The company was founded in 1983 as Costa Del Mar, and within three years they were sponsor of the Stars & Stripes team in the America’s Cup sailing tournament. It wasn’t long before the Daytona Beach manufacturer began to take the surfing, boating and fishing market by storm due to its technological advancements in sun glare protection.
Simply referred to now as Costa, the company has made a dedicated effort to conservation and sustainability in recent years, with their brand new Baffin and Pescador frames really taking it to a new level; made from recycled fishing nets from off the coast of Chile, a Costa logo plate produced from recycled aluminum, and recycled rubber in the temple and nose pads, Costa’s Untangled Collection provides solid comfort and fit while reducing waste (much of it which would’ve been relegated to staying at the bottom of the ocean off South America). Costa takes those Chilean fishing nets and turns them into plastic pellets, which are then used in the manufacturing process.
“Healthy oceans have always been a crucial part of our core mission at Costa,” said Holly Rush, Costa’s CEO. “The Untangled Collection is helping to raise awareness and provide a solution to keep discarded fishing nets from being lost in our oceans each year.
The Untangled Collection frames feature Costa’s premium 580 polarized glass designed to absorb harmful high-energy blue light (HEV), enhance red, green and blue colors, while filtering out the harsher yellows to provide sharper contrast and higher definition. I’ve worn quite a few lenses over the years, and I personally prefer glass because of time spent on the beach where sand can ruin plastic or polycarbonate lenses pretty quickly. Costa’s 580 polarized glass can still scratch of course, so I’m careful not to rub them free of grit; they’re a bit heavier than plastic but these lenses are great for spotting subsurface fish and structure, while offering outstanding eye protection.
The Baffin frames in particular took “Best Eyewear” at ICAST 2018 (though truth be told Costa’s taken practically every eyewear award at the show for the best decade or so); I personally still favor the Blackfin frames because of the wider sideplates, which restrict peripheral light, though the Pescador frames also come with an optional sideshield much like those used by mountain climbers.
Both the Pescador and Baffin frames run from $199 to $219; with the sideshield on the Pescador they go on up to $269. While some folks prefer to go the ZZ Top route of cheap sunglasses, when it comes to durability, eye protection, and actually seeing what’s below the surface on waters where you’re fishing, the Costa investment simply makes perfect fish sense.
