Tanning Ledges and Benches: The Feature Homeowners Wish They Had Made Bigger

The feature people underestimate, then use every day

In our experience, when homeowners tell us a year later what they would change about their pool, very few say they wanted deeper water. A good number say they wish the tanning ledge were bigger.

It is the least dramatic feature in custom pool design. No sound, no illusion, no vertical interest. It is a shallow shelf.

And measured against what it costs to build, very little else in a pool gets used as hard, because it serves the thing most people actually do in a backyard, which is sit in water rather than swim in it.

What it is

A tanning ledge, sometimes called a sun shelf, Baja shelf or sun deck, is a broad shallow area of the pool. Water sits at roughly the depth of a bath, shallow enough to lie in directly or to set a chair into.

It usually sits at one end or along one side, and it reads as part of the pool rather than as a separate feature.

A bench is narrower, deeper and intended for sitting upright with your body in the water. Steps are for entry. All three do different jobs, and it is worth designing all three deliberately rather than letting them default.

Who actually uses one

Small children. Water shallow enough to sit and play in, in sight of adults, without needing to be held. For families with young children this is frequently the most used part of the pool by a wide margin.

Adults who want to be in the water without swimming. Which, honestly, is most adults most of the time.

People escaping heat. In a North Texas July, being in a few inches of water in the shade is a different experience from sitting on a hot deck.

Anyone who wants to be in the pool while being sociable. A ledge is where conversation happens, because people can sit facing each other at a normal level.

Pets, whether invited or not.

The trade off on a smaller pool

This needs saying plainly. A tanning ledge uses surface area, and on a compact pool that surface area comes from somewhere.

So there is a real decision: a slightly smaller swimming area with a ledge, or a larger swimming area without one.

Our experience is that most households get more use out of the ledge, particularly families and anyone who entertains. But it depends entirely on who is using the pool. If someone in the house swims laps regularly, the calculation changes.

What we would push back on is cutting the ledge by default to preserve pool size. Of the design regrets we hear about afterward, that is among the most common.

Design decisions worth making deliberately

Where it sits. Where the ledge is determines where people gather, which determines where you want shade and where you do not want the grill. Think about it as seating rather than as water.

How wide it is. Wide enough for a lounger to sit in it properly, or only wide enough to sit on the edge? These are different features. Measure a chair before deciding.

Whether furniture goes in it. If you want in water loungers, the ledge needs to be sized and shaped for them, and it changes the depth conversation.

Where the shade is. A ledge in full sun at four in the afternoon in July is a ledge nobody is lying on. This is the oversight we see most often on this feature. Consider an umbrella sleeve set into the ledge during construction, since retrofitting one means cutting into finished work.

Bubblers. Small water jets set into the ledge. They add sound and movement, children love them, and they are plumbing rather than decoration, so they belong in the planning stage rather than added later.

How it meets the rest of the pool. A straight edge reads formal and suits geometric designs. A curved edge softens a rectangle.

Surface texture. The ledge is walked on more than any other interior surface, often by children, often at a run. Worth discussing finish texture for that area specifically during material selection.

Benches and steps

Both are usually treated as functional and both are design opportunities.

Benches put people in the water at a conversational level. Where they sit determines where people cluster, and a bench facing the wrong way is a bench nobody uses. Think about the view from it.

Steps are entry, and their position sets the traffic pattern of the whole pool. Steps opposite the back door work differently from steps tucked in a corner.

A wraparound bench along one wall is a common and effective solution on smaller pools, because it delivers seating without consuming the surface area a ledge needs.

Frequently asked questions

What is a tanning ledge?
A broad shallow area of the pool, with water at roughly bath depth, wide enough to lie in directly or to place a chair in. It is also called a sun shelf, Baja shelf or sun deck.

Does a tanning ledge take up too much of a small pool?
It uses surface area, so on a compact pool it is a genuine trade off against swimming space. Most households get more use from the ledge, particularly families and people who entertain. Decide it deliberately rather than cutting it to preserve pool size, since that is a decision people regularly tell us they wish they had made differently.

How deep should a tanning ledge be?
Shallow enough to sit or lie in comfortably and to place furniture in if you want to. The right depth depends on how you plan to use it, so it is worth discussing against your actual intended use during design rather than taking a standard figure.

Can I put furniture in a tanning ledge?
Yes, with in water loungers designed for it, and the ledge needs to be sized and shaped for them from the start. Tell your designer if that is the plan, since it affects both dimensions and depth.

Should I add an umbrella holder?
If you want shade over the ledge, yes, and during construction. An umbrella sleeve set into the ledge is straightforward while the pool is being built, whereas retrofitting one afterward means cutting into finished work. Shade is what determines whether the ledge is usable in July.

Can I add a tanning ledge to an existing pool?
It is a structural modification to the shell rather than a surface change, so it is closer to construction than to resurfacing. Whether it is viable depends on the existing structure, which is something to assess before assuming either way.

The bottom line

Design your shallow spaces as carefully as your deep ones, because you will use them more.

Work out where people will actually sit, put the ledge there, make it wide enough for a chair if that is what you want, and solve shade before construction rather than after. Then check where the sun is at four in the afternoon.

The ledge and its plumbing are set early, well before anything is visible, which is why this belongs in the design conversation rather than the finishes one. More on how a pool gets built.

Who You Build With Matters®

Our gallery shows ledges and benches on real backyards, which is more useful than a drawing for judging scale. When you want to talk through your own, get in touch.