Hobie “Baja” Polarized Sunglasses Review

My brother Luke and I grew up down in Florida, and I can still recall my first ride on a Hobie Cat sailboat down in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida.

I couldn’t have been more than 8 years old, and the feeling of freedom and excitement of riding on that small sailboat has still left an impression on me almost 30 years later.

My next experience with Hobie came later in life as my family started doing more ocean kayaking.

After realizing how many new areas we could explore in the Florida mangroves with a kayak, my brother, our father, and I all decided to buy our own kayaks.

But after a few years of hard paddling by hand, our father started mentioning how nice it would be if he didn’t have to paddle so hard to keep up with “his young sons”…so we started exploring kayak’s that had foot pedals…

Shortly thereafter we surprised our dad with a top of the line Hobie Mirage fishing kayak (the kayak with those “seal-like” fins that propel a kayak incredibly fast without having to use your arms . It was the biggest gift we have ever given our father, and certainly the best.

Not to mention, our father has caught a wild amount of snook, trout, and redfish out of that Hobie kayak.

Which brings me to my next point about Hobie…

Hobie Polarized Sunglasses

Truth be told, I never even considered Hobie for sunglasses before.

I own multiple pairs of Maui Jim polarized glasses, and multiple pairs of Costa del Mar polarized sunglasses as well.

My brother Luke also has a few pair of Costa’s (as you can see him wearing in many of our training videos).

So when Hobie contacted us and said they wanted to send us a couple of their top polarized sunglasses to review, my first reaction was, “Hobie? As in Hobie Cat…the kayak, surfboard, sailboat, and paddleboard maker?”

I never even remotely associated Hobie with nice polarized fishing glasses (just being honest).

But the incredibly nice representative at Hobie simply told us to test out the Hobie glasses, and then give an honest and unbiased review.

So here goes…

Note: they also sent us a pair of Hobie “Segundo” sunglasses. Check out that review here.

Hobie “Baja” Sunglasses Independent Review

As you can see from this video, I am really impressed by these Hobie Baja Polarized sunglasses (from the Hobie “Heritage” Collection)

The sunglass case is my all-time favorite of all of the sunglasses I own, I love the fact that they threw in a free pair of Hobie “Croakies” (as I hate having to go buy them separately when I am anxious to wear a new pair of glasses), and these Baja sunglasses fit my face extremely well.

Not to mention, they held to my face and nose very well, even after I was sweating later that day (and I have a thin-bridged nose that leaves many sunglasses sliding down my nose).

And most importantly, the polarized view is great (top of the line polarization), and of course they look great as well.

The only con I could see with these glasses is the price. However, they are in the same range as my Costa’s and even less expensive than some of my Maui Jim’s.

And usually as I have found with anything that I have around saltwater…you get what you pay for.

Conclusion

Don’t be surprised if you see me starting to wear this particular pair of Hobie Baja sunglasses in future videos.

Not only did Hobie pass the litmus test, I can honestly say that these Hobie Baja’s can compete with any pair of Maui Jim or Costa’s that I own (and I own over 7 different polarized sunglasses).

And NO, I am not being paid or influenced in any way to support or promote Hobie. All they asked for is an honest review…whether it be positive or negative.

Well done Hobie, and thank you for the opportunity to give your gear an independent review.

Check out all of the Hobie Polarized Sunglasses here (including other frames and lenses for the “Baja” glasses).

And click here to see the review of the Hobie “Segundo” sunglasses.