Two of you head out to the pool with books and cold drinks, and the question lands straight away. Do you buy one double sun lounge or daybed to share, or a pair of single lounges you can drag apart and angle at the sun? It looks like a style decision, but it's really a capacity, footprint and budget decision — and getting it wrong is how pool decks end up crowded or half-empty.
This guide works through that decision on the numbers: how many people each format actually holds, how much deck each one takes over, and what each route costs at today's prices. Keep the sun lounges and daybeds collection open as you read so the options below have faces.
Double sun lounge, daybed or two singles: what you're actually choosing
The formats sound interchangeable, but they behave very differently. A double sun lounge is a two-person recliner — one wide frame shared by two people lying parallel, usually with backrests. A daybed goes further: a deep, flat platform that works more like an outdoor bed, built for sprawling rather than reclining. Two singles are exactly that — independent lounges that happen to sit side by side today and might not tomorrow.
The real trade is fixed capacity against flexibility. One shared piece gives you a single footprint, a single silhouette and a hard cap of two people. Two singles give you the same two spots, plus the option to separate them — one in the sun, one under the umbrella, or one carried around to the shady side of the house in February.
The case for one shared piece
A daybed earns its place when the two of you use the pool area together, at the same time, most of the time. The Surabaya Daybed ($2,065) is the format at its best: a generous woven platform two adults can share with room left over for a dog, a toddler or a stack of weekend reading. One piece means one footprint to plan around, no gap collecting leaves between lounges, and one cover to organise when winter comes.
The cap is the catch. A daybed holds two people lying down and that is the ceiling — when a third guest wanders out, someone perches on the edge. It's also a piece you place once and leave. Shifting a daybed to chase the afternoon sun is a two-person job you'll do exactly once.
The case for two singles
Two single lounges buy you independence. Each person sets their own recline, and when the sun moves, each lounge can move with it — no negotiation required. Singles are also far easier to shuffle, lend out for a party or tuck away when you need clear deck.
The budget story is the surprise. A pair of Tampa Sunlounges at $699 each lands at $1,398 — several hundred dollars under the Surabaya — and still gives both of you a full-length spot in the sun.
The Poseidon Sunlounge ($599) trims that again, with a pair coming in under $1,200. And the Eden Sunlounge ($475) gets two people poolside for $950 — the cheapest two-person outcome in this comparison by a clear margin.
The trade-off is visual and practical. Two lounges plus a workable gap usually spread wider across a deck than one daybed, they read busier, and there are two frames to clean, cover and store instead of one.
Footprint, capacity and cost side by side
| Option | Best for | Watch out for | At today's prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| One daybed | Couples who lounge together; one striking centrepiece | Caps at two people; not a piece you move often | Surabaya Daybed — $2,065 |
| Two matching singles | Independent recline; chasing sun or shade separately | Two frames to clean, cover and store; a busier look | Tampa pair — $1,398; Eden pair — $950 |
| Daybed plus one single | Households that host; three lounging spots | The largest total footprint of the three | Surabaya + Poseidon — $2,664 |
On raw dollars per person, singles win across this range. What the shared piece buys is presence — one resort-scale destination instead of furniture in rows — and that's a fair thing to pay for if it suits how you live.
The Australian poolside angle: fences, breezes and moving with the sun
Pool fencing is the first check. Under the Australian pool barrier standard (AS1926), anything climbable near the fence can compromise it, and a daybed or lounge parked against the barrier is exactly that. Keep whichever format you choose well clear of the fence line — clearances and enforcement vary by state and council, so confirm with your local authority before you lock in a layout.
Then think about how your deck behaves across a day. Coastal areas from Perth to the Central Coast get a reliable afternoon sea breeze, and north-facing decks bake through the middle of the day. Singles let you migrate — morning sun, midday shade, late sun by the pool edge. A daybed commits you to one microclimate, so position it where the shade will be at 1pm, not where the deck looks emptiest.
Once the format is settled, the styling side is its own project — our guide to creating a resort-style backyard with an outdoor daybed covers shade, placement and the Bali look in detail.
Double sun lounge questions, answered
What's the difference between a double sun lounge and a daybed?
A double sun lounge is a two-person recliner — one wide frame used like two lounges joined together — while a daybed is a flat, deep platform used more like an outdoor bed. Choose a double if you mostly recline and read; choose a daybed if you mostly sprawl, nap and share the space.
Is a double sun lounge or daybed cheaper than two singles?
Usually not — in the current range, a pair of singles costs several hundred dollars less than one shared piece of similar quality. The shared format charges a premium for its scale and single-frame look. If budget is the deciding factor, a matching pair of singles is the value pick.
Can you push two single sun lounges together to make a double?
Yes — a matching pair placed edge to edge reads as one wide double sun lounge, and it stays the most flexible option because you can pull the pair apart whenever you like. Buy two identical models so the seat heights and lines match up cleanly.
Do two single sun lounges take up more room than one daybed?
Usually yes — once you allow a walkable gap between the pair, two singles spread wider across a deck than most daybeds. The flip side is that singles don't have to stay together: split them into two corners and each one only needs its own modest footprint.
Shop the range
If shared lounging wins, start with the daybeds in the sun lounges collection — and if you're furnishing a larger deck, the Nusa Daybed ($2,874) steps the platform format up again. If flexibility wins, a matching pair of singles is hard to beat. Either way, we deliver Australia-wide, with free delivery on orders over $100.
