For years, the controversial invader has gradually taken over Australia’s favorite beaches.
Swallowing the sand, obscuring the view of the ocean and turning the coast into a boring maze, is a sea of large beach tents, called cabanas in Australia.
“Those are shorts [crowded]. They’re everywhere,” Claire, 30, told the BBC.
For her – and most Aussies – cooling off on a sweltering day means a solid drive to the coast, plus an eternity trying to find a place to park. Now, the cabana craze means they’re in for another beach battle.
Polyester covers flutter in the breeze as far as the eye can see. Some are empty, set up at the crack of dawn and then abandoned for hours, until their owners want to use them.
“The large amount of space people take up… [when] you’re just trying to find a spare square inch of sand to lay your towel on, it can be a bit frustrating,” says Claire.
She is not alone in her irritation. Several summers of simmering tension have, in the early days of 2025, exploded into an all-out turf war, sparking a debate about Australian culture and beach etiquette.
The dispute over the acceptable use of cabanas dominated social media, spawned a wave of opinion pieces and television segments, and even involved the prime minister.
Self-described haters say licensed cabana crews are trespassing on public space and disrespecting other beachgoers.
“When… you’re polluting the beach with your four cabins next to each other, where’s Guncle [Gay Uncle] Nic is going to leave,” said Nic Salerno, an anti-cabana crusader and TikToker, on the TV talk show The Project.
“I just want my space on the beach, guys.”
But the pro-cabana mob says seeking protection from Australia’s vicious sun is no crime – and it’s every man for himself.
Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world, and many supporters – including the national charity, the Cancer Council – argue that the new trend should actually be celebrated.
“My partner and I have a great cabana because we both burn very easily and don’t want to die of skin cancer by the time we’re 30, hope this helps,” one person wrote, responding to the TikTok call-out.
No one is discounting the importance of sun protection, cabin critics counter, but they say it’s just a convenient excuse for the many people who use beach tents.
Half the time they’re not even sitting under the awning, they claim, and there’s no need for two people to pack up the entire tent for an hour or two, when sunscreen and a hat will do just fine.
Other cabana devotees are more honest about their motives. Breakfast TV host Davina Smith admitted that for her it was a grab for “prime real estate” on busy beaches.
She is one of those people who set up their castles in the cottages early in the morning to reserve a territory for their family later that day.
“There’s a lot of research that goes into this. You get up early, you have to watch the tides. You can’t just jump in there and go… you’re investing in it,” Smith claimed on Nine’s Today programme.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was among the hordes angered by the trend: “It’s not on,” he said on the same show.
“One of the great things about Australia, unlike some parts of the world, you go and you have to pay to go to the beach. Everyone owns the beach here… And that’s actually a violation of that principle.”
Even lifeguards have an opinion about it, some told local media that the cabin camps could make it difficult for them to do their jobs.
Why is this so divisive?
There are a number of cultural quirks that mean Cabanagate upset Australians more magpie in spring.
First, the country likes to think of itself as an egalitarian society – a country of “fair work” – and this extends to the use of one of its most precious national assets.
“Australian beaches have always been seen as communal spaces, democratic spaces where social hierarchies break down… [they’re] it’s seen as the great equalizer,” says Ece Kaya, a researcher at the University of Technology Sydney.
And Australians “fiercely” protect that ideal: “They see it as a birthright,” says Chris Pepin-Neff, who studies Australian beach culture.
He points to a backlash in 1929 when beachgoers at Sydney’s Coogee Beach were forced to pay to access the only stretch of water covered with shark nets. Recently, an offer to lease part of Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach to an exclusive beach club caused a major outcry.
And while the use of spacious cabanas is a relatively new phenomenon, there has long been a “tremendous class tension” around the use of the country’s coastline, adds Dr Pepin-Neff.
A lack of infrastructure, affordable housing and community attitudes tend to lock ordinary Australians out of coastal areas, while these natural assets are often used by those lucky enough to live there.
“And there is a perception that it goes even further, [so] that the average family can’t even get a place on the beach.”
But he says there is no real data on who uses the cabins and why. He also argues that there are many good reasons why people might use them. Maybe they’ve traveled a long way and plan to stay longer at the beach, or maybe they have a disability or small children to care for, he says.
“There is a balance between a free and open beach for everyone to use and ensuring respect.”
He offers no defense to the “land bankers,” though: “As a Sydney resident, I think it’s an abuse of privilege … it’s not fair.”
As the debate heats up, there are some calls for a truce to restore peace to Australia’s shores.
The founder of Beachkit Australia, Rowan Clark, which sells equipment including cabanas, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper he even thought cabana fans should be nicer.
“They should only allow setting up on the back of the beach in a row,” he said. “Once that is exhausted, this shadow style should no longer be allowed.”
Others want authorities to rein it in, as some have done in the United States. There are suggestions that councils could limit how many cabins can be set up on their beaches and where.
But Sydney resident Claire, for all her anger, worries it could tip the scales the other way and exclude other people from using the beach.
“You don’t want to be too precious about it, obviously… it’s just a beach, first world problems, right?
“I think in general we should try to be considerate of each other.”
