at the beach and then a good hose down when we get home.

Although called a beach wheelchair, we found it great at the lake and being able to get across the sand meant that for the first time we could secure a spot in the shade at the Lake.

TRAVELLING WITH THE SANDCRUISER BEACH WHEELCHAIR

I was recently asked how we fit the Sandcruiser in the car.  It was one of my reservations when I heard we were getting the chair but it turns out there are a few options with our regular station wagon.

Various components can be pulled apart for travel.  Simple clip pins hold it together so it is easy to do this without tools.

For our trip home from Port Macquarie we needed to pull the Sandcruiser apart to fit it, BJ’s manual wheelchair and luggage in our car.  As we don’t travel light we also used a pod on the car roof.

On a recent day trip to the beach we fitted both chairs in the back of the car.

For any outings to the beach from home we will usually just be travelling with the Sandcruiser in the back of our car and it fits nicely without pulling it apart.

UPDATE

Since writing this review we’ve invested in a new roof pod which fits the entire beach wheelchair inside. You can read more about why we purchased the pod in our review here.

For further information head to the Beachwheels Australia website here.

Disclosure – BJ received a gift of the beach wheelchair through Lodge Hastings.  I was not asked to review the chair but feel keen to share our observations after many of our preconceived ideas have been dispelled.

If you like this blog post why not subscribe to receive our blogs via email.  Head to the top right-hand side of the page and you will find the subscribe tab.  If you are not already a member of our facebook community, why not head over and ‘like’ our page.  We are very fortunate to have a generous and well travelled facebook community full of ideas and information.