A Girl's Guide To Buying A SUP

Just recently I’ve been receiving lots of emails and messages from members of the She SUPs tribe asking for recommendations on which paddleboard to buy. I loooove helping someone work out which is the perfect board for them, so please feel free to get in touch via Facebook and Instagram if you’d like to discuss your personal situation.

However, to support this, I thought I’d put together ‘A Girl’s Guide To Buying A SUP*’ (stand-up paddleboard) featuring some information that I feel is universal for all.

*Disclaimer; I call this ‘A Girl’s Guide’ because…
1. I’m writing it …and I’m a girl
2. It sounded cute…
3. Its intended audience is the She SUPs community… BUT all of the information in this blog is applicable to ANYONE, so however you identify yourself, I hope you find the info below helpful. Also, I have kept this blog as simple as possible to make it readable but there is SO MUCH MORE I could tell you, so please reach out if you’d like to get into the nitty gritty details!!

Inflatable versus hard-board? What’s best?

This is a question I get asked ALL the time. My response is neither is ‘better’ than the other. They both have their advantages and whether you paddle inflatable or hardboard comes down to a couple of lifestyle options;

How close are you to your local waterway? How will you get your board to the water?
If driving - do you have roof racks?
If walking - does weight matter? Do you need a light board so it’s easy to carry?
Do you want to travel with your SUP?
Where can you store your SUP? Do you have a garage?
Are you a surfer looking to move to SUP?
Do you want to use the board for primarily flatwater paddling or SUP surf?
Who is using the board? Do you have kids/ family/ friends that you’ll be sharing this board with?

Reflecting on these questions you start to gain a clearer idea of what’s best for you.

If you are conscious about the weight of the board, have limited space to store the board, want to travel with your SUP (this is my favourite thing about inflatables!) and/or don’t have roof racks - then inflatable is probably a good option for you. Similarly, if you have family or friends who want to use the board and you need something durable that won’t get scratched and dinged if jumped on by a child or dog - choose inflatable.

If you have roof racks, not so worried about weight or travel, the board is purely for your own use (so you know you’ll look after it!), you’d like to play around in some waves and try your hand at SUP surf, or you’re a surfer/like the classic surfer image, then hardboard is probably for you. Similarly, if you have a garage and ability to store a board that is around 10ft in length safely, then you may consider a hard board.

What types of board are there?

As you start researching SUP, you’ll realise there are A LOT of different types of boards. Let’s break them down…

All-rounders - The all-rounders are a great place to start as they are equally at home on flatwater as they are in a few waves. They are normally a nice rounded shape, extremely stable and suitable for a wide audience. You can’t go wrong with an all-rounder, these boards can pretty much do anything!!
Touring - Touring boards are often narrower in shape and longer boards. Their design is focused on maximum glide, straight tracking and supporting you on longer distance paddles.
High-Performance/Racing - Racing boards are once again narrower, their shape is designed for cutting through the water, getting speed, and maximising glide (this is a very simplistic view of racing boards, so if you’re a racing board brand reading this, please don’t shoot me… there is a lot that goes into the design of these boards but we’ll save that for another day!!)
Surfing - SUP Surf boards are often similar to some all-rounders, but those that are focused on surfing will have a greater rocker (lift in the nose and tail of the board to avoid nose-diving on waves), they will sometimes be shorter in length (for those who are experienced SUP surfers) and will often have a more tapered tail making it much easier to turn across the wave… (on that note, I may do a whole other blog post on SUP tails as there is more to the shape of SUP tails than you think!!)
Yoga - SUP Yoga boards are often slightly wider boards with limited to no rocker, making them extremely stable. You can often identify yoga-specific boards from the extra surface area that the deck pad covers, meaning your body is supported when in extended yoga poses.
Fishing - Yes there are even SUPs specifically designed for fishing!! Fishing-focused SUPs are often similar to yoga boards with their focus on stability. They often have additional straps or tie-down options on the deck of the board to hold fishing rods and other fishing accessories.
Windsurf - In the most simplistic terms… windsurf SUPs are often either all-rounder boards that have an optional windsurf mount, or Windsurf specific, with a daggerboard. Again… contact me directly if you’d like to get into the detail!

