Costa Del Mar Rinconcito Rectangular Sunglasses Review

Costa Del Mar has been in the sunglasses biz since 1983, but unlike plenty of competing brands their frames and tech didn’t stall in the ‘eighties; They haven’t gotten hung up on the fad of reissuing hokey, fashion forward colorways, the designs simple, classic, and enduring, making them an easy pick for alongside the gunwales or casting from shore.

Lobbed a pair of Costa Del Mar Rinconcito a full calendar year ago, I’ve had the good fortune of putting them through the paces in all four seasons. On the water, their genuine polarized lenses make mincemeat out of glare and feel like more of an optical augmentation than a pair of plain old shades. While they didn’t have me shooting laser-beams, I was impressed with the clarity obtained early morning, all day, and clear through to dusk.

Costa Lenses

Contents hide

1 Costa Lenses

2 Who Are these For?

3 Costa Del Mar Rinconcito Rectangular Sunglasses Pros & Cons

4 Overall Impression

We do a bit of ice-fishing here in BC, too, and the Costa Del Mar Rinconcito Sunglasses were a treat mid-winter. Their clean design and reasonable frame size makes it easy to fit the legs under a beanie, and those same impressive polarized lenses staved off the wind and driving snow like nobody’s business. Whether a proprietary boast yet or not, they should also add to the marketing end that the plastic lenses are less prone to fogging than a lot of what’s out on the market. Paired with an Airhole mask, a Buff or a balaclava, I was happy to see that I COULD STILL SEE and wasn’t constantly having to bust out a goggle wipe.

Who Are these For?

With that bit of beta in hand, I started to roll the sunglasses into my ski touring setup, too. No complaints! From sunny glacier travel to early morning day-breaking ascents, the Costa Del Mar Rinconcito Sunglasses performed admirably.

If there’s any detraction to be made with regards to any of the Costa Del Mar products I’ve had my mitts on, it’s more of a hurdle than a gripe- These sunglasses are not cheap, and are probably best avoided by the folks prone to misplacing, losing, sitting on, lending, or dumping their glasses off the back of a boat.

Costa Del Mar Rinconcito Rectangular Sunglasses Pros & Cons

Pros:

Timeless and enduring designs
Genuine polarized lenses reduce glare
Less prone to fogging than other brands

Cons:

Higher price point
Not ideal for careless users

Overall Impression

Are the Costa Del Mar Rinconcito Sunglasses ($219.99) worth it? In my opinion, yes, they are, but recognizing that they are a valuable tool as opposed to a random bit of bling or flair is imperative! These aren’t your grandparents’ Terminator X polarized lenses, nor are they some cheesy late-night infomercial knock off. These are the real deal for rod and reel work polarized sunglasses for adventures on the water, snow, in the backcountry or flow.

Highly recommended.