The Cosmo shades from Italian eyewear brand Koo are not intended for epic, expedition-style sea kayaking or boating missions off-shore or along tricky and technical coastlines, but boasting oceans of style and great-quality polarised lenses, they’re ideal for casual kayak paddling sessions and mini adventures on lakes, rivers and bays, or days messing around on stand-up paddleboards at the beach.

To see whether they can be justifiably placed among the ranks of the best sunglasses for kayaking, canoeing and SUPing, I have been wearing these shades during a range of paddling outings over the last couple of months – and this is what I have discovered about them.

Buy Koo Cosmo sunglasses on Amazon

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Koo Cosmo sunglasses: design and materials

Made in Italy, the cool Cosmos from Koo are available in an eclectic mixture of frame and lens combinations. But, a word of warning: you do need to be careful when you are making a purchase, because some of the lens options are Category 2, while others are considered Category 3, and the VLT (visible light transfer) rating varies wildly across the range, from 11% right up to 28% in the red mirror option (which is pretty dark, even for Category 3 glasses). The pair I have been testing are blonde frames with classic green lenses.

The Cosmos are not specifically designed to be worn on the water, but they are intended for outdoor active use, with discreet but strategically placed frame grips, and all the Zeiss lens options are polarised, making them ideal for boating and paddle sports.

The Cosmos are constructed with a one-size-fits-all philosophy, but personally I was surprised to see how small these sunglasses are when I first got them out of the box and tried them on. Maybe my face is just a bit big, but I had to double check to make sure they hadn’t sent me a child’s pair.

While the lenses are rounded, the frames are square rather than wrap around, and there isn’t much in the way of protection from side glare. The Koo Cosmo sunglasses don’t come with a rigid case, just a fabric pouch made from a material that you can use to clean the lenses.

Koo Cosmo sunglasses: performance

As mentioned, it took me some time to get over the sizing of the Koo Cosmo sunglasses, and to be completely honest right up front, I just don’t think these sunnies are large enough for my features. (By contrast, they look very stylish on my daughter’s decidedly thinner face.)

Still, I was able to test them out perfectly OK, and I wore them while sea kayaking on several occasions, in a variety of conditions. The first thing to say is that the polarised Zeiss lenses used in the Cosmo sunglasses are absolutely top-class, offering sensational clarity and contrast.

With them on I was able to read the waves with ease, and I could also observe objects beneath the water, including potential hazards.

The Koo Cosmo sunglasses have soft rubber pads on the nose and at the temples, which keep the shades securely in position even when the water is bumpy and lumpy, and they are comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

However, despite the excellent lenses, there is very little protection from side glare with these glasses, which can be a real issue on the water, where bright light ricochets right off the surface and bounces around in all directions.

Buy Koo Cosmo sunglasses on Amazon

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.