What to get when you’re just getting into SUP?

I advise most people to start with an allrounder. They are normally extremely stable but also provide you the flexibility to test out different conditions, and experience a whole range of ‘firsts’ with one board. As you then move forward with SUP, you will learn what aspect of SUP you are enjoying most and your second board can reflect this… e.g. for me, I love long-distance paddles so my second board was a 11’0 Touring board.

What’s ideal for me + my pup/kid?

A lot of paddlers are looking for boards to not just hold them, but also a child (or two) and/or their dogs! For this scenario I advise either an all-rounder with a good amount of volume, or a touring board that is at least 32 inches wide. A longer board or touring board with at least 32 inches in width will have the stability of an all-rounder board but the length will help with glide (helping you as the paddler, paddle with ease, even with the extra weight on your board!)

What’s the difference between a $300 board and a $1000+ board?

In SUP you truly get what you pay for. I hear from paddlers all of the time that found themselves an ‘amazing bargain’ and then witness them struggle to stand on the inflatable board as it bends like a banana or struggle to lift a hard board that weighs the same weight as a small car. Whether it’s a hard board or inflatable, cheaper boards often sacrifice quality control, materials and design to achieve their lower price. If you need something cheap and cheerful to just get you out on the water then feel free to go for it, but don’t expect these boards to last long (and be careful not to over-inflate cheap inflatables as I’ve heard of SO many popping this Summer!)

Top tip: if you’re looking for a bargain board, the best time to buy a ‘bargain’ board is at the “end of the season”, so in May/June in the Southern Hemisphere or October/November in Northern Hemisphere.

Don’t be fooled by clever marketing departments

I’m amazed by some brands that manage to sell pretty average boards just because of clever marketing, such as attaching a famous person’s name to the board… who actually has nothing to do with SUP! So how can we ensure we’re buying a quality board and not being distracted by smoke and mirrors? Consider the following:

Seek information about the board warranty - you want to know the brand is going to be there to support you if you have any issues with your board
Customer service - buying a SUP is a big decision! So don’t feel pressured into buying. Buy from a brand or retailer that provides honest advice on what’s best for you, and will support you even if it takes 1 month to decide which board is right for you
Construction - get curious. Ask about construction, the factories and the design process of the board. If your retailer or brand can answer this or perhaps can send you YouTube videos from the brand being open about their construction or design process, you know it’s going to be a good quality board. Also if a retailer or brand says to you “oh, all paddle boards come from the same factory in China!” …this is not true. The quality brands refine their manufacturing and design processes for their specific boards and therefore often have their own factories and design teams.
The brand’s background - is this a surf brand moving into SUP? Is it a SUP specific brand created by SUP loving folk? Or is this a supermarket or retailer just jumping on the ‘trend of the moment’?

What I use and why

I have always paddled Red Paddle Co. When I bought my first board I was living in a one-bed unit, didn’t have a car and needed something light and easy to carry, which is how I ended up with a Red Paddle Co inflatable. THEN I discovered travelling with my iSUP and my whole world changed …and I haven’t looked back.

I started with (and still paddle) an all-rounder board (10’6 x 32” pictured below) but I have also since then got a touring board as I love long-distance paddles!!

Final words of advice

Try before you buy! All of this advice is great but ultimately, the best board for you is something that simply ‘feels right’ for you. Many stores offer demo days or demo boards that you can take away and try before you buy. Shop around and try and find someone who offers this. Even if you’re 99.9% certain on what board you’d like to get, trying a range of boards will just help you understand what all these variations FEEL like and enable you to learn what feels good for you.

I hope this very brief summary has helped you. Feel free to reach out for more specific info about boards and brands.

Happy paddling!

Vikki x
Founder of She SUPs