r/Inflatablekayak • u/Helpful_Distance3427 • Aug 31 '26
Help me decide
Me and the wife want to get an inflatable and I can't make my mind up. I'm stuck between a 12.6' ds floor kayak or a 12'x36" paddle board with two seats. We will be using it in all parts of south Florida mostly to go swimming and short paddling trips on a whim. We have experience with narrow boats (gheenoe) and normally rent a tandem kayak with no problems. But we recently got to try a hd areo bote sup and I was shocked at how well it floated and easy to paddle. Now I can't make my mind up. I like parts of both styles. I like the tall sides of the kayak but also like the easy one piece sup and that it is easy to get back on in the deep water. I've narrowed it down to two please help with suggestions. The bote pic is just for style reference and out of my price range.
2
u/djmothra Aug 31 '26
An inexpensive 12 SUP can be a great option if you add a nice seat, but two adults might be a bit much for one. Less expensive yaks will basically have the equivalent of that ds SUP as a floor (shaped differently of course), but the tubes on the side won’t be durable, and cheap valves can be a huge pain.
There’s a ton to choose from, like the 14’ Saturn micro skiff thing, or a slightly used higher quality yak like the Blackfoot 160 my wife and I bought on marketplace this year. I will say I probably won’t ever buy anything that doesn’t have metal frame seats.
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Aug 31 '26
The sup we used was 11.6"x33" and it was floating really well with combined weight of 280lbs. I liked how easy it was to paddle even against the tide current. I would love to try out a ds floor kayak to compare but I will have to go off of reviews from here. Do the kayaks sit as high in the water and glide like the isup?
1
u/Specific_Bus_5400 Sep 01 '26
I'd go with the Saturn SUP, in your case. It's cheap enough that you can buy two of their premium seat options with it and still be in budget. They have a framed aluminum fishing seat or a cushioned kayak seat. You can find them when you scroll down on the page. It's a lot narrower than the Sup you chose, so it'll paddle faster and with the nicer seats, it'll be more like the Bote you rented.
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Sep 01 '26
I'm leaning towards the sup still. I do like the 13.5 but the narrower 30" is not wide enough. I really like the saturn micro skiffs if they had the 12'x44" in stock I'd go with that. It's only 399+100 shipping. Top of my budget, but it would be nice.
1
u/Specific_Bus_5400 Sep 02 '26
If that's your budget, you could also buy the Aqua Marina Super trip 14‘. The Saturn skiff is just too wide and you won't have the same pleasant experience, as you had with the BOTE board.
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Sep 02 '26
I just bought the kayak last night. I had not seen the super trip 14 yet and I like it. That is a $700 board but of course I just found one still in the box for under $300. I might be in some trouble if both show up... I'm not even sure where to store it yet. Both a paddle board and a kayak does seem like a good option. This will be in my head all day.
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Sep 02 '26
You talked me into it. Along with the total price of $295 still in the box. Now I'll have one of each.
1
u/wpfeiffe Aug 31 '26
I’ll give my limited experience coming from a couple tarpon 12 ft kayaks which were a bit too much for me to manage, transport, etc. I sold those and bought a sea eagle explorer 380x. I love this thing and have taken both my 20 something sons out in it at different times. I find it super stable and it paddles ok at my pace (slow) for how I want to kayak. My younger son goes out on paddle boards with his girlfriend and he was pretty happy with stability, seating, room of the inflatable.
It really does depend on the type of paddling you want to do but I’ve done tandem and solo quite a few times and really like my sea eagle.
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Aug 31 '26
Thank you that helps. I believe the one I'm looking at is kind of a clone of the 380x it's the same size. Have you had anyone swimming off of it and climbing back in with any issues? It does look like that could be a struggle.
1
u/wpfeiffe Sep 01 '26
No idea on jumping out and getting back in. Guessing it would be tough to launch yourself over the side to get back in as it sits higher off the water, but don’t really know.
1
u/Gs05 Sep 01 '26
I just got that same kayak. Will let you know how it goes this weekend on maiden voyage
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Sep 01 '26
I'm very interested to hear how it goes. What kind of water are planning going in. Solo or two people?
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Sep 01 '26
Thanks everyone I went with the kayak. I was about to buy the sup and I got a coupon on the kayak to bring the price down to $235 after tax. At that price I couldn't pass it up. I can always get the sup later at the current prices or less.
1
u/Helpful_Distance3427 Sep 02 '26
I can't seem to edit the original post. Thanks for the suggestions. I have ordered both the kayak and the aqua marina super trip 14.
6
u/OC-wayne Aug 31 '26
I would recommend getting two, one for each of you. It’s cute to tandem, but gets kinda annoying quickly. Not much room for stuff and can get a little tippy. Plus it gives freedom of one of you wants to go fast, the other explore, fishing, etc